Cupid, Optimism For A Win
Just finished watching ABC's Cupid. Hopeless romantic that I am, I enjoyed the sappy story, and hope it gets a chance to run for longer than the original Jeremy Piven-Paula Marshall version, which aired in 1998.
I always felt ABC dropped the back back then. There's not enough good happy shows on television, definitely then and sometimes now as well. Hell, before I caught The Big Bang Theory (which is the best of the Monday CBS comedies in my opinion for its unabashed joy), the last show I watched that made me laugh out loud was Dexter.
I'll admit The Simpsons has more good moments than not and Family Guy regularly and successfully goes for the funny bone, but those shows are only humorous and aren't currently joyfully humorous. I think the difference lies with the irony and commentary both offer as they reflect society and popular culture.
Which brings me back to Cupid. While there are moments where the writers try to contrast the romantic outlook presented by Cupid-Trevor Pierce with the realism espoused by Psyche-Dr. Claire McCrae, it's clear those aren't the point. Because any love story can't blossom on fallow soil. So, I enjoyed the sentimentality. Otherwise, it's going to be impossible to believe Sarah Paulson's character can become Psyche and fall in love with the obnoxious Cupid portrayed by Bobby Carnavale. That's the arc I saw being developed in the original, and Jeremy Piven was great, if Paula Marshall was not (though I've always had a soft spot for her, and like her turn on Gary, Unmarried).
Because the true love story developing here, and it's not all hearts and flowers, is that between Cupid and Psyche. Both are going to need to change to meet in the middle. Their love isn't going to be Cupid's "love at first sight" as much as Claire McCrae's "love is what's left after passion is dead." Cupid will need to choose between her and his return to Olympus. Both shows, while presented as romantic comedies, promised/promise more, and I'd like to see this incarnation given a chance to finish the story the first started.
I always felt ABC dropped the back back then. There's not enough good happy shows on television, definitely then and sometimes now as well. Hell, before I caught The Big Bang Theory (which is the best of the Monday CBS comedies in my opinion for its unabashed joy), the last show I watched that made me laugh out loud was Dexter.
I'll admit The Simpsons has more good moments than not and Family Guy regularly and successfully goes for the funny bone, but those shows are only humorous and aren't currently joyfully humorous. I think the difference lies with the irony and commentary both offer as they reflect society and popular culture.
Which brings me back to Cupid. While there are moments where the writers try to contrast the romantic outlook presented by Cupid-Trevor Pierce with the realism espoused by Psyche-Dr. Claire McCrae, it's clear those aren't the point. Because any love story can't blossom on fallow soil. So, I enjoyed the sentimentality. Otherwise, it's going to be impossible to believe Sarah Paulson's character can become Psyche and fall in love with the obnoxious Cupid portrayed by Bobby Carnavale. That's the arc I saw being developed in the original, and Jeremy Piven was great, if Paula Marshall was not (though I've always had a soft spot for her, and like her turn on Gary, Unmarried).
Because the true love story developing here, and it's not all hearts and flowers, is that between Cupid and Psyche. Both are going to need to change to meet in the middle. Their love isn't going to be Cupid's "love at first sight" as much as Claire McCrae's "love is what's left after passion is dead." Cupid will need to choose between her and his return to Olympus. Both shows, while presented as romantic comedies, promised/promise more, and I'd like to see this incarnation given a chance to finish the story the first started.