Standoff: Season Pass!

I thoroughly enjoyed the first episode of STANDOFF. (FOX Tuesdays 9/8c)

For starters, the show features three great performers - the lovely and strong Gina Torres (Zoe on FIREFLY & Jasmine on ANGEL), Michael Cudlitz (Bull on BAND OF BROTHERS) and the incomparable Ron Livingston (OFFICE SPACE and also BAND OF BROTHERS).

The characters, and their relationships, have history. The dialogue is crisp. There's a sense of depth that comes from more than expository dialogue.

These great actors know how to read the lines on the page. Each had a moment in which you could actually see and hear their character thinking while they spoke. As if they didn't really know the words they were about to speak - you know - the way people really talk.

If this show were populated by the kind of actors you get on, say a CBS drama, those nuances would have been absent.

Is STANDOFF 'important television?' Probably not. But it's good enough to get a season pass on my TiVo.