First Impressions: Runaway

Runaway has a lot to live up to; first it’s one of only two new shows, and the only new drama, on the inaugural season of the CW. Second it’s from the guy that brought us Sex in the City (and by us, I mean not me because I never saw a second) but couldn’t be more different. Third the show is partly the reason Everwood is no longer on the air, along with its lead-in 7th Heaven. The show itself is basically The Fugitive with a dude trying to clear his name of a crime he didn’t commit but this time with the whole family in tow.

The dad in question is Marky Mark’s older brother and crappy music maker in his own right Donnie Wahlberg. I try to avoid how old it makes me feel that one of the New Kids on the Block is old enough now to have fake teenagers. But on the bright side, at least he isn’t old enough that he insists that he be called “Donald” Walhberg. The matriarch of the family is Leslie Hope who ironically showed up on Everwood last season looking like she would be a love interest for Dr. Brown only to disappear suddenly without a mention.

The younger members of the family include eldest son played by Dustin Milligan who has Final Destination 3 and The Butterfly Effect 2 on his resume, two movies I didn’t even know had sequels. Playing the middle child once again is Sarah Ramos, best know for her role as Patty Pryor on American Dreams, and seems to be playing basically the same character only forty years later, with slutter clothes (you got to get with the times), and that whole on the lamb thing (she would have the cops crawling all over her). The family is rounded out by youngster Nathan Gamble in his first major role.

The show actually starts twenty-four days after daddy dearest jumped bail from a murder rap that it looked like he would be unable to beat. After almost a month of living out of motels, it’s time for the family to rent a house out in the middle of nowhere. It is still to be seen how long the in this town or how often they will have to move around. Runaway is actually much better than I expected even though it’s bogged down in some clichés like the dad who needs a life altering event to spend more time with his family. Then the crime itself looks to be your run of the mill dude has some extra-curricular activates with his apprentice and she turns up dead and his prints turns up on the murder weapon. But the fun in the show could be trying to figure who messes up first. Eldest brother already called his left behind girlfriend twice and the youngest doesn’t seem to totally remember his story. But my money is on Patty Prior who will let something slip while trying to impress a boy.

Verdict: I really wasn’t expecting the show to be watch able, so it may be a toss-up between Runaway and it’s timeslot rival Heroes, a show that seems to be on almost just as many “Best of the Season” lists as it’s on “worst of” ones. Runaway premieres tonight at 9:00 on the CW but if you decide to watch Heroes instead you can catch an encore tomorrow (Tuesday) at 9:00 in Veronica Mars’s usual timeslot. Speaking of Veronica Mars, starting tomorrow you should be able to watch the third season premiere on MSN a week before it airs.