‘Nash Bridges’ Chock-Full Of Cliches
Don Johnson returns to series television, playing a San Francisco cop with a knack for using a little magic to save his skin now and then.
“Nash Bridges,” CBS at 10, contains enough police-action cliches to be charged with a felony. It opens with a scene that’s right out of “Lethal Weapon” as the devil-may-care detective displays nerves of steel in a wacko death-wish encounter with a gang of murderous computer-chip smugglers.
Minutes later, the guy behind the computer deal is seen having a “friendly” conversation with a hit man involved in the blown deal. You won’t be surprised to see the kingpin end the chat by casually ordering the guy killed. But thrown into the mix is Johnson’s disarming Missouri-boy personality and Bridges’ ability to escape an impossible situation with a dash of improbable, but surprising, sleight of hand.
Also helping redeem the hour is Cheech Marin, who will appear in the recurring role of Bridges’ ex-partner, Joe, a private eye who often ends up involved in Bridges’ cases. Marin, all cleaned up and out from under his sometimes crude ethnic stereotype, is really more fun to watch than Johnson.
You get the feeling that Johnson is feeling his way along. And he’s carrying way too much of the load; it’s all about Bridges with very little development of the other characters.
The hour gets a lift from a wild car chase through the hilly streets of San Francisco, even though it has virtually nothing to do with the plot.
Highlights
“Due South,” CBS at 8: In a wild episode, Fraser (Paul Gross) goes undercover as a female teacher at a Catholic girls school to investigate a student’s disappearance.
“Family Matters,” ABC at 8: Eddie and Waldo (Darius McCrary, Shawn Harrison) visit a bar where they’ve heard members of the Chicago Bears hang out, but they end up as scam victims. Meanwhile, Myra (Michelle Thomas) accidentally adds Urkel’s extra-strong glue to a homemade pimple ointment she applies to Laura’s (Kellie Shanygne Williams) face.
“Muppets Tonight,” ABC at 8:30: John Goodman (“Roseanne”) guest-stars.
“The X-Files,” FOX at 9: A gruesome case takes Mulder and Scully (David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson) to San Francisco’s Chinatown, where new immigrants are found murdered, sans a few internal organs.
“‘20/20,” ABC at 10: Barbara Walters follows up last week’s interview with O.J. Simpson prosecutor Christopher Darden with a conversation with Simpson defense lawyer Robert Shapiro.
Cable Calls
“Basketball,” ESPN at 4: It’s the women’s NCAA national semifinals, from Charlotte, N.C. Tennessee meets Connecticut at 4, and Georgia takes on Stanford at 6:30. ESPN has the championship game Sunday at 3:30.
“Biography,” A&E at 5 and 9: A repeat of “Huey Long: The Kingfish” is followed at 6 and 10 by 1949’s “All the King’s Men.” The superb film, starring Broderick Crawford, is based on Robert Penn Warren’s Pulitzer Prize novel that mirrors Long’s career.
“Second Noah,” DISN at 8: When this ABC series debuted on the network, I wrote that it was the kind of wholesome show that everyone says prime time needs more of - but that no one would watch.
It hasn’t paid off in the ratings, so Disney is airing a four-hour-long marathon.
“Larry King Live,” CNN at 6 and 11: How’s this for an unbiased talk-show host? House Speaker Newt Gingrich fills in for King, who has the night off.