USA’s New Original Series White Collar – October 23 at 10/9c
Take one part smart, one part funny and add in a dash of charm and you have USA Network’s newest series – White Collar. I received a screener copy of the pilot and wasn’t sure how I’d enjoy the series. I shouldn’t have been worried, the show is endearing, clever, smart and enjoyable!
White Collar is a show that fits in well with USA’s other smart shows – Monk, Psych, Burn Notice, and Royal Pains – without being a clone of those shows. It follows the unlikely partnership of a FBI agent and a high-class thief named Neal Caffrey. The G-man, Peter Burke (played by Tim DeKay) is our middle-class hero who is comitted to his work. Caffrey is the effortless con man, who seems to be able to get anything he wants.
Matt Bomer, who many of you know as Bryce from Chuck, brings his sexy/snarky self to the role of Neal Caffrey, a character who is a mixture of The Saint and Frank Abagnale Jr. He plays off of his co-start, Tim DeKay (Carnivale) at a level that you usually don’t see in a pilot of a TV series. The back and forth between DeKay and Bomer seems like it’s come from years of working together, not a few weeks. And that’s the heart of why I loved the pilot for White Collar – there’s a great relationship between the actors (even the secondary characters interaction with the main characters is believable and fun to watch).
This was one pilot that I couldn’t stop watching. I was never bored, nor did I feel the story dragged at any point. I was kept enthralled with the story from start to finish. I also loved some of the fun camera angles and editing choices that kept the show feeling fresh. Especially watching Caffery deal with his new role and seeing Burke deal with his new partner. Despite the differences between the two both men have points of similarity that makes their conversations interesting.
It was also a pleasant surprise to see Mark Sheppard (Firefly/Battlestar Galatica/Dollhouse) in a guest role. His role is fun, if briefer than I would have liked (I think this pulls Sheppard’s ‘bad guy’ role up to the double digits).
In all, this is a series I can see jumping to the top of my “must watch” list and I think you should see it too.
Learn more at USA Network’s website by clicking here.