Everyone needs an Eli Stone...

I love the new show ELI STONE. And I looooooooove Jonny Lee Miller. The former is a young love, the latter has been quite enduring. I've loved Jonny Lee Miller ever since seeing him in HACKERS playing opposite his soon-to-be-ex-wife Angelina "vag trap" Jolie.

Yes, my Brit love goes way back. And yes, it is of a particular tall, lanky, brunette and sometimes borderline Hobbit variety (they of the up-turned nose and elfish charm). There are many on my list... But Jonny Lee Miller was one of the first. And I'm very happy that after years of proving his talent in small films (most notably, Trainspotting) he's finally getting the major exposure he truly deserves in America. Even if he is starting to look a little light-bulb headed and pointy-nosed as he gets older, I still think he's adorable and would marry him and bear his Elvish babies.

So, when I watched the pilot of ELI STONE early last year, I was thrilled because I loved the show and he really pops off the screen in this role. Then, seeing it again when the show premiered on ABC, I was having second thoughts. I liked the concept of bad lawyer turns do-gooder prophet because of inoperable brain aneurysm, but it felt a little heavy-handed in places. It seemed like a recycled Ally McBeal, except with a male lead who has cheesy flashbacks of his alcoholic dad and envisions gay pop icons instead of dancing babies. I was bummed. I had such high hopes for ELI. Especially in light of Greg Berlanti's other new show of the season, Dirty Sexy Money, which had become a rabid addiction to rival the early days of Grey's Anatomy. BUT I gave Mr. Berlanti the benefit of the doubt and stuck with it. I can happily say now that ELI STONE has surpassed my expectations. It's just a fucking great show. Everyone in it is good. Victor Garber is always amazing, but here he's given a chance to sing and camp it up a bit like you know he always wanted to on Alias ("But can't I wear a wig this time, J.J.? Why does Jen get to have all the fun?"). His character makes a triumphant pirouette from bad guy to awesome guy in the most recent episodes and thank god, because I really didn't want to hate him. Natasha Henstridge is beautiful, but she looks like a linebacker next to almost every other male on the screen - which is unfortunate as it reminds you that most actors are Lilliputian pocket people that should be wearing lifts in their shoes when stood next to Amazonian goddesses. But otherwise she's good. Loretta Divine is, as always, divine (sorry) especially because she and Jonny Lee Miller have this unexpected, totally crack-up chemistry. Even the other supporting player lawyers, who've now each had their turn at a 2-hander episode with Eli, have been fleshed out and I'm finding myself rooting for every. single. one of them! Most importantly, the ongoing theme of damn the man, fight for what you believe in, save the underdog is a consistent tear-jerker. I don't know about you, but I love shows that can reliably induce a good cry. That is where the show could've gone all wrong and been entirely too shmaltzy - and, okay, some of it is shmaltzy - but the writers do a clever job and it just keeps getting better and better. I don't know if they'll sweep the Emmy noms... certainly not with Dirty Sexy Money as their competition... but I really, really, really, reeeeeaaaaally hope Jonny Lee Miller gets nominated because, even though it's just TV, he's turning out the performance of his life so far.

And that's all I have to say about that.

P.S. For further evidence as to why Greg Berlanti is currently topping my Show-Creator Hero list, do yourself a favor and check out his Why We Write essay written during the WGA strike.