Guardian angles

From:The Star-Ledger
Date:May 04, 2004
By Alan Sepinwall

NICK FALLIN is running out of time to mess around. His girlfriend Lulu is on the verge of giving birth to their child. His boss Alvin is guilting him into assisting on an 11th hour appeal for a Death Row inmate. His friend Jake has just booted him out of his own law firm.

And, oh yeah, his show might be on the verge of cancellation.

This late in the season, that fence between renewal and cancellation is getting mighty lonely, with only a couple of shows still teetering there. "The Guardian" is one of them; tonight's finale (9 p.m., Ch. 2) either could end the series on a surprising but appropriate note, or it could spin the show off into a bold new direction next year.

Even though Simon Baker is one of CBS' few young stars, there's a sense at the network that "The Guardian" is too downbeat to ever become a big hit. It's hard to argue with that assessment: If presented with two ways for a story to end, one happy and one sad, 'Guardian" creator David Hollander will inevitably go for the bleaker option.

Nick and Lulu are having a baby, but it has Down syndrome, and Lulu isn't sure she wants Nick to be involved in her life anymore. Alvin's Death Row appeal is obviously hopeless -- and he has a death sentence of his own, since he was recently diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease.

There ain't a lot of hugs, smiles or puppies to be found here.

But does every show have to feature hugs, smiles and puppies? When Hollander takes Nick down a dark path, it isn't with the kind of sadistic glee that makes "ER" so depressing; there's a gentle, understated tone to most of the "Guardian" tragedy that makes it seem real, not manipulative. And the worse life gets for Nick Fallin, the better Simon Baker's layered performance gets.

As TV's most-watched network, CBS doesn't have a lot of scheduling holes. "The Guardian" isn't doing badly, but it's at best a reliable singles hitter in a lineup that could use some more doubles and triples. But the current regime at CBS also has a better sense than any other network of how to program with variety. If the choice comes down to "The Guardian" or another cookie-cutter police procedural from the Jerry Bruckheimer factory, it might be nice to go with the one CBS drama that doesn't resemble any other show on television.