MSCL.com

Is it just me or is anyone else having a serious MSCL deja-vu looking at these screenshots?

http://www.mscl.com/gallery/albums/uplo ... ion_00.jpg
http://www.mscl.com/gallery/albums/uplo ... ion_05.jpg
http://www.mscl.com/gallery/albums/uplo ... ion_10.jpg
http://www.mscl.com/gallery/albums/uplo ... ion_11.jpg
http://www.mscl.com/gallery/albums/uplo ... ion_18.jpg
http://www.mscl.com/gallery/albums/uplo ... ion_20.jpg
http://www.mscl.com/gallery/albums/uplo ... ion_22.jpg
http://www.mscl.com/gallery/albums/uplo ... ion_28.jpg

They're from the pilot episode of the upcoming drama "Reunion", premiering this fall on FOX -- pictured in these screenshots are Chyler Leigh, Alexa Davalos, Amanda Righetti and ... our beloved Tom Irwin (at least I think so, I have no official cast list yet).
The show is written by Jon Harmon Feldman (Tru Calling, Roswell, The Wonder Years, Dawson's Creek).

And no, the show has nothing to do with MSCL. It's about 6 close friends and their relationships over the past 20 years. The pilot episode plays in the year 1986.

More images: http://www.mscl.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=45

Total Deja-vu! This sounds like a pretty good show - I will have to check it out. Thanks for the pics Sascha!

that's quite eerie. It's as though they have tried for a carbon copy!

Taking a glimpse of the first picture, for a second I thought it was claire.

Please give your thoughts of the show when it airs.

I've seen the pilot episode and I think the show is nothing to write home about. As I wrote before, it's about six friends who met in high-school in the 80s. 20 years later (2005), they meet again but for a very tragic reason: one of them has been killed. While investigating the murder, the show tells the story of the lives of these six best friends, each episode covers one year (no idea how they could cover a second season).

The script is IMHO very predictable. You'll find many elements from other teen/twen shows of this genre like "boy loves girl, but girl doesn't know", "girl is pregnant from boyfriend's best friend" and "poor boy goes in prison to cover for rich boy". Lot's of "Melrose Place" and "BH9210"-alike storylines.

That whole "who was killed" plot is pretty lame, the references to cultural highlights of the 80s seem silly and forced.

I don't think this show will survive for long on FOX.


BTW: That new show "Supernatural" on WB (fall 2005) doesn't look so bad as it sounds...

"boy loves girl, but girl doesn't know"

Yeah, good shows never resort to that one.

(intended gently)

~ Connor

Well-worn themes can work well if they are done well. The cast has to be believable. The writing must be sharp. MSCL used many old themes. But the writers and the cast worked hard to make those themes seem fresh. Chemistry between actors goes a long way, too. If there's no chemistry or the themes seem contrived or unbelievable, then the show will seem stale. It's clear that the show is channeling MSCL. Chyler Leigh is a spitting image of Claire/Angela, right down to the hair, facial expressions, and everyday-like clothes. I based my fan fiction stories on reuniting the characters years later. I ran into the same problem Sab points out -- it's hard to keep stories going which depend almost entirely on things that have already happened. After awhile, the stories seem gimmicky and repetitive. Chyler Leigh's resemblance to Claire is kind of creepy. I like seeing Tom Irwin working. But I think he is in a been-there-done-that role.

blueskiesfalling wrote:

"boy loves girl, but girl doesn't know"

Yeah, good shows never resort to that one.

Good point. Of course, there's no general problem with storylines like these (that's the only thing that made "Lois & Clark" worth watching ) but it's the accumulation of these predictable concepts in the pilot episode of "Reunion" that annoys me. It's just too much in one episode (not to mention that "who-killed-who" storyline) so the episode gets more and more unrealistic by the minute.

Well, the writers could be throwing in many plot-lines to set up the season. Maybe one or two of them will be prominent each episode going forward. I might watch an episode or two.

Yeah that first pic it did look just like Claire, the facial expression and the hair it's very eerie. I'll have to look into that show. Any show that is a similar type I would probably love as well cuz it would give me that fix for that type of show or something. hmm, that explanation sounded better in my head but hopefully you guys know what I mean.

Wow deja-vu I'm gonna have to check that out thanks!

I watched the pilot when it aired last week and I wasn't impressed. As Sascha said, lots of cliches and unfortunately the writing wasn't strong enough to make it interesting. The most interesting thing about this show is the set-up of one year per episode.

Unfortunately, the costuming/hair people and the writers are not conveying the 80s. As someone who grew up during that time, I can tell you that I would have had to look high and low for people who dressed that way in 1986. If I pulled out my yearbook, you would not find anyone with stick straight hair and no bangs - it was all about big hair. Even though Amanda Righetti and Alexa Davalos were halfway there with their curly hair, they are very obviously 2005 versions of the 80s (similar to the way Dirty Dancing was an 80s version of the 60s). And the guys were wearing baggy jeans instead of tight acid wash! I'm not saying they had to go above and beyond in re-creating the 80s, but aside from Amanda Righetti's Madonna outfit (which would have been outdated by 1986), it was hard to tell that the show was supposed to take place during the 80s.

On top of that, all the pop culture references that were supposed to be funny fell flat. One of the characters said that Wham! would be the next Beatles. Never mind that Wham! gave their last concert in June 1986. The show was all-around disappointing. Too bad because I liked Alexa Davalos as Gwen on Angel.

I watched Reunion too. I liked the show. I'll be sticking with it for a while. I didnt know that he was in it until the episode aired. I remembered like sean ferris from Life as we know it.

But very funny that this was brought up.. Because I was totally thinking the same thing. The moments when she was talking to her father, she reminded me of Claire Danes so much.. That completly brang me back to my so called life!

On top of that, all the pop culture references that were supposed to be funny fell flat. One of the characters said that Wham! would be the next Beatles. Never mind that Wham! gave their last concert in June 1986. The show was all-around disappointing. Too bad because I liked Alexa Davalos as Gwen on Angel.

This is what bothered me, too. I only saw the pilot (and know that they have since cancelled this show) and the lackluster pop culture references killed me. Esepcially the one that went something like, "Don't go all Molly Ringwald on me." What?