It was just the other night when I watched Catherine Bell in a Lifetime movie featuring a woman who could kick butt and be a perfect mom too. Somebody at the network must be determined to make moms feel like super heroes because there's a similar vibe on "The Protector" (10 tonight), a new series that starts tonight.
The show stars Ally Walker ("Profiler") as Gloria Sheppard, a homicide detective and recently divorced mother of two sons who has moved in with her recovering brother (Chris Payne Gilbert). Her partner is played by Tisha Campbell-Martin and her boss is played by Miguel Ferrer.
It's clear from the beginning that Gloria has a rep for being "difficult" which is TV talk for "smarter than everyone else," "always right," and "does things her way." Despite that, the people she works with, even her partner, question her every move. She's also supposed to be quirky, which doesn't really play out. The closest she comes to that is when she lets her kids throw knives at a target, which seems more like irresponsible. Although she has this demanding job, she still has time (and the ability!) to stay up all night making her youngest son a costume for a school play.
Despite the fact that at the center of all this is a murder investigation, the tone of "The Protector" is light with touches of "aww, isn't that sweet?" (Gloria's kids call her 'The Protector' because they feel safe when she's around.) And the murder plot isn't all that complicated; if you've watched your fair share of "Law & Orders" you could have written this plot with your eyes closed.
Walker, Campbell-Martin and Ferrer can do better than this; Ferrer, pretty much spends the first episode looking stern. Walker and Campbell-Martin are clearly trying, but the writing doesn't give them much to work with.
In the end, "The Protector" is a mild diversion; it won't hurt you to watch it, but it's not appointment TV. On the other hand, it might enrage you. After all, it's pretty tough to measure up to knife-throwing, crime-solving, super-seamstress Gloria.
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