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So many of CBS’s procedurals of late have been heavy on the heavy stuff. Cops doing cop things, lawyers doing lawyer things, doctors doing doctor things. There has been more of a dependence on the case of the week than on the chemistry between the people solving the cases. It’s almost as if the network forgot about shows like the original Magnum P.I., or Scarecrow and Mrs. King, Jake and the Fatman, or even Diagnosis Murder, which all emphasized character over procedure. Their new dramedy So Help Me Todd harks back to those fun shows from the ’80s and ’90s, with the usual 2020s twists.
Opening Shot: In a supermarket, a man is talking into his watch.
The Gist: Todd Wright (Skylar Astin) is in the supermarket hoping to catch someone who is collecting disability, well, not being disabled. A private investigator who lost his license two years ago due to improper behavior by his business/romantic partner, he’s been doing gigs like this insurance job to make ends meet.
He’s living with his sister Allison (Madeline Wise), but their mother, Margaret Wright (Marcia Gay Harden), an attorney who’s a partner at a top firm, doesn’t want her “aimless” son sponging off any family members. She has a lot of sway over Todd, and he lets her know how particular and controlling she could be. He’s considered the “black sheep” of the family, who doesn’t dutifully go in the direction Margaret leads them in, and just does what he knows he’s good at, which is being a P.I.
But in the midst of a move, Margaret’s second husband Harry (Mark Moses) goes missing. Todd uses his investigation skills — including clues he sees on social media — to track find out he was taking his mail at an address 40 miles from their Portland home. At the same time, he’s getting some bad vibes from a client that Margaret is defending in a murder case.
As he looks into Harry’s disappearance, which somehow leads him to a magician’s shop, he comes to a realization that a surprise witness the prosecution didn’t tell Margaret about before asking for a recess due to a faked injury is likely someone who has video evidence of her client at the scene. As both investigations come to a head, Margaret realizes that Todd is good as at her job and brings him on as her in-house investigator while her usual one is on maternity leave.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? We’re reaching back a bit in TV history, but the parent-kid vibe and light touch of So Help Me Todd takes us back to ’80s mystery shows that had those elements, like the 1984-86 series Crazy Like A Fox. The tone also matches some more fare from USA Network’s Monk / White Collar phase. The humor also reminds us of The Good Wife and The Good Fight, which rely on light moments to balance out heavier ones.
Our Take: We’ve got to be honest: CBS’s summer-long promos for So Help Me Todd didn’t do the show any favors. It made it look like the talented cast, especially the Oscar-winning Harden, was stuck in a lame CBS procedural that might run for seven years, but have a lot of script holes and logic leaks that would make most discerning viewers look elsewhere.
Yes, the pilot of Todd has all that. But what it also has is a lot of charm, and some funny moments that show that the series is going to rely as heavily on personality than it will on the cases themselves. It starts with Harden, who has gotten really good at playing fussy, controlling and powerful women in comedic roles, and Margaret is right in that wheelhouse. She hasn’t gotten to where she is without being in total control, and that includes controlling Todd, Allison and their unseen brother Lawrence.
It’s that conflict, based on creator Scott Pendergast’s own life (Elizabeth Klaviter is the showrunner), where she finally sees Todd in action and might budge a little while he uses some of his, er, risky investigative methods that’s at the heart of this show. We’ve seen Skylar Astin in too many shows over the past decade to not think he’s going to bring his own charms to the role of Todd. Their characters’ opposite personalities, but obvious love for each other, makes for some good chemistry that builds on a ready-made backstory, which is always something we love to see in a pilot.
As the series goes forward and the uniqueness of the setup fades, it’ll be up to Astin and Harden to carry the show as Todd and Margaret figure out how to work together and how their relationship might evolve. There’s potential in Todd messing with Lyle (Tristen J. Winger), an uptight admin in the office, as well as a rekindling with Susan (Inga Schlingmann), and old flame that now works for the firm. But the heart of the show is going to be Harden and Astin, and we like what we see so far.
Sex and Skin: None.
Parting Shot: On Todd’s first day as an employee at Margaret’s firm, she tells him to change his shift and tie, and take the bus so he won’t drive his crappy car to the office. She goes to lunch with Allison, and he notices that a picture of the two of them from when he was a toddler is in her office. “I will wear the shirt, I will wear the tie, but I will not take the bus,” he says to himself in his mother’s direction as she walks with Allison to the elevator.
Sleeper Star: Mark Moses’ character Harry is positioned like he’s just in the pilot and nothing else, but it seems like he’ll be back at some point, and it’ll be fun to see him not play some uptight corporate jagoff for the first time in a long time.
Most Pilot-y Line: Todd’s brother-in-law Chet (Thomas Cadrot) comes to family dinner without his husband Lawrence, shoves his daughter into Uncle Todd’s arms and says he wants a beer. When Allison tells Todd to close the door, Todd says, “I’m holding a human being!”
Our Call: STREAM IT. The jury’s still out on whether the procedural part of So Help Me Todd will ever be a strong part of the show. But the chemistry between Harden and Astin, along with the deep story possibilities that the Wright family could generate, more than makes up for the lack of procedural heft.
Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.
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