Two Shows with lots in Common! Plus Innertube goes 'InTurn' and Bravo and TNT 'Runway' with 'Dream' Ratings

In case you haven't figured it out by now, PTR's two favorite shows are Veronica Mars and Cold Case. Neither show can really do any wrong with me, and even if they did, PTR would still watch. In fact, I'd watch both even if they "jumped the shark!" So, as long as these two shows are on the air, I'll be tuning in. How can two shows that seem to be on the opposite end of the spectrum jointly monopolize the top spot on my list of favorite shows? Maybe they're not as different as it seems. Sure, Case is a crime procedural with very little character development and Veronica is all about the character development with a little bit of solving cases on the side, but these shows have a lot in common beyond the two blonde leads and the whole crime fighting thing. I'm sure you've heard about the Grey's Anatomy/Veronica thing, where many members of the young cast of the latter have guest starred on the former, but did you know that Cold Case and Veronica Mars seem to be holding a cast swap as well? Jason Dohring, who plays Logan on Veronica, guest starred in an emotional season one episode of Case, playing a troubled teen suspected of killing his former swimming coach at a military academy. When I asked Dohring about the experience during the Bloggers Media Day, he said, "I had a great time on that show. It was so cool." But Dohring isn't the only VM cast member to turn up in an episode of CC. Tessa Thompson (Jackie on VM) guest starred in CC's GLAAD Award-winning "Best Friends" back in season two. Just this past season, James Jordan (Lucky on VM) guest starred as a suspect in the murder of a beloved deli owner and Alona Tal (Meg Manning on VM) guest starred in the all-Bruce Springsteen episode playing a young woman whose life didn't turn out as she planned. But it isn't just the guest stars that tie these shows so closely together, there are a lot of similarities between the two. Today, we're going to take a closer look at the two shows and the common ground they share, despite their structural differences.


The biggest tie that binds these two shows is their respective main characters. I've often felt that Lilly Rush is an adult version of Veronica Mars. They're both smart, savvy, resourceful, independent and masters of the fine art of interrogations. Lilly grew up with an alcoholic mother and no father, and Veronica had an alcoholic mother who ran off with her college money, but a wonderful father who filled both roles. So, they both have "mommy issues" that neither has fully resolved. Veronica was raped after she passed out at a party when she unwittingly drank from a cup containing a date rape drug. Lilly was attacked as a young girl while she went to the store late at night to buy alcohol for her mother. We don't know the full extent of what happened other than the fact that she walked away with a broken jaw and kicked in teeth, but serial killer George Marks, who read the report on the incident, alluded to some sort of sexual attack when he asked, "Did he touch you in your secret place?" Of course, Veronica is more resilient than Lilly. She has been able to bounce back from the tragedies in her life, including her best friend's murder, without a lot of emotional damage. Lilly is still trying to sort it all out in order to find and maintain a healthy, stable relationship. Back on the similarity side, both characters use their smarts and compassion over their sexuality to open the proper channels to solve their respective cases, although, both know how to use the power of their sexuality when it's necessary. Neither likes to give up, and both characters are well-developed, multi-layered treats that continue to fascinate us each week (and don't you get the sense that if these two ever met, they'd totally be BFFs for life?).


In addition to the similarities with the lead characters of each show, both shows share a common style and look. They love to play with the film noir genre, which is defined as:

A movie characterized by low-key lighting, a bleak urban setting, and corrupt, cynical characters.

In fact, the very definition seems to describe each show perfectly. The low-key lighting is probably the most evident whenever I'm choosing screen caps for PTR. I have a difficult time finding good shots that are light enough to post here, but that same dark undertone to each shot enhances the mood and feel. Cold Case is certainly rockin' the "bleak urban setting" with the usually gray and blue shots of Philadelphia. If you visualize an outside shot on CC, do you picture a cloudy day, colder temperatures and an overall depressing-like feel? Meanwhile, Mars is busy rockin' the "corrupt, cynical characters" with everyone from Woody Goodman to Kendall Casablancas. In fact, the overarching theme of the show is how the wealthy 09ers use their money to corrupt those in positions of power in order to keep those without the wealth down. Meanwhile on CC, many of the cases that the detectives deal with carry the same theme. The pilot episode was about a wealthy family throwing its clout around to cover up a 26 year old murder. Lilly even tells a suspect that "People shouldn't be forgotten," even if they are her kind of people. The show very often deals with powerful people such as doctors, lawyers and politicians who commit murder or use their power for corruption rather than good. And then there's both shows' tendency to dwell in the gray area of human nature. Neither show gives us "bad" and "good" people, but reveals how each person has both inside of them. Two of the biggest elements of storytelling - character and theme - are remarkably parallel between the two shows. When you add the uniform use of flashbacks, crime solving, common actors and good storytelling, the result is two seemingly dissimilar shows that have more in common than first thought.

What do you think about these similarities? Do you watch one and not the other? Leave me a comment with your thoughts on these two shows.


FRIDAY FUN: SUMMER STYLE
After a several week absence, Friday Fun: Summer Style is back!! This week, it's Fun Fact time.

FF: Keeping with today's theme, this week's Fun Fact is a bit of trivia about the season finale of Cold Case. In the episode, Lilly finds herself drawn to a murder victim after viewing his photograph. During the investigation, she accidentally stumbles upon the revelation that the man she had been enthralled with while investigating his murder, is actually alive. The plot is similar to the 1944 film noir movie Laura starring Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews and Vincent Price. In the film, "A detective investigating a murder falls in love with the dead girl's portrait only to find out that it wasn't her that was murdered." Sounds familiar, right? Well, the CC writers even paid homage to the classic film by naming Joseph's injured cat - yes - LAURA. [Source: Look Again]


QUICK CUTS

*CBS' internet channel, Innertube, is launching a new internet-only series. The reality competition, dubbed InTurn, will follow 8 contestants as they battle it out for a 13-week contract role on daytime drama As the World Turns. The contestants include a recent college grad from South Carolina, a bar tender from Kentucky and a host of students from all over the U.S. InTurn premieres Monday exclusively on the net at Innertube.

*And finally, it's good news all around for the premieres of TNT's Nightmares and Dreamscapes and Bravo's third season of Project Runway. TNT pulled in 5.2 million viewers for the first hour of Dreamscapes and 4.8 million for the second. Meanwhile, Bravo's Runway brought in the most viewers ever for a season premiere on that network. More than 2.4 million viewers tuned into the Heidi Klum design competition.

To get more of today's biggest TV news and headlines, visit the TV News section at PassTheRemote.Net.

That's all for today. Be sure to tune in Monday for thoughts on this weekend's The 4400. Plus, all the latest television news!


To get more television coverage, including the network's new fall schedules and a complete archive of the best of Pass the Remote with a photo gallery featuring pictures from the set of Veronica Mars, click on over to PassTheRemote.net.