4 September 2008 10:36 AM, PDT | From Studio Briefing - Film News | See recent Studio Briefing - Film News news
Despite receiving mostly mediocre-to-poor reviews, TNT's new Stephen Bochco-produced cable drama Raising the Bar drew 7.735 million viewers, thereby setting ratings records for a series debut on an ad-supported cable network Monday night. The previous record was set in 2004 by the USA Network's premiere of The 4400 in 2004, which attracted 7.407 million. In a statement, Turner Entertainment Networks President Steve Koonin said that the series "is an important part of TNT's ongoing plans to take on broadcast networks by increasing our lineup of high-profile original series." However, many of the reviews chided Bochco for the series' lack of originality. Verne Gay in Newsday wrote that "it all still feels a little too familiar and old-fashioned." David Hinckley in the New York Daily News wrote that it fit "into the mold formed by dozens of lawyer shows before it." Similarly Nancy DeWolf Smith wrote in the Wall Street Journal that it "doesn't really break a mold." Some reviews were stronger. "The first episode is simply, flat-out terrible," commented Robert Bianco in USA Today. Robert Lloyd in the Los Angeles Times called it "a mediocre misfire." Ellen Gray in the Philadelphia Daily News dismissed it as "warmed-over Bochco." Matt Roush in TV Guide described it as "shockingly ordinary." And Rob Owen in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote that it "is as pedestrian as cable dramas come."
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