Bionic Beauty: Why Is NBC Downplaying Michelle Ryan's Looks?

I might be the only one out there but I really, really enjoyed Jekyll, Steven Moffat's take on the classic Robert Louis Stevenson story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, which wrapped up its six-hour storyline this past weekend. (Shame on you for missing it!)

While I've been fairly effusive in my praise of the BBC's limited series, I was struck by something in watching the taut thriller these past few weeks: why is it that Michelle Ryan--who plays Dr. Jackman's lovelorn psychiatric nurse/companion Katherine--looks so absolutely smoking in this production and so... dowdy in her new NBC series, Bionic Woman?

Sure, her Bionic Woman character, Jamie Sommers, is meant to be painfully average, a true sign of her role as an Everywoman, but does she have to be quite so average? Our girl Jamie may have just had a significant portion of her body upgraded to bionics following the whole attempted murder/car accident incident, but I am sure she can find the time, between leaping tall buildings and mixing drinks at some drive bar, to put on some eyeshadow, slip into something from the Buffy Summers collection of crime fighting, and glam it up a bit.

I'm positive that somewhere down the line, Jamie will make the crossover from smart and sensible to sleek and sexy but it's a shame that the series' pilot portrayed Jamie as rather a bit of a sad sack in sweatpants. It's not just the outfits, mind you, it's the general aura of naturalistic beauty that the series' producers are aiming for; had Ryan's beauty been a little more attainable from the start that might have made more sense. As it is now, it's just simply shocking to see how completely different these two characters look. (Not quite her Charlize Theron-in-Monster moment, but you get the gist.)

What do you think? Is NBC giving Michelle Ryan's beauty the credit it deserves or are they trying to downplay her looks a little too much?

What's On Tonight

8 pm: Power of 10 (CBS); Live from New York: The First 5 Years of Saturday Night Live (NBC; 8-10 pm); Gilmore Girls (CW); Just for Laughs/Just for Laughs (ABC); Bones (FOX)

9 pm: Big Brother 8 (CBS); Beauty and the Geek (CW); i-Caught (ABC); House (FOX)

10 pm: NCIS (CBS); Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (NBC); Primetime (ABC)

What I'll Be Watching

9 pm: Eureka on Sci Fi.

Season Two of Eureka continues tonight with "E=MC...?," in which an experiment typically goes amuck and the consequence? Oh, just the dawn of the universe being re-created. Did I mention that some antisocial genius in Eureka will have to save the town? Yeah, there's that too.

10 pm: Flipping Out on Bravo.

Okay, I know this is unexpected but I can't help but watch the crazy people in this topsy-turvey world. In this week's episode, Jeff rushes to try to close not one, but two deals and move the focus of his burgeoning business to include Palm Springs. But when the cat's away, the mice will play and Jeff's staff creates some significant damage with their partying ways.