Here’s the pitch: Suppose you combined “Melrose Place” and “Flashdance?” What would you get?
I know! “L.A. Complex,” that’s what.
Tonight’s new CW series is about 20-somethings all living in one apartment complex who are literally starving to make it in LA as actors, dancers and comics.
They get wet a lot, because the dump has a swimming pool. They all have two-dollar jobs and run to auditions when they can get them.
But wait — “Melrose Place” had a doctor — didn’t it?
Yes, but here one resident, Connor (Jonathan Patrick Moore), just got a gig playing a doctor on a TV series! Close enough.
The other residents include a struggling actress, Abby (Cassie Steele), a Canadian who is so broke she was living out of her car before getting a room. Then there’s Raquel (Jewel Staite), who was in one season of a cult teen show, and hasn’t had a real break since. Nick (Joe Dinicol), is a barista/comic who is better at making a latte than comedy. Alicia (Chelan Simmons) is a dancer who tries out for every music video and makes ends meet by making sure her tops and bottoms don’t — in a strip joint. Tariq (Benjamin Charles Watson) is a rapper working as an intern at a music studio.
On tonight’s episode, we meet the cast of characters — and tour the dump they call home.
On the good side, it’s such a dump with such a decent pool that the residents have parties all the time to rival spring break in Cancun.
The dialogue is actually pretty darned good and kind of inside funny, such as when Abby tells Connor: “My boyfriend doesn’t understand why I can’t try and be an actress in Toronto.” Not only was the series shot there, but it’s a Canadian series imported to the US.
And speaking of acting, the acting here is actually very good — I’m ashamed to say.
Why? Because this should be the worst show in the world, but it’s not. In fact, “L.A. Complex” — which refers to both being in the dumps and living in one is what “Smash” should have been but isn’t.
These are 20-something dreamers you might actually find working hard and yet are either homeless or nearly so.
Come on!