The introductory essay has moved. It describes She Spies as a "guilty pleasure" which, in a way, it is. Then again, Spies is my favourite programme. The unwittingly witty Alias is more of a guilty pleasure I watch to see what Jennifer will wear and whose ass she will kick.  

WE'RE BACK! Hopefully, She Spies'second season will sustain the interplay of action and hilarity. Anything is possible. Because our favourite spies have new management. And I don't mean their new fictional boss, I'm referring to Gregory J Bonann Productions. The tendency is to reject changes from the suits but, to paraphrase a line from the season's first episode, "We're network executives; we can do anything."

 
Such meddling is an ABC trademark. They had a wonderful show called Spenser: For Hire. After the first season, they brought in a new producer, let's call her Juanita Bartlett. She'd worked well with Jim Garner, so it made a certain amount of sense. Her first change was dropping Barbara Stock, whose Susan was one of the show's best elements. Carolyn McCormick was introduced and grew into the part of D.A. who crossed swords with Spenser, the relationship with Hawk (Avery Brooks) and Spenser (Bob Urich) was developed, so the second season didn't suck. But Barbara Stock returned for the third and best season. A similar ABC fiasco was Lois and Clark. A great first season helmed by Deborah Joy LeVine was followed by a second season with a new crew. Again, a character was replaced. Jimmy Olsen, played by the quirky Michael Landis, was replaced by Justin Whalen, who never was more than adequate, part of a general deterioration that eventually led to the programme's demise.

It's production inconsistencies like that which have made ABC what it is today and brings us to She Spies season two. The new executive producers have brought their concept to the table with several changes. First, they demonstrate who's boss by rubbing out Jack, whom we consider family. Then they add two new characters, neither of whom seem warranted. Perhaps the tinkering will lead somewhere in future episodes. There was also an awkward residence change, an attempt to make the show more like Baywatch. How does Cross "forget" to tell them about it? Pray tell, how is a pad on the beach more secure than an impregnable fortress?

It has been noted that executive producers Tony Blake and Paul Jackson worked on Charmed, hardly a recommendation; it's rarely funny. Yet they also were involved in the first season of Lois and Clark, with The Pretender and Nash Bridges, terrific light-hearted action shows. Bonann directed a couple of She Spies episodes last season. So let's treat this as a new show and give them more than one week to make things gel.

That noted, Carlos Jacott (Jack) being succeeded by Cameron Daddo (Mr Cross) is hard to swallow. He's not even American. It is true that Australian Emilie de Ravin did wonders for Roswell, though a few thousand fans objected to her replacing Shiri Appleby. And Shiri was still there.

New character Jamie Inglehart (Duncan) is a hacker who is confused about women. The stereotype [nerd alert!¿!] would be less bothersome if they didn't already have a computer genius in the delightful form of DD. Given the new creative team's track record, I'm willing to suspend my scepticism... for now. But isn't Ducan just a younger, more attractive Broots encountering three Miss Parkers? And where do they hide all these gorgeous computer mavens in real life?

So far, the Chairman (Bruce Boxleitner) is boring. At least Mother on The Avengers was eccentric.

The other changes are cosmetic. The musical score has a busier arrangement. There are more effects in the frames at the end of each sequence. If I'm not mistaken, there were more scantily clad women, which may explain the beach house. That could be due to the "Full Employment for Starlets Act" of 2003.

from 11|2003

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