Meh.
That’s my overall feeling after watching the series premiere of “Ironside,” NBC’s rebooted version of its late-’60s series, in which Raymond Burr starred as a wheelchair-bound San Francisco cop (former chief of detectives) with the overly ironic name of Robert Ironside.
I’m not quite sure why anyone felt the need to revive “Ironside.” While the original did run for nine successful seasons — earning Burr six Emmy nods — it otherwise didn’t have the same pop-culture, baby-boomer impact of other revived shows (“Charlie’s Angels” and “Knight Rider” — neither of which lasted long — and “Hawaii Five-0,” which is still going on CBS).
Other than putting its protagonist in a wheelchair, switching locales from San Francisco to New York City — and morphing Burr’s gruff, overweight cop to Blair Underwood’s gruff, ripped cop — there isn’t much new or refreshing here that you haven’t seen innumerable times before.
“Ironside” is, in a nutshell, your standard hour-long cop drama with the requisite attractive cast (Underwood is aided by Spencer Grammer, Pablo Schreiber and Neal Bledsoe).
It’s well-shot, professionally acted and adequately paced — but, at least to me, it’s missing that spark of originality that will keep viewers coming back week after week.
In the original, Burr’s Ironside was paralyzed after surviving an assassin’s bullet; here, Underwood’s Ironside is paralyzed after surviving a bullet fired by his partner, Gary (Brent Sexton), while the two were chasing a bad guy in an alley.
The injury not only left Ironside unable to walk, but has haunted Gary in the two years since. We know this because he drinks away his guilt, barely hanging on to his job and wondering how Ironside can get through the day — which he does very nicely, thank you very much (though he does have those agonizing moments where he relives the shooting).
Burr’s Ironside never had much of a personal life outside the office, and since the original premiered in 1967, there was nary a hint of a sex life. (And, c’mon, it was Raymond Burr. Who wanted to see or even think about that?) But this is 2013. Underwood’s Ironside is handsome and athletic — he even coaches a hockey team and works out with weights — and he does fool around with his girlfriend (just in case we were wondering).
Wednesday night’s opener revolves around the death of a young woman caught up in a sex ring — and a drug connection that leads back to an investment house.
There’s no character development regarding Ironside’s team: Virgil (Schreiber, so good as “porn ’stach” in “Orange Is the New Black”), Holly (Grammer) and Teddy (Bledsoe). Ditto for Brent, who does what he can with anguish. (A scene in which he attends a rehab meeting — cue the sad, acoustic-guitar music — is telegraphed from a mile away.)
I’m guessing we’ll see these supporting characters fleshed out in the coming weeks.
The big question is whether viewers will stick around long enough to give them, and Underwood’s star turn as Ironside, a chance to shine.