Wednesday night, ABC bid a three-month farewell to one of its jewels, “Lost.”
ABC aired six new episodes in the fall, with a plan to hold off the rest of the season until February, when 17 consecutive new episodes will air without repeats.
The second part of the network’s grand scheduling gamble comes next week, when “Day Break,” a 13-episode event, gets started and cozies up in the regular “Lost” time slot with a special two-hour premiere at 9 p.m. Wednesday on KOMO, Channel 4.
So first ABC is betting that “Lost” fans will be there when the show returns on Feb. 7, and then it’s essentially placing a double-or-nothing wager that TV fans will commit to a 13-episode fill-in show when there are so many other fantastic shows worth watching.
To borrow a phrase from “Seinfeld,” that’s one big Matzo ball hanging out there.
Taking nothing away from “Day Break,” which is a fine little yarn that overcomes some shoddy acting by way of the mystery that viewers will see unravel, it just doesn’t seem realistic that it will hold much of an audience.
It’s a tough position for the show, which stars Taye Diggs (“Kevin Hill” and “The Best Man”) as Los Angeles police Detective Brett Hopper, who keeps reliving the same day in a style reminiscent of the Bill Murray movie “Groundhog Day.”
Except in this case, it’s not quite so funny because Hopper is being accused on this particular day of killing an assistant district attorney and, as part of the setup, some up-to-no-good guys are killing off his friends and loved ones.
At the end of each day, the whole process starts over again and while Hopper’s loved ones who were killed the previous day are all alive again, he still retains the physical effects of the day and remembers everything that happened.
As with the classic stories of this kind, it becomes clear that Hopper must fix his relationships and his life in general before he can finally awaken to a new day.
Hopper has woven himself one heck of a tangled web, and it isn’t entirely clear which relationships and situations he’s obliged to fix.
For starters, he’s sleeping with his former partner’s ex-wife, and she is the first one targeted by the bad guys. Meanwhile, Hopper’s old partner now works in the department’s Internal Affairs office and is mounting a case against Hopper’s current partner.
Furthermore, Hopper’s sister is being abused by her husband and appears to be the next target in the scheme against him, and a gang leader who was in protective custody discovers his cover has been blown and it might have something to do with the plot against Hopper.
“Day Break,” while sharing some mystical theme with “Lost,” isn’t aimed at the same audience, and this far into a new season filled with serial dramas that require weekly viewing, there just isn’t a place for “Day Break” to find a niche.
ABC and fans of “Lost” might soon discover that watching repeats of their favorite show was a better alternative than watching Hopper repeat the same day for the next three months.
Victor Balta’s column runs Mondays and Thursdays on the A&E page. Reach him at 425-339-3455 or vbalta@heraldnet.com.
For more TV and pop culture scoops, check out Victor’s blog at heraldnet.com/blogpopculture.
On TV
“Day Break,” 9 p.m. Wednesday, KOMO, Channel 4
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