U.S. Marshal Mary Shannon (Mary McCormack) has a simple day ahead of her – go with her partner Marshall (Frederick Weller) to pick up a federally protected witness and get her situated – make sure her boyfriend, Raphael (Cristián de la Fuente), picks up her ne'er do well sister, Brandi (Nichole Hiltz), from the train station – and survive the "surprise" party her mother, Jinx (Lesley Ann Warren), has planned.

However, when Mary learns that her witness, former hit-man Frankie Santoro's (a.k.a. Frankie "Nuts") beloved son was murdered, all the above plans are relegated to the back burner. And for that she's almost grateful.

Mary now finds herself faced with two problems: Was Jr. killed by someone from Frankie Sr.'s past? And how do you tell a mafia hit man that his only son was murdered? In order to keep Frankie from flying off in a blind vengeful rage, Mary has twenty-four hours to find and apprehend Jr.'s killer.

So far, so good. I'm liking it. The bit on the phone is pee-in-your-pants funny!

JJ6, I can't really comment on your post except to say that it sounds like something that is better pursued through legal channels than on a forum for a TV show.

Bubba! Hi! I thought I was all alone over here. I liked it a lot, but it sure doesn't look like too many people watched--or at least they aren't signing in here. I'll be tuning in every week.

a....errrr...to put it quite simply...it stunk. Poor acting, an unbelievable loser as a lead character and a premise that is weaker than a wrestling gnat. Come on folks...QUALITY!!!..Where is the quality. You might as well have taken the money spent on this piece of .... and fed hungry folks. If you are gonna call yourself "USA" represent us. Unless "USA" stands for Used Sick & Awful. A man-hating, too young Federal Marshall with a gun. Not to mention that she is a criminal (the interrogation and the chair kicking are both felonies). Maybe next week you can show her meeting new "friends" in the women's prison. She'd probably like it there and it might get you the teenage boy crowd.

I gave it a chance. I sat throught the whole thing. Three other family members dropped off like flies. The most exciting part was the Criminal Intent commercials.

Mary looks good, Marshall looks good. Scenery looks good.

Story was so laim. Plot was weak.

Boy was it boring. I didn't care about any of the characters. What was up with the useless side plot with the Russian girl wanting new breasts.

I thought the repeated use of the word "retarded" in the beginning was in poor taste.

I'm not sure if I will give it another chance.

It was okay. There's some funny moments, but i don't feel like they balance out with the serious parts. I know with the subject matter in all has something to do with it, but if we're gonna have 1 or 2 people crying in each episode I don't know if I'd want to watch it every week. That's just me.

But I'll have to say it's somewhat interesting... I'll give it another week or two.

Do not agree with the hardcore critics out there. I think you all were looking for something more serious (particularly finding the Criminal Intent commercials more interesting)?! I thought that it was a very watchable program. Sorry to hear that the reality of US Marshals may not be so heroic or interesting. Anyway, back to the show . . . for me it brought back the "Rockford Files" styled show of my youth: funny, with a bit of a mystery thrown in, a day chasing down trouble and a fun personality to deliver it in Mary McCormack . . . her Marshal Shannon is a new angle for a woman cop-type that has her own set of rules and not afraid to use them but also has her own off-color set of issues with family, relationships and intimacy. McCormack is on par with James Garner's Rockford as a potential hit with this show for both men and women alike just like Garner. Hope the writers, directors and producers can build on the quirkiness to keep it fresh and fun . . . I hope it will get better and go a long way. I will be watching anyway.

I don't know if this would be along the lines of "taste", but i noticed the language was a tad bit interesting... "BS" and "F" in place of the actual words... "Jesus Christ" (EDIT:which was the only thing that really did bother me, the rest of these words don't)... and they used "Son of a b****" a few times.

I coldn't wait to see this show but what a disater it turned out to be. You see I am a caregiver at a center for the mentally handicapped and you have to start this new show exploiting the r word (retard) How disgusting that you can't search the dictionary and find another word to use. Are your writers that limited with their vocabulary? These mentally handicapped have feelings and to hear on a daily basis from the public and also on tv and movies is just so cruel.

Very poor taste

I thought it had it's funny moments. It wasn't that bad. It's not my favorite, I'll watch next week. There were parts that I thought were funny, then there were other parts that I thought didn't really support the plot. I wasn't digging some of the banter that they're trying to build up between Mary and Marshall. Like I said, some of it was funny, but I didn't feel as though it matched up with the kind of seriousness they were aiming for at the beginning with that brutal murder. I don't know, maybe that's just me. It wasn't horrible though.

Man- this is a tough house and a tough group of critics. I thought for the most part, it was well done. Everyone seems to use 5 stars rating systems in the world these days so I would give this, A FIRST EPISODE, probably three and a half.

It was a bit uneven, but very few shows hit the ground running in the history of mankind- well since my father bought an 8 inch Philco back in '48. Is it The Sopranos?? No. Then again, some seasons The Sopranos was not The Sopranos.

Some segments seemed very intense and well made. Some seemed very mundane. I guess for serious subject matter, the show seemed "bright" (by that I mean in sunlight and in New Mexico.) It sort of worked against the theme. Will there be different directors? The look might be different in future episodes.

One thing for certain, Mary has the acting chops to carry this show if the network and viewers give it a chance.............ducks

I was hoping that this program would follow great additions like "psych" and " Burn Notice", but it turned out to be a show about a woman that needs ritalin. They try to be funny and smart but it came across crude and rude. The ending was like " hurry up we need to finish up in two minutes let the light go on over her head". Poor writting and acting, very dissappointed.

I was so looking forward to this show and so disappointed by it. My husband and I watched the entire thing hoping against hope it would improve even in the final minutes. No luck. It's a shame because it is a great premise. There are three main problems. The dialogue is dreck that NO actor could deliver and make believable. The actors have absolutely no chemistry with each other. The characters themselves are just so off target.

Mary's character is the only really smart and capable one and she spends far too much time delivering self-pitying, bitchy tirades on how she is the only one working or understanding or whatever. If she didn't surround herself with such a group of goobs that wouldn't be a problem now would it?

Marshall Marshall is odd-looking, bland and one-dimensional. Raphael, the sex buddy is so dumb, weak, predictable and goofy, it's hard to believe she finds him hot in any way. Stan the boss, is a sexual harrassment lawsuit waiting to happen. I have worked many years in federal law enforcement agencies and there is no way any boss would openly buy his subordinate sexy shoes or perfume and still expect to keep his job. He comes off as a buffoon and downright creepy like a stalker waiting to happen. The fact that Marshall Marshall plays along with that odd bit of byplay about how Mary smells and what she wants as a woman just makes him more off target. The Mom and Sister are just too bizarre to picture as having lived in the same house as Mary. The apple doesn't fall THAT far from the tree and Mary appears to be the apple that fell from a corkscrew willow tree. Bobby is the only somewhat believable character but even he is too weak for his implied position.

The main problem appears to be that whoever made this series thinks a strong woman is only believable when surrounded by weaklings. Here's a newsflash...really strong women almost always surround themselves with intelligent, strong people. You can have many smart people and still have them each be interesting.

It's a pity but life's too short to waste watching another episode. Bring on the Burn Notice reruns!

I was sad to see Mary McCormack so misused. The production of the show looked cheap & the dialogue was so lame. It all came across as everyone trying to hard to make their character totally unlikable. Holly Hunter's Grace has many failings, yet we still see that beneath it all she cares for her friends & loves her family - she has redemptive qualitites that allows us to care for her. But none of these characters made me want to explore them any further. I will try to stick with it for several more episodes to see if they can turn this around.

It was okay... not great, it felt a little rushed and cobbled together. Then again, that may be the point, since it looks like Mary's got a lot of crazy stuff going on in her life. She's a pretty wild and crazy gal period.

Taking it as a foundation piece, where we're really just trying to get acquainted with the characters, I'll probably tune in next week. Shows need to get a rhythm going, and sometimes that takes awhile (the current season of Grey's Anatomy being a primo example, the writer's strike was the best thing to happen to that show this season).

If you were offended by the language, well, then this probably isn't the show for you. People talk like that in real life, however incorrect and offensive it may be to others. I

people were expecting another LnO you're probably going to be disappointed. They started the commercials pitching it as a comedy, later suckering us in with the whole drama bits. Methinks that the drama angle sold better, so we may be seeing more of that later in the season.

I actually thought the first episode did a fairly good job of setting up the characters and premise of the series. No, this isn't a big budget program and the critics need to keep that in mind. The language did not bother me - I found it to be in character with people who have a tough job (US Marshalls).

I do agree that the Stan character seems a bit out of place with the other characters. How did such a
weak, unconfident person get to the Chief Inspector? I do like Mary - she's smart, quick-witted and
although a strong person she has her weaknesses like all of us.

I loved the scene when Mary brought the grocery bag with the Playboy magazine inside. The smile on the girl who could now "shop" for her promised boob job cracked me up. My husband gets the same look when he scans through the Automobile magazine. Priceless!

I'll be back to see more because I think the show will hit its stride. The Mary Shannon character is well played by Mary McCormack and I want to see more of her.

I liked it!!!
I'm excited!!!

Course i only saw the second half of the episode because of work but still!

OK premiere and will be watching next week. I like the fact the show has a little edge to it. Setup of the characters was decent and look forward to the writer’s fleshing them out. Stan was brutal but I hope the writers were just opening us up to his foolish love of Mary and will show us a more competent leader going forward.

Neutral on the show.
RIFRAF if you worked many years in federal law enfocement you know that Marshal is spelled with only one "L".

And what is with them calling the FBI the "feds". Any federal agency, including the US Marshals Service, is referred to as "feds".

I thought the mini Stan story was funny, specially when he gave her the 50 in the end, that just cracked me up.

I love MM and I WANT to love this show. I will give it another chance -- well, two, since next week we have a child guest star, ugh -- but I found some real weaknesses here.

1. I have no expertise, but I wonder if anyone on the show does either: Isn't that is one heck of a lot of cocaine. Did the sister knock over a bank... chain?
2. Would U.S. marshals administering the federal witness protection program really call the FBI or anyone else "the feds"?
3. The key to solving the case is contrived. No foreshadowing, no clues, just "hmm, this tchotchke my sister bought includes an Indian saying that she surprisingly remembers correctly in unrecognizable glyphs that include a suspect's name, and it looks exactly like the murder victim's wound which was neither fully shown nor its non-random form previously discussed." Actually, the boy has a credible defense: Perhaps he was framed by someone who expected smarter detectives. If this is the mystery solved in the pilot, I fear what comes next.
4. Recalling reviews of Juno, the "she's so different" dialogue here too is just trying too hard.

All that said, I've set my trusty DVR to record new episodes, fingers crossed; maybe rubbing them on some cheap turquoise jewelry will help.

I really tried to like this show, but it stank.
The actors were good, but all except Mary were were not allowed to show their chops. I really think it can be pinned down to writing and editing (and wardrobe - they put almost everyone in very unflattering clothes)

Disappointing to say the least.
It was terrible. TERRIBLE......................

You're right Fed1. I was composing in WORD to paste into that silly little comment box. Unfortunately I previously added my good friend's name (last name MARSHALL) to my spell check a long time ago, so it didn't pick up on my middle of the night fumble fingers except to ding me on the duplicate word thing. Regardless, several of this series' characters, like my midnight proofreading skills, are pretty far off the believability target. Maybe they will get some talented writing help and rein in this cluster. I certainly hope so because I would love to love the show, but this rocky start is certainly not promising.

What an awful show! It looked so promising in the previews, but I was really disappointed. I won't be back for part two. Maybe I was expecting too much, but after "Monk" and "Burning Notice" this show fall way short.

Steffen

That's funny cause i don't like "Monk" or "Burn Notice"---but i really liked "In Plain Sight".

To each their own.

wow I'm so surprised everyone was disapointed

watching the previews I had low expectations and I absolutely love monk and miss the 4400 terribly, so I went into this show with low expectations but I absolutely loved the first eppy.

I think the actors, especially Mary are extremely talented, the plotline was interesting, I really hope this show gains some momentum and fans cause I really like it!

I really liked the show, and I will be a weekly fan... I think it will be more popular with women for some reason. It reminds me of Crossing Jordan, Bones, and kind of like The Closer....
It is only their first epidsode, so lets give them a few weeks to get the chemistry flowing on set and I bet it becomes a great show!

Yay its good to see more people who like it.

I was frankly disappointed with it, too. My initial thought was, "They cancelled "The 4400" and "The Dead Zone" for this dreck?" I don't know why USA is trying to repackage TNT's awful "Saving Grace", minus the religious factor and maintaining the slut like behavior of the female lead. Neither character is appealing in the least and they don't conduct themselves in a professional manner, nor do they dress properly. One only has to look no farther than the vastly superior series "The Closer". Kyra Sedgewick personifies class and her character Brenda Leigh Johnson is fascinating. There's a reason why the series is the number one show ever on cable.

Wasn’t quite taken with the show, but it had enough to make me want to give it a second look. Mary has that “Sarah-Connor-without-the-charm-thing-going-on.” Plus some of the dialogue was amusing.



Couple of points.

• I work for the feds and YES we do call other agencies “the feds”, ESPECIALLY the ones with easily recognized initials.
• As for complaints about the wardrobe-the general rule is wear suitable, professional attire if you deal with the public. For those of us who do not, the code is don’t-come-to-work-naked.
• As for Stan’s rise to a position of authority. I work with “Stan” he is a Harvard graduate and one of our head honchos. In court he is a hungry Doberman after raw meat—out of court he hasn’t got a social clue.
• Loved the “breast thing”. Besides the obvious humorous aspect of thinking of all the things a person in the program could bargain for, she goes with breast. There is also the point that with all the murder, mayhem, anguish, and unhappiness, you have someone still innocent enough to believe that things will be perfect when she gets her new breast. Talk about a kid-in-a-candy-store.

...they cancelled The 4400 and the Dead Zone specifically for another show? Is this just an assumption or is there fact behind this statement.

I usually enjoy a good crime drama, but to call this show a drama is a gross exaggeration. First, the plot was wretched. The lead character, who portrays a U.S. Marshall, is a woman with dysfunctional social skills and no investigative ability. She goes from one scene to the next trying to succeed by bullying those she is dealing with. Then there was the obligatory sex scene and the scene with her mother, sister and the boyfriend at the pool. Really, was there any reason for either scene?
In summary: Straight bummer. Bad trip. Next time get some more writers.

Are you objecting to the "woman" or "dysfunctional" part? Since she solved the case, you can't be objecting to the investigative part.

And as for the sex scene, thank God. The crying-in-the-car scene afterward, was a glimmer into the fact that there is a person with feelings behind that attitude with a gun.

Also, as for the male friend/whacked out family at the pool scene, how else are we to get to "know" Mary, if we don't get to know the folks who help define her. We have long ago outgrown the kind of shows where the characters don't have a life outside their "setting". Now it's more take your work life home and bring your home life to work type shows.

I agree that the use of the word retarded by a grown women was in poor taste and so tainted my view of the character and the writers that I deleted the show and don't intend to watch future episodes.

I thought it was a ok premier episode. I was pleased with Mary's "take nothing crap" attitude. I will give it another week. I figured out the murder way earilier. I hope that the writers print out a better story next week and challenge us!

I was wondering that too, but hasn't the Dead Zone been off the air for a little while now?

Turned it off after 20 minutes. I agree with gentlekate in the thread above. It just didn't work.

Bad dialogue. Bad posturing. bad approach to a good premise.

I know what you mean, I mean I was telling my family how "cool' it was going to be and it was laim.
If the other episode is going to be like this one forget this show!!!!

Nah ... just me venting! Happens every time the networks cancel a show I like and bring on board something that just doesn't measure up in my eyes. I just feel the money would have been better spent on those other two programs, or at least coming up with something less of a dirivative copycat than this. The talents of Ms. McCormack and Ms. Warren are terribly wasted here.

I'm applauding USA for trying to bring a little edge to their crime-fighting stable. I like Monk and Psych but sometimes I want a little more adult fare. I liked that the show wasn't totally PC and that the lead wasn't portrayed as an asexual goofily funny do-gooder. The premiere was uneven but most new shows need at least 4 episodes for its potential core audience to get it. By the 4^th epi, the cast chemistry should be more polished and storylines improved.

i'm late to the party as I couldn't watch this premiere until this morning. I agree with you docmarc. I didn't watch any of the hype leading up to the series so I did not have any expectations going in. As a rule I don't care for quirky. I tried and failed to get hooked on NBC's "Life" for example. There is something very appealing about Mary Shannon however. I saw very obvious paralells to the CBS hit NCIS but any network/studio could do alot worse than to copy a hit like that. USA obviously sees the value as they now air the reruns. This is the first episode and while I do think that 'Stan' is out of place, I thought the premiere did a good job of introducing us to a diverse group of characters. I don't plan on taking any of this too seriously. The overt spin of the classic When Harry Met Sally orgasm scene absolutely cracked me up. I thought it was a fun show populated by 'beautiful people' from a variety of ethnic backgrounds. i didn't see them as derogatory of their various groups nor did I take offense at the profanity. Not everyone's language is as clean as others think it should be. I do understand that the use of the word 'retard' offends people and it's not a term I sling around in everyday life either.

I'm eager to see more.

Great points to share. So glad you posted JaredD.

I agree with this critique..worse heroine ever...worse dialogue ever... worse show ever..But Raphel was all good.

Well if you go in hating it...it might be considered a bias, cause you believe it killed off two shows you liked.

When JAG ended and then the Spin-Off NCIS took flight. I hated NCIS automatically.

My only problem was with editing, I am a fast reader, but anytime there were words on the screen, the case files and more especally the letter at the end, there wasn't enough time to read them, the editor needs to add about 3-5 secunds for any Scene with words in it.

Isn't that being a little nitpicky? The show isn't going to be exactly like the US Marshals and they got to add more drama to attract more viewers.

I had to register to put my 2 cents in.

I loved it. It was fluffy, funny, dramatic. I saw a lot of you slammed this show for not being real.
It's a tv show, all I want is an hour of entertainment, and I got that.
Scenery was georgous, the characters have potential, I even like the dorky boss.

With the chance of offending some people, I will make the statement that I was not bothered by the word "retarded". I think, and that is just my opinion, it has become so strict that you cannot say a dang thing anymore unless it is politically correct.

I'll be tuning in next week, I want to see what happens with baby sister and her stash....should be good, if Mary finds out she'll drown her in the pool herself.