An super-hacky hourlong from writer Chris Murphey (the SciFi Channel TV-movie “Dead Lawyers”) about a former neurosurgeon who solves crimes, “Body of Proof” stars Dana Delany (“China Beach,” “Desperate Housewives”) as Dr. Megan Hunt, medical examiner.
It’s a terrible show, perhaps the last to stagger out of the long-dead regime of long-ago ousted ABC programming quisling Steve McPherson, and redeemed only a bit for affording us the opportunity to gander again at Dana Delany, likely the hottest 55-year-old alive.
Anyone still searching for proof Dana Delany is a TV star need look no further. If she can motor a vehicle as clunky and ridiculous as Body of Proof, she can do just about anything TV stardom requires. … while she's obviously too good for her show, the later episodes offer at least some evidence it might be able to rise a little closer to her level. …
… orthodoxy may be the main problem with “Body of Proof” — it’s well made and enjoyable enough, but it follows convention so closely that it doesn’t give Ms. Delany, an actress with range and great presence, a chance to riff on the genre. …
… At least "Body of Proof" has Delany, who's always interesting to watch even when she's uttering unfortunate lines such as "I'm not most people" or "Don't believe everything you've heard about me. The truth is much worse." Likewise, though she is surrounded by a cast of cookie-cutter characters, the actors who play them are equally solid …
… the always-appreciable Dana Delany does her level best to lift “Body of Proof,” a paint-by-numbers morgue drama …
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says:
… seems less likely to drive viewers away, at least not viewers content with whodunit crime procedurals. "Body of Proof" fits neatly and blandly in that tired category. …
The San Francisco Chronicle says:
… doesn't break any new ground as a procedural and has more than enough hokey moments to make you look elsewhere. But as a case study of how and why star vehicles get made, this is textbook. Fans of Delany won't want to miss it. …
… often painful to sit through, but fortunately, not lethal. … arrives cold, but with a little care, the patient could be resuscitated. …
… Watching “Body of Proof’’ is like walking a path you’ve walked so many times you don’t even need to look where you’re going. You just need to keep good company, so you’ll at least be distracted from the monotony while you’re on autopilot. … It’s too bad “Body of Proof’’ is so unambitious and, at times, clumsy, as it goes through the motions of solving murder mysteries. …
… Although unlikely to knock 'em dead and become the hit ABC could seriously use, the show could be another "Castle," especially since it uses "Dancing With the Stars" to point an older female audience its way. … the lingering mystery is whether Delany will prove a powerful enough draw as what amounts to the show's one live body, surrounded mostly by stiffs.
10 p.m. Tuesday. ABC.
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