TV Review: TGIT’s “The Catch” is Fun, But is it Sustainable?

Even though How to Get Away with Murder has a shorter season than more TV dramas, surely that wasn’t going to let ABC ruin their #TGIT, all Shondaland programming block, right? That’s why tonight the alphabet network will debut The Catch, starring Mireille Enos (Big Love, The Killing) and Peter Krause (Six Feet Under, Sports Night). While Ms. Rhimes didn’t create the program originally, she does executive produce it and her influence can surely be felt throughout, making it a perfect companion to the other Thursday night shows.

The Catch tells the tale of Alice Vaughan — a P.I. with a specialty in catching fraudsters and is very good at her job. On the home front, she’s also engaged to the man of her dreams. Naturally, with this being a pilot and a Shondaland one at that, both sides of her life are jeopardized when we learn that her lover is not who he says he is and ends up leaving her with nothing. What’s next? Revenge.

Watching the pilot for The Catch I was reminded of the first season of Scandal. While this wasn’t a procedural like that show used to be, both were fun and exciting even if you may have seen some of the “big twists” coming. However, as someone who ended his Scandal binge after laboriously completing season 2, I can only wonder if what ABC promos are dubbing “the sexiest game of cat and mouse on television” will grow stale 20, 50, 100 episodes in.

Another reason to be fearful about the future of The Catch is the supporting cast. While Krause and Enos are great both together and apart, there was nothing overly exciting about the company they kept. While Olivia Pope’s gladiators each bring something to table, Vaughan’s coworkers seem to come up empty-handed for the most part. However, I did enjoy Jay Hayden in his role, but that’s probably just residual fondness I had of him on Hulu’s Battleground (am I the only one who remembers that show?). In defense of the others, I did only get to screen the pilot, so hopefully their characters get to grow and develop in subsequent episodes.

THE CATCH - "Pilot" - Alice Vaughan (Mireille Enos) is LA's top private investigator - and the one woman you don't want to mess with. But when her fiancé (Peter Krause) cons her out of millions and disappears, Alice goes on a private mission for payback. No matter where it leads or the secrets she must keep along the way, Alice will stop at nothing to catch her man. From the producers of "Scandal," "Greys Anatomy" and "How to Get Away with Murder," "The Catch" is a one-hour drama starring Mireille Enos, Peter Krause, Alimi Ballard, Jay Hayden, Jacky Ido, Rose Rollins, Elvy Yost and Sonya Walger. It is executive-produced by Shonda Rhimes, Betsy Beers, Allan Heinberg and Julie Anne Robinson. "The Catch" premieres Thursday, March 24, 2016 at 10pm ET/PT on the ABC Television Network. (ABC/Richard Cartwright) MIREILLE ENOS, PETER KRAUSE

Overall I can’t say that I didn’t have a good time watching The Catch. That’s high praise considering they did make me sit through all of Pitbull’s “Fireball” which was really just plain rude. But the real question is whether or not the fun can last. Personally, I’ll be waiting to stream this season once it’s over to find out.

The Catch joins ABC’s Thursday night lineup tonight, airing at 10 p.m.

Kyle Burbank
Kyle is a writer living in Springfield, MO. His deep love of Disney and other pop culture finds its way into his stories, scripts, and tweets. His first book "The E-Ticket Life: Stories, Essays, and Lessons Learned from My Decidedly Disney Travels" is available in paperback and for Kindle. http://amzn.to/1CStAhV