Program: Eli Stone

Network: ABC

Creators: Greg Berlanti & Marc Guggenheim

Primary Cast: Johnny Lee Miller, Natasha Henstridge, Laura Benati, James Saito, Victor Garber

Eli Stone is a lawyer, and a damn good one. There’s only one small problem. He’s a prophet who has visions of people who need his help. Either that, or he is hallucinating because of that pesky little inoperable brain aneurysm he inherited from his father.

Johnny Lee Miller (Eli Stone) is curiously charming as he tries to figure out exactly what is happening to him. His visions take him on an emotional ride. Memories of his father assail him, who shared a similar condition but was unable to cope with it and turned to alcohol in order to still the visions. Not wanting to put hisfiancé through what his father put him through, he walks out on their engagement in order to save her the pain his own mother faced each and every day.

This strong, engaging through line connects the episodes and allows the characters and their relationships to evolve, but make no mistake… though there is an ongoing plot (including a potential love triangle… ooo drama!), this show is about the visions Eli has and how he struggles to interpret their meaning. So far, they have all pointed him in the direction of a specific case to take on, and this, I think, will likely grow old after a while and be a rather severe limitation for the show’s longevity. But for now, with the veritable wasteland that is network TV, this mid-season launch is a breath of fresh air. There are few shows on TV that I actually pay attention to, even in the best of times, so it’s nice to find something that isn’t a reality-based embarrassment show or the 97^th spin-off of CSI or Law and Order.

I’m not sure why I started watching this. I don’t have much time for TV, and record everything because Prime Time for TV is also Prime Time for grading and writing my thesis. But something about it caught my eye so I tossed it on the DVR’s record list. What a surprise! I was sold the moment Eli had his first vision… George Michael singing and dancing on the coffee table in his living room. This quirky, schticky little show has me laughing out loud each and every episode. And that is enough to keep me coming back to it each week.

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