Review: 'Profiler' - 10/17/1998

NBC is fond of claiming that the cast and writers of a show don't matter. According to the network weasels, what matters are the producers, and the inevitable input from the suits. "Look at Law And Order," they say. "Despite all sorts of cast changes, producer Dick Wolf has kept the show together."

Unfortunately, none of the people at NBC currently seems to possess that sort of talent.

Exhibit one in the case against the suits is the NBC series "Profiler," which has been fiddled, prodded and second-guessed into a state of complete irrelevance. There aren't many shows that could be three seasons in and still not have the slightest hint of an idea what they're supposed to be about.

The show was developed as a nod in the direction of popular motion pictures such as "Silence Of The Lambs." Ally Walker was cast as "Samantha Waters," an FBI profiler who is pursued by Jack, the serial killer who killed her husband and now is stalking her. And the producers stuck her in an ensemble cast, as part of the VCTF, the bureau's Violent Crimes Task Force.

The problem with all of this is that the show has been fiddled with until it's unrecognizable. The series has been through a myriad of producers, executive producers, supervising producers and special assistants to the producer. And what's worse, the network has chipped in with its bright executive ideas. The series is produced in association with NBC Studios, so the suits are never far away. I visited the set about a month or so before it debuted and already the network execs were writing endless streams of memos, suggesting the many ways the show could be "fixed" before it even premiered.

NBC certainly has a right to influence the production, but when that many voices have a say, you end up with a hellchild of a series, a show that is a compromise that pleases no one.

One recent example of that has been the fight back and forth about "Jack". Depending on the week, he has either been a pivotal character, or someone who is only seen for a few seconds towards the end of an episode. He's portrayed as a genius murderer who is always one step in front of the law, and yet he's made bone headed decisions at every juncture.

And with NBC pushing to keep him in the show, its forced the writing staff to manipulate the facts and characters in all sorts of conflicting directions. They've attempted to make the VCTF crew seem more well-rounded, bringing in an ill-conceived series of threads involving the supporting cast. And when staff hired Traci Lords last season to play Jack's partner as Crime Jill, NBC's Don Ohlmeyer reportedly pressured producers to minimize her role--a move which made most of the first half of the season irrelevant.

To show how manipulative and hollow the writing has gotten, consider the pleading promos that were airing last week on the network. "Jack Gets Caught!!! We Promise!! You WILL Get To See The REAL Jack!!!" It's all quite sad and came off as if the network was really telling their viewers, "Sorry, we promise not to screw you again."

Indeed, Jack was caught, but in a fairly pedestrian way. After two years of chasing, he might as well have shouted his identity from the rooftops. And Sam makes some weird mental leap, and manages to track him down. I'd go into it with more detail, but frankly, I could barely care about it while it was airing.

"Profiler" is no "Law And Order." Right now, it's not even much of a TV show.