While other shows that have debuted this year are highly cerebral and feature black-and-white exercises in plot, pacing and character development, Fox's "Jonny Zero" is a chaotic blur of colorful fluff.

It's not especially thought provoking or unique. The show is a private investigator drama with the same gritty feel of the classics: Kojak, Baretta and other television figures that are basically good guys who don't play by the same rules as the audience that watches them. There are the heroic plots, the unusual means, even the wacky sidekick and predictable bad guys.

One problem with the setup is that it's been performed better both in the wider history of television and with more recent innovative detective shows like "Monk," where the rules are an obstacle rather than a tool to accomplish the objective. Another problem is that "Zero" comes off basically as a piece of straight genre work without any refreshing spins on the storied private investigators of old. Were it not for the sometimes forced dialogue, average acting and chaotic film editing, these would be benefits, not weaknesses.

A lot of modern television tries to force monumental innovations into frameworks that weren't made to fit them (see also, reality television and game shows). What "Zero" shoots for as a classic television crime drama is admirable in a television world of characters drawn in permanent-marker simplicity. Where it fails is in the execution.

Jonny Calvo, the show's protagonist, played by Frankie G, would be believable if he weren't so hard to understand. It's not that Jonny is a criminal and thus inaccessible to the average viewer; it's that you literally can't understand what he is saying most of the time.

Then there is GQ (yes, that's his real name), who plays Ed Random, Jonny's sidekick. His acting is the stilted fingernails on the chalkboard that puts the show on a trajectory slightly lower than that of the classics.

The film editing is apparently cut in an attempt to make the show appear as gritty as possible, which leads to dizzying camera blurs and confusing angles.

The most aesthetically pleasing technical aspect of the show is the soundtrack, assembled from a mix of modern hip-hop, funk and Latin groove bands. The terrible editing combines with the interesting music that makes "Zero" more of a gritty music video than anything resembling a passable sitcom.

As it stands, the show would benefit from the tragic and untimely (preferably painful) demise of Random and steadier hands on the camera tripod. If Frankie G could clear up his English long enough to film a 60-minute episode, the show could potentially become a classic.

Grade: BC

This article appeared in The Marquette Tribune on Feb. 3 2005.,”Brian O'Connor”

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