Eleventh Hour (US) 2008

Love this show. Smarter and more intriguing than most of the things on TV - and with a lot more lovable characters. I do NOT understand why it wasn't renewed! :(

This series epitomises what is wrong with the entertainment industry. It is so incredibly similar to the UK series based in 2006 it is unbelievable - I am sure some scenes are shared between the versions. And yes, I know we are used to remakes of Japanese or even Swedish media, but the only reasons I can think of for this remake are to reduce licensing costs, or because the US market would not understand the Scottish accent. The clandestine government organisation, the brilliant male scientist, the petite but awesome female handler, the disgraced scientists, the secret evil plots.

But actually the most grating thing was the acting of the lead - who comes across as a shallow, wooden, know-it-all. And not the engaging slightly quirky, borderline Autism Spectrum brilliant know-it-all - just an annoying git.

But it's not all bad. I endured the whole series to see what the plot lines were and it does have the typically high production values of so many current US programmes.

My advise would be to watch it with low expectations, and definitely leave a large gap between watching this one and the UK variant.

Based on a UK series, Eleventh Hour is an intriguing crime drama from CBS. Season 1 follows FBI consultant Dr. Jacob Hood and his handler Rachel Young as they investigate cases involving unexplained scientific phenomenon. Rufus Sewell and Marley Shelton lead the cast, and while Sewell gives a strong performance Shelton seem miscast. There are also problems with the dialog, as a lot of the science jargon is hard to follow and is largely expository. Still, the cases-of-the-week are pretty interesting and explore a number of controversial scientific issues, such as cloning, gene manipulation, and cryonics. Additionally, an exciting list of guests stars are featured, including R. Lee Ermey, Oded Fehr, Judd Nelson, Nina Dobrev, Mariel Hemingway, and Helen Slater. Yet Eleventh Hour failed to find an audience and was cancelled after just one season.