TV is the new reading

‘In Plain Sight’ needs more development

USA’s unevenly comic drama “In Plain Sight” is still developing its characters and finding its rhythm, but there are a few things that seem clear enough.

Formula isn’t surefire. Big names do not equal satisfying performances and summer cable series are hit and miss.

See, I like “In Plain Sight,” but it’s maybe about as good as Debra Messing’s minisplash “The Starter Wife” last summer. So far, if TV is the new reading, this show is like bland beach reading.

You have Mary McCormack as Mary Shannon, a U.S. marshall coordinating the witness protection program. Between getting too emotionally involved with her charges and her family’s wacky hijinks, she is barely holding her personal and professional life together.

Her partner is the far-too-polished Marshall Mann, played by Frederick Weller. The character development on him seems to be that he knows a vast number of random facts. And her boss, Stan, is about as charismatic as a wet paper bag.

And you might assume that someone whose job it is to protect people from criminals would have an exciting life, but it’s not, really. It falls a little flat. Sure, keeping witnesses safe takes savvy and chutzpah, but there’s a sitting-around factor in her job that’s hard to completely ignore.

Enter the wacky family.

Hijinks and Hi, Jinx

If you are a fan of hers, do not tune in to see Lesley Ann Warren as Shannon’s mother, Jinx. She’s better in your memory of her. She’s better in everything else she’s ever been in.

And the sad thing is, she’s working her butt off to be as flaky and awful as her character is in the show.

Jinx moved into Shannon’s New Mexico home at about the same time as Shannon’s sister, Brandi, played by Nichole Hintz, for reasons that haven’t been explained perfectly, and they’re worse than underfoot. Brandi, who is meant to be from New Jersey, is helping facilitate some sort of deal for her drug-dealing boyfriend from under Shannon’s roof.

Meanwhile, Jinx is living up to her name, screwing up every job opportunity she lands because she’s some sort of drunken tramp. After borrowing $2,500 from Shannon for a door-to-door cosmetics venture, she sells $7.50 of product and spends the rest of the day with her most recent fling, whose dog eats all of her makeup samples. Oh, Jinx.

Formula

I had about the same reaction to Sharon Gless as Jeffrey Donovan’s mom in last summer’s USA debut of “Burn Notice.” Here you have a reasonably talented actress with some range and ability, and they’re cast in such goofy side roles that it’s hard to take them seriously.

In fact, “In Plain Sight” – the name, incidentally, refers to relocating Witness Protection program participants and hiding them in plain sight – feels like the flip side of Donovan’s downsized spy project. Shannon coordinates the little plot-point tasks involved in keeping her charges happy and cared for while her family’s story arcs trace a wide, largely unrelated loop. With “Burn Notice,” the action comes from the wacky hijinks he gets into with his friends in trying to get his job back.

For whatever reason, “Burn Notice” – which premieres its second season next month – seems to have more immediacy and a stronger draw. Sure, McCormack turns in some butt-kicking cleverness, but it’s usually in aid of getting groceries to a witness she’s hiding or something equally dry.

For now, it is what it is – a mildly entertaining show on basic cable with basic characters. It has potential, but so far it hasn’t explored it. It’s basically a good enough show until something more interesting comes on.

“In Plain Sight” airs Sundays at 9 p.m. on USA.

Features editor Terry J. Aman compiles the Best Bets for The Minot Daily News.