'Life as we know it' has little new to offer
The first thing to know about "life as we know it" is that it's doomed. ABC has slotted this teen-boy drama on Thursday nights opposite two of TV's Goliaths, "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" and "The Apprentice." Completely lacking in bloody homicide or bloody awful hair, it doesn't stand a chance.
The second thing to know about "life as we know it," which premieres tonight at 9 on Channel 5, is that its demise will be a loss, albeit a minor loss. A try at a male "My So-Called Life," with a heaping helping of "Dawson's Creek" on top, the show takes a candid look at the sexual and romantic fixations of high school boys. Mostly, it's about baseball -- as in getting to first base, getting to second base, and desperately wanting to hit a home run. Sex is the name of its game. But the show also has the atmosphere of a "sensitive drama," as it addresses teen anxiety about sex and romance, the forte of its creators, Gabe Sachs and Jeff Judah of "Freaks and Geeks."
Certainly, "life as we know it" is not for everybody. But it will appeal to viewers who enjoy the soaps of the "We Brood" network, the WB.
Most of the advance promotion for the series focuses on its sexual content. And indeed, just like the controversial British teen novel it's based on, "Doing It," the show doesn't stray far from the relentless libidos of its three young heroes. "How are you supposed to go to school when all you can think about is sex?" asks Ben (Jon Foster), who is majoring in Teacher Crush 101. Dino (Sean Faris) is consumed with manipulating his reticent girlfriend, Jackie (Missy Peregrym), into bed. And Jonathan (Chris Lowell) is embarrassed to tell his friends about his romantic feelings for Deborah (Kelly Osbourne), who doesn't happen to look like a magazine model. And when the camera isn't taking in these pretty young actors as they wax carnal, it's pointed at the chests of the girls they're passing in the school corridors.
Indeed, parents should be aware of the show's frankness. It's not cloaked in tiresome MTV-style flippancy or irony, but it does "go there," as they say. But parents should also note that while the boys are obsessed with sex, they also have emotional lives -- something TV doesn't always grant them. In artsy bits that recall "Once and Again," they confide their feelings directly to the camera while the action behind them freezes or goes into slow motion. These sequences don't achieve the psychological insights that are the trademark of Edward Zwick and Marshall Herkovitz, the creators of "Once and Again" and "My So-Called Life." But they add dimension to what would otherwise be a superficial exercise in randiness.
The family soap aspects of the show also give it some emotional depth. A lot of tonight's action is set in Dino's home, where he learns a dark secret about his parents' marriage. He's all bravado as he tries to lose his virginity with Jackie, but all that fades in the shadows of his new knowledge. As Dino, Faris is a little tightly wound and too reminiscent of Tom Cruise for his own good. Let's hope the series stretches his abilities, as it does those of Kelly Osbourne. As the "full-bodied" girl, she's surprisingly appealing. With her mop of black hair and her round face, she gives the kind of honest performance you might expect, given life as she knows it.
