The Zach and Oliver Show

Did you happen to see the premiere of the CW's new summer series/dump, Hidden Palms?  I did.  It was interesting.  I'm pretty sure I didn't care for it.  It was nice to see Taylor Handley (Oliver, Marissa's first stalker) and Michael Cassidy (Zach, Summer's season 2 boyfriend) working again.  Otherwise, not so great.  Further thoughts:

Does Gail O'Grady always talk like that?  IMDB tells me she's from Detroit.  Am I picking on a regionalism?  Is it offensive that I'm even asking that?  OK, I hope I haven't insulted anyone, but I don't know what to do with her accent. 

My brother and I were trying to figure out what was going on with poor Taylor.  He looked really bloated throughout -- maybe because his character is newly out of rehab?  Is it makeup?  Is it just the way he's parting his hair?  He looked OK with his shirt off -- it's really just his face, as far as I can tell. 

Some girl blows up her garage and I think it turns out it's some sort of demented science experiment -- I was hoping it was a meth lab mishap, which would have made the show a lot more interesting. 

To the extent that this show has picked up any buzz, it seems to be about Kevin Williamson and whether or not he's lost touch with youth culture since Scream (1996) and Dawson's Creek (1998).  Unfortunately, the music cues seem to suggest he has.  I think it's a very bad indicator when Coldplay pops up on the soundtrack - six minutes in!  Amy Winehouse is slightly more hip, but the choice of "Rehab" to re-introduce Handley , post re-hab, was  regrettable.  "The Blower's Daughter" for the big cry montage at the end, also not exactly a youth choice. 

I thought that when Williamson was shopping this show around last summer, Handley's character was supposed to be gay, right?  That is no longer the case.  Interesting. 

Michael Cassidy's, on the other hand . . . at a certain point, in television shorthand, is there no difference between wealthy and flaming?   Cassidy is really good here -- much more dynamic than he was on The O.C.

Nicole Bilderback (Wh-wh-wh-whitney from Bring It On) is . . . also present as a trophy wife.