666 Park Avenue - series premiere review

666 Park Avenue

 

Premise   (ABC) Based on the book series by Gabriella Pierce , 666 Park Avenue opens with Jane Van Veen (Rachael Taylor) and Henry Martin (Dave Annable), an idealistic young couple from the Midwest, arriving in New York City, the glamorous center of industry and media, they are offered the opportunity to manage the historic Drake. Jane, a small town girl with big ambitions, always knew she wanted to be an architect. Henry, a member of the Mayor's staff, is grounded, intelligent and tenacious. They are lured by the intoxicating lifestyle of New York's wealthy elite.

 

Gavin, who has many skeletons in his own closet, is at the height of his world and commands the dark power of The Drake. Olivia (Vanessa Williams), his beautiful but enigmatic, supportive wife, wears her elegance, wealth and position in society as armor… but cracks will slowly be revealed.

Jane and Henry not only fall prey to the machinations of Gavin and Olivia, but unwittingly live in the dark embrace of the building's supernatural forces which endanger the lives of its residents. These include Brian Leonard (Robert Buckley), a young playwright pining for his early success and promise. Brian's wife, Louise (Mercedes Masöhn), is a rising hot star in the world of fashion photography. Alexis Blume (Helena Mattsson) is a troubled young woman who is the picture of obsession -- what is her real connection to Gavin, and what part will she play in Brian and Louise's life? Tony DeMeo (Erik Palladino), The Drake's doorman, is the eyes and ears of the building. And then there is 14-year-old Nona Clark (Samantha Logan), who has a blossoming psychic ability, allowing her to look into the future of her fellow Drake occupants.

 

First impression: 666 Park Avenue is a show that is pretending to be scary and creepy without actually ever being either.  Don’t get me wrong, there are definitely some scenes that are straight out of a good horror movie, but they seem to come out of nowhere.  In some places there is no back story and in other places the storyline is too obvious and makes the audience feel like we are being spoon fed the details. It’s like there is someone off on the sidelines yelling “be scared…..NOW” and “do you get it now?”  YES we get it! Someone needs to tell writers Gabriella Pierce and David Wilcox that the biggest part of creating that creepy feeling….is subtlety!

Cast:  666 Park Avenue stars Rachael Taylor (Charlie's Angels, Grey's Anatomy, Transformers) as Jane Van Veen, Dave Annable (Brothers & Sisters, Reunion) as Henry Martin, with Vanessa Williams (Desperate Housewives, Ugly Betty, Shaft, Soul Food) as Olivia Doran and Terry O'Quinn (Lost, Millennium, Hawaii Five-0, Alias, The West Wing, Jag) as Gavin Doran.

Overall Feel: 666 Park Avenue is creepy but not in a scary way…this show needs a lot of work to make it a success. I’m already unsure if I am going to tune in for a second episode.

Prediction: The trailer for 666 Park Avenue gave viewers high expectations and it did not come close to meeting them.  I don’t think that this will make it past 5 episodes unless something changes drastically.  

Rating (1=low, 10=high): I give this 5 out of 10