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'Undercovers' - 'Pilot': Someone's a little too good at sexpionage

What did everybody think of the new JJ Abrams spy series?

By Alan Sepinwall Wednesday, Sep 22, 2010 9:00 PM

<p>Boris Kodjoe in the "Undercovers" pilot.</p> <br />

Boris Kodjoe in the "Undercovers" pilot.


Credit: NBC

Yesterday, I reviewed the pilot of NBC's "Undercovers." Now it's your turn. What did you think of Boris, Gugu, Gerald McRaney, Ben Schwartz (Jean-Ralphio from "Parks and Rec"), et al? Do you find the word "sexpionage" innately funny? You gonna watch again?

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Alan Sepinwall
Sr. Editor, What's Alan Watching
Alan Sepinwall has been reviewing television since the mid-'90s, first for Tony Soprano's hometown paper, The Star-Ledger, and now for HitFix. His new book, "The Revolution Was Televised," about the last 15 years of TV drama, is for sale at Amazon. He can be reached at sepinwall@hitfix.com
Related Searches: Undercovers, Alan Sepinwall

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  • Imdb_talkback_profile

    stepliana

    If nothing else, I'll keep watching because Gugu and Boris are BEAUTIFUL. It may be shallow, but it's true. It's a bit clunky, but I've watched worse.

    September 22, 2010 at 9:22PM EST Reply to Comment

    • That's pretty much exactly what I think -- these are two of the most gorgeous people on TV, and the show's entertaining enough.

      September 23, 2010 at 8:13PM EST
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    RedStripe

    Decent. Action was just average for a spy show, not much humor, but the plot was alright and the 'sexpionage' was entertaining. Certainly not a home run, and it doesn't come close to being better than Chuck or Burn Notice, but it could end up being a decent show.

    September 22, 2010 at 9:37PM EST Reply to Comment
  • The_boondocks_a_pimp_name_slickback_talkback_profile

    tigger500

    There were some nice moments. It'll get my customary four episodes to hook me or make me give up on it.

    September 22, 2010 at 9:44PM EST Reply to Comment
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    It figures!

    I liked it enough to watch next week. I am black and feel it is extremely important to support this show. This is the first time that there has been blacks in lead roles, that is not a comedy, and a love story.

    September 22, 2010 at 10:43PM EST Reply to Comment
  • 9yearsold_talkback_profile

    klg19

    Wow, I really hated the word "sexpionage." REALLY.

    But I liked the show. And, as @stepliana notes, the leads are BEAUTIFUL. And as @itfigures notes, it's refreshing to see a show with two black leads that is not a sitcom played for broad laughs (and I'm not black). So, it'll get left in the rotation for a while.

    I also loves me some Gerald McRaney, going all the way back to "Simon and Simon."

    September 22, 2010 at 11:01PM EST Reply to Comment
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    Col Bat Guano

    It had enough good stuff for a second episode. It's pretty at least.

    September 22, 2010 at 11:24PM EST Reply to Comment
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    lori

    Enjoyed, i will be watching

    September 22, 2010 at 11:59PM EST Reply to Comment



  • A solid pilot, but I want to see better. The two leads are really charming, the action is nicely done and I like this show's sense of humor, but it's not quite good enough. I'll pay attention to the reviews and if I hear it gets better, I'll come back.

    One way I think they can make the show better is by turning into a screwball comedy. In this first episode, I could see they were flirting on the edge of screwball but weren't quite there. Pack scenes with dialogue and have characters spit them out rapid fire. Make the dialogue Sorkinesque, in other words.

    Alan's right. This is a pretty bleak year for new television. One thing all of my favorite new network pilots this season had in common (The Event, Running Wilde, Hawaii Five-0, Undercovers) is that they're just competent. They're more or less successful, but just barely. And by now, pretty much all of the most promising new shows have debuted. This doesn't look good.

    September 23, 2010 at 12:25AM EST Reply to Comment
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    Jane

    For me, it's a solid "meh." Certainly not as enjoyable as Chuck (perhaps because it takes itself more seriously). If then cancel it, I think Gerald McRaney needs to mosey on over to Chuck - he can be a love interest for Gen. Beckman!

    Oh, and they need to drop the "sexpionage" business - it's the most annoying portmanteau this side of "Brangelina."

    September 23, 2010 at 12:34AM EST Reply to Comment
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    Alex

    Gorgeous people who are rich flying all over the world to have exciting adventures. Now that's escapism! It was fine, nothing outside of the box. The problem may be the genre; I'm not sure you can do anything ambitious in this type of show. So, given JJ Abrams is a very busy man, there must be something he had in mind that compelled him to spend time on this show.

    September 23, 2010 at 12:57AM EST Reply to Comment
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    Gimme a break already

    The leads aren't any better looking than those on any number of other series. The rush to slurp these two in particular is, frankly, transparent in its motivation.

    September 23, 2010 at 1:17AM EST Reply to Comment
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    will m


    Whether 'Undercovers' succeeds or falls on its face has nothing to do with its audience's skin tone. So going the Tyler Perry route( what does that even mean) is pointless. The show was fun, but it wasn't sharp and it sure as hell didn't stand out. It felt like something that could've came on USA that past summer. The show's problem is that we come into the lives of these two people when they've seemingly already figured it all out. They needed to add more tension, and make the leads far more flawed then they appear to be. From where I sit, it felt like Will & Jada did a CIA movie. I think the wrote the couple far too perfect. Maybe Abrams did that because he's probably at a place where the room inside his head isn't as dark as it once was. Shows with characters that seem too perfect to be real usually don't find an audience because there is none for them. No one's perfect. I would've loved to have seen characters that were more flawed then the ones they presented. It doesn't have to be Alias but it does have to at least make us want to see more. I don't think it did that job completely.

    September 23, 2010 at 1:26AM EST Reply to Comment
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    Joe

    Meh. It was stylish and pretty...but boring. For some reason, it felt like the Bionic Woman remake. Like that show, NBC (and their new voiceover man) kept telling me to watch (and couldn't stop telling me J.J. was involved)...and meh.

    I'm not sure what the attraction of this show is, aside from the obviously attractive people in it. There was nothing clever about the pilot at all, and nothing about the show's future seems interesting either. I guess these two married caterers are some big cog in the CIA's plans...for something.

    But it'll crush Chuck, I'm sure.

    September 23, 2010 at 1:29AM EST Reply to Comment
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    PY

    I enjoyed that. Nice, light action show. It may prove to be too light over the long run, though.

    September 23, 2010 at 1:46AM EST Reply to Comment
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    Spotless Mind

    Bland is the perfect word to describe everything about this show.

    September 23, 2010 at 7:02AM EST Reply to Comment
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    cln

    It needs to shake itself out a little. A bit confusing at times. Was that wedding in Spain and then they flew to Paris? Seems to be trying to channel I Spy which is not a bad thing.

    September 23, 2010 at 10:45AM EST Reply to Comment
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    spyTV

    I found it tough to get through this hour. Very bland. It was as if they took Alias or Chuck and boiled out all the mythology and fun. The spy story wasn't nearly as good as a typical Burn Notice or Chuck episode, and as far as character interaction and pure entertainment it isn't even close to Chuck. The pilots to those other much better spy shows drew me in within 15 minutes. I may give this one another try, but I'm not optimistic. As far as the attractiveness of the leads, I completely agree this is an extremely nice looking couple, but I don't think any woman on TV right now can compete with Yvonne Strahovski hotness!

    September 23, 2010 at 2:08PM EST Reply to Comment
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    Robert

    Absolutely, I’ll watch it again.

    It was fun, well directed, had good pacing, a great cast, interesting story and the location/action scenes were handled expertly. Top notch spy show (well above a cable series such as "Covert Affairs") that I'll tune into each week for the action, suspense and laughs.

    I hope it continues along that path even without Abrams' involvement.

    September 23, 2010 at 5:04PM EST Reply to Comment
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    Jamie

    I watched it. I thought it was a decent pilot,enough to get me to come back for more. Also,as an African-American,it is important to me to support anything that is the opposite of Tyler Perry-ism,which this is. But,could it have been better? Sure. The season premier of Chuck could have been better,too(sorry,all you Chuck fans--it just wasn't all that)and I'm a Chuck fan,as well,so...At any rate I'll be there for Undercovers.

    September 23, 2010 at 11:01PM EST Reply to Comment
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    diemunkiesdie

    Anyone notice the Wilhelm Scream when they shot the rocket launcher guy?

    September 24, 2010 at 12:40AM EST Reply to Comment

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