TVnista's found a new show!

Since there was no Six Degrees on last night, I flipped the dial to CBS and watched Shark for the first time. It stars James Woods as Sebastian Stark, a former high-powered defense attorney who now represents the people as an L.A. District Attorney. Plus, he drives a fly car - an Aston Martin, I think. Oh, and he's a single father, since we found out last night that he ex-wife cheated on him with another lawyer. Shark is like a "lighter" version of CSI - not as dark and a bit more fun! The theme song for last night's episode was "Shake Your Moneymaker" by Ludacris. Too funny! If there are any other fans of the show out there, can you tell me if they usually include popular music like that? I really like the pacing on Shark - very sharp and witty. It actually reminds me a bit of Cold Case, especially since last night's episode tied together a current murder with one that happened 15 years ago. It's less procedural than other crime drama out there, particularly Law & Order where you often get bogged down in the little details of warrants, etc. Here, we go from saying we need a warrant to searching the house in the very next scene, cutting out the middle stuff. I was actually so impressed by this show that I was inspired to actually grab a pen and paper and record a few of my favorite lines:

1. Stark: "I'll ask for your advice when I stop ice-skating in hell."

2. Stark: "You would think I'd get tired of always being right, yet it never gets old."

3. Stark: "Never get married." Martin: "I thought you were divorced." Stark: "I rest my case."

I find that veteran movie actors bring something different to network TV. James Woods is at his dynamic best here. And the cast is somewhat diverse - there's the beautiful Sophina Brown as Raina and Alexis Cruz as Martin - starring as Stark's protégés. Since Six Degrees is a wrap and I can't bring myself to watch ER ever again, Shark may have to be added to the rotation. Actually, I just remembered something. Spike Lee directed the pilot episode. If CBS ever runs the repeats, I definitely need to check that out. Stay tuned...