Tapeworthy: Fall TV Preview - Cane

Cane - Pilot - directed by Christian Duguay, written by Cynthia Cidre
Premieres Tuesday Sept. 25th 10pm, CBS/Global

Cane is an intriguing look into the exciting world of the Duque family who runs Duque Rum and must deal in the raw world of the sugar cane business. Oh the intrigue, the drama, the sweet sweet double dealings. If it were any more exciting, I might actually get out of the coma I fell into while watching the pilot.

Cane is the next great hope for a dramatic soap with a mostly Latino cast, and stars pretty much every great known Latino actor who isn't already on a TV show. It's a Jimmy Smits (The West Wing, NYPD Blue) vehicle. It stars Hector Elizondo (Chicago Hope) and Rita Moreno (West Side Story). It's Nestor Carbonell's new chance at a hit TV show (that wasn't already existing, like Lost, and Suddenly Susan doesn't count). It also stars Polly Walker (Rome) and Alona Tal (Veronica Mars). So obviously it has a talented cast. If only it weren't so BOOOOOOOORRRRRRRING.

There are sexier youngsters in the family amongst the esteemed older cast, but there's not enough soapy elements and too much boring business talk that pour a cold shower over the show. I'm sorry but the sugar cane business ain't as sweet as it sounds, and what they wanted as a hot and steamy drama seems more sticky and damp. Plus, there's only so much Latino brooding I can take. I'm all for more ethnic representation on TV but as a non-Latino, just being the Latino drama isn't enough (not that I think I would want to see a purely Asian drama either) to draw me in, and the entire show suffers from a basic plotline that seems to lumber about at a molasses pace. On the other hand, one of my current faves Brothers & Sisters started out the same slow way, but on the other hand, I mainly stuck it out because I knew Greg Berlanti was jumping on board after their 3rd episode and was able to turn itself around.

Cane gets 1/2 star (1/2*) and avoids a total 0 mainly because it didn't offend me, in fact, if it did, I might have had a bigger reaction than I did watching the pilot, which put me right to zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Here is the video clip of Cane: