Tuning Out (the Voices): An Advance Review of NBC's "The Listener"

It seems that most broadcasters these days are investigating how to make international co-productions work for them. CBS has scored with Flashpoint, FOX is attempting to make Mental work as a summer series, and NBC is about to debut the latest international co-production, The Listener, tonight.

The Listener, which kicks off with two back-to-back episodes tonight, is co-produced with Canada's CTV and Shaftesbury Films. It stars Craig Olejnik (The Timekeeper) as Toby Logan, a generically handsome twenty-something paramedic who is concealing a deep secret: he's actually a gifted telepath able to read people's minds.

Toby has had to keep this ability a secret for quite some time. In fact, the only person who is aware of his gift is his mentor Dr. Ray Mercer (24's Colm Feore), who found Toby when he was a boy and urges him to keep his telepathic abilities a secret from everyone, including those closest to him, like his partner Oz (Billable Hours' Ennis Esmer), ex-girlfriend Dr. Olivia Fawcett (Da Vinci's City Hall's Mylène Dinh-Robic), and potential love interest Detective Charlie Marks (Diary of a Mad Black Woman's Lisa Marcos).

But Toby can't help himself from using his powers to help people, given his particular line of work, and he's seen either voluntarily scanning people's minds to gain information about their condition or situation (as in the pilot episode when he realizes that a car accident victim has had her son kidnapped) or is overwhelmed by their raw emotion and pain and is summoned to the scene.

All of which could potentially give the staid medical drama a jolt of adrenaline, except for the fact that The Listener is perhaps one of the cheesiest and most predictable dramas that NBC has aired in a very long time. It's the type of series where everything is so spelled out that within the opening minute of the series, Toby "overhears" an attractive woman look him over and think "If only he could read my mind." Yes, it's exactly that type of series.

There's not a minute in the opening episode of The Listener that isn't bogged down in medical or supernatural drama cliche and further adding insult to injury is the fact that Olejnik's affable Toby is surrounded by a bunch of bland, one-dimensional characters right out of central casting. There's the female detective with a chip on her shoulder, the paramedic partner who says everything that's on his mind, an ex-girlfriend who bemoans Toby's intimacy issues and wishes he would tell her what he's thinking.

What follows is a rather dour and formulaic medical procedural where Toby attempts to save lives, solve crimes, and fix problems for strangers using his mental abilities while also attempting to blend into the background for fear of being discovered for what he really is. And rather than have his inexplicable abilities open the door for intriguing subplots or quirky plot twists, it seems to only further oppress the action; Toby's abilities are never used for anything other than crime-solving/life-saving and he comes off as a bit of a stick-in-the-mud.

Production values are exactly what you might expect from a series such as this and the entire thing just feels tired and dated. There's absolutely nothing innovative or exciting about The Listener, which is a shame as it's one of the few scripted series being launched this summer on the broadcast networks. Instead, The Listener reeks of being a cheap co-production that can fill the timeslot for a few weeks before NBC does away with the 10 pm hour altogether.

Ultimately, The Listener is a bit of a throwback to late 80s/early 90s Saturday early evening syndicated programs. There are no real stakes here, no emotional connection to the characters or their situations, and nothing that will get me to tune in again to find out what happens next. You don't need a mind-reader to gather that.



The Listener launches tonight at 9 pm ET/PT on NBC with two back-to-back episodes before settling in at 10 pm ET/PT next week.