A disagreeably absurd new Fox hourlong from “Heroes” creator-showrunner Tim Kring, “Touch” centers on a seemingly autistic lad named Jake Bohm who can use mathematics to predict the future --and a lost cellphone to save the lives of strangers overseas.
The seer this time around not a heroin-addicted artist who paints future events; the mute Jake predicts by obsessively filling his paper canvases with vast strings of numbers.
The series stars Kiefer Sutherland as the kid’s father, a Manhattan-based former big-deal journalist named Martin, and is earmarked to fill (beginning March 19) the timeslot long occupied by “24.”
In the “Touch” pilot Sutherland amusingly but distractingly breaks out more than one Baueresque “Damn it!” Since Fox can obviously afford Sutherland’s services, I’m left to ponder why Fox didn’t simply order another season of the far better “24” (which got good to decent ratings even with its weak, New York-set 8th season). There’s even a precedent for an extended hiatus, since “24” already had to skip a year thanks to the 2007 writers’ strike.
One substantial difference between the “Heroes” pilot and the “Touch” pilot is I’ve little desire to see the second episode of “Touch.” I felt in 2006 there was an interesting mystery behind the early events of “Heroes” (I was really wrong); at the conclusion of the “Touch” pilot I didn’t feel it posed any questions I was keen to see answered.
In the interest of full disclosure I’m still plenty sore at Kring, who kept promising that “Heroes” would right itself following the infuriating conclusion of that show’s first season. Kring turned out to be a lying swine; after writer Bryan Fuller left “Heroes” to create “Pushing Daisies,” “Heroes” rapidly collapsed into a formless, pretentious, nonsensical mush that flailed about another three years.
The Fuller-free “Touch” pretty much gets to that collapse by the end of episode one.
... as muddled as much of "Heroes" was. ... isn't content to let its premise breathe; it hammers home its central points so frequently that I do not recommend that you drink every time you hear the words "destiny," "dreams" or any iteration of the word "connect." … Nothing about these connections feels particularly earned and many of the twists and turns of the pilot feel contrived and obvious, especially toward the end. …
... knowing what I know about "Touch" creator Tim Kring — and seeing the many commonalities between this show and his work on NBC's "Heroes" — makes me much less optimistic about the new series' future than I might be if I couldn't recognize the order lurking within the chaos. … it’s pretentious as all get out, but at least speaks to an ambition that's rare in a network TV drama these days. …
... “Touch” happens to have been created by Tim Kring, the writer and producer also responsible for “Heroes.” But the earlier show, with its unapologetic pulpiness, was initially a lot of fun. For his new show, Mr. Kring has jettisoned the crude cartoon energy but has kept the New Agey mysticism and quasi-Asian spirituality ...
... given a show that so clearly wants to touch its audience — from that weighty one-word title on down — we have met, apart from Martin, hardly a single character who incorporates more than the hint of an actual person. ...
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says:
... Jake’s world is all about numbers and “Touch” makes it an article of faith that where most folks would see coincidences, this show sees purposeful attempts at connection. This requires a massive suspension of disbelief on the part of viewers. …
The San Francisco Chronicle says:
… may cause gasps and a few tears, or perhaps a big shrug of incredulity. Yes, to a large extent "Touch" is pretty much like CBS' "Numb3rs" with more schmaltz. ... It's not clear from one episode whether the show's warm and fuzzy message can successfully counterbalance implausibility …
... convoluted ... The strands of all their stories eventually are bound together and have moving repercussions for all concerned, even Martin and Jake, although not in ways that are especially convincing. You may resent having your heartstrings yanked so clumsily. …
… How much “Touch’’ grabs you will likely depend on how much you buy into its central premise of interconnectivity, and the possibility of a superconnector like Jake existing. Creator Tim Kring (“Heroes’’) is no stranger to asking viewers to take leaps and, in the pilot anyway, he and his co-writers do some nifty wrangling to tie those threads together. The hardest bits to swallow are not whether or not bombs get defused with seconds to spare, or the likelihood of everyone who comes in contact with a smartphone choosing to simply record things on it and pass it along. It’s the details, like the world’s most helpful cellphone customer service representative, whose unusual level of assistance is crucial in an especially tense moment. …
... The premise is obviously a stretch, and the question for episodes to come is whether producer Tim Kring will stretch it beyond all logical constraints, as he did with Heroes. For now, enjoy Sutherland's terrific performance and his ability to ground even the oddest concepts in emotional truth. ...
... shows every sign of a series likely to hold audiences in thrall. ...
… With a show this heavy-handed, a promotional light touch hardly seems appropriate. ... In the broadest terms, "Touch" has its "We Are the World" heart in the right place. But like another song says, we don't need another "Heroes." …
9 p.m. Wednesday. Fox.
