Now who didn’t enjoy “Rush Hour?” The movies were comedic classics. Sure, the third was a bit much and included a lot of rehashing the same jokes, but the series was still a strong story that has continued to amuse audiences; the story of two drastically different personalities from two completely different cultures being forced to work together.
Inspired by this idea and the success of the films, CBS green lit a series based on the franchise and the pilot episode aired on the network at the end of March. The series however, is just a blatant copy of the original to the point where fans of the movie would be able to point to scenes that took place in the movies.
The series begins with a plot that combines the stories from the first two movies. After a mishap at his agency causes him to become a laughing stock, the chief of the LAPD and the FBI forces Agent Carter, played by Justin Hires (“21 Jump Street”), to watch after a well-respected foreign officer, Lee, played by Jon Foo (“WEAPONiZED”), to distract him in order to get involved with the case of missing Chinese statues and dead officers. It is such an obvious rip that the script for that pilot was probably written after the scripts for the first two films fell into a blender and these ideas flew out of the top.
The actors for the characters seem to be the off-brand versions of the actors who made the movie series stand out. Hires does have a few moments where he can get a laugh out of viewers, but it is nothing more than what was done by Chris Tucker, the original Agent Carter.
The one moment where his character stands out is where he sings about locking a man in a trunk, but it is quickly removed from thoughts when viewers have to see him and the man give a reaction to a destroyed flat screen that is obviously scripted to the point that one wonders if they even bothered to spend more than an half hour casting or rehearsing for the scene.
Foo has the action skills of a young Jackie Chan, but has the acting skills and comedic timing of Chan when he was a member of the adult movie industry.
The supporting cast of the series doesn’t help brighten things either. Many just act as tools to move the plot along for the episode. Aimee Garcia (“RoboCop”) plays Carter’s ex-partner whose only exception from the character from the movie is that she plays a mother.
Page Kennedy (“Blue Mountain State: The Rise of Thadland”), best known for playing the college quarterback Radon in the movie and the series “Blue Mountain State” should have stayed on his college campus. His character’s scenes with the other two are among the unfunniest in the episode. It is as if someone is trying to make the viewer laugh. Forced comedy; isn’t comedy, it barely counts as writing.
Finally, Wendy Malick (“Hot in Cleveland”) plays the police chief who is definitely under used in the episode. As a veteran of so many different shows, she could have seriously delivered if she had more of an opportunity to be funny.
“Rush Hour” could have been a great concept for a show if the writers decided to change things around from the original source. Rehashing isn’t a way to make a great comedy. The series could have been a hit had it adapted and presented new ideas. Unfortunately viewers who saw this episode just get to watch the lesser version of a hit, disappointing everyone.
Rating: 1.5 out of 5
