Day Break - Yet Another Great Show You Aren't Watching

For true television-lovers of our generation, there is a perpetually growing list of shows that like James Dean or John Lennon, have had their auspicious lives cut short. Shows like Freaks and Greeks, Wonderfalls, and the granddaddy of them all, Arrested Development, are just a few of the gone, but not forgotten bunch that have found new life off the network and on DVD.

Well my friends, I'd like to introduce you to a show that may the potential to join this illustrious clan of enshrined entertainment. I promised myself when I began this blog that I would only talk about current media (hence no posts on any of the aforementioned shows), but the show in question right now was only cut from the air about 2 months ago, and the entire season can found on ABC.com. That's right, friends. I'm talking about Day Break.

Day Break stars Taye Diggs as L.A. narcotics detective Brett Hopper, a smart (if sometimes rash) cop with a knockout girlfriend (played by the intoxicating Moon Bloodgood-- how sexy of a name is that?), a knockout partner (played by Maxim cover girl Victoria Pratt), and a knockout sister (played by tv vet Meta Golding). Everything seems to be going well in Brett's life until one day, when it all falls apart.

In the pilot, we see this horrible day take place. Hopper wakes up to find out that he has been framed for the murder of Assistant D.A. Alberto Garza. There is a manhunt for Brett, based on the insurmountable evidence found against him (all of which has been planted, but by whom?), and so Hopper is on the run. At the end of the day, he is captured and knocked unconscious. He wakes up in restraints, lying on the ground in a rock quarry, surrounding by a circle of dark faces. He is given a DVD player on which he watches his girlfriend Rita be murdered. He is told by the men in the dark that if he doesn't confess to the murder, his sister Jen and her husband and two kids will be murdered as well. He is administered a shot in the neck and slips back into consciousness.

The following morning, Brett wakes up to find that it is not in fact the following morning, but the same morning of the same day he has already lived. Rita isn't dead; she's lying in bed next to him, just as she was yesterday. The same garbage truck outside their window hits the same garbage bin accidentally as did the previous morning. It's the same day. So Brett tries to do things differently this time, hoping to learn who is behind this conspriacy against him. Only it ends up the same way, with him in the quarry and Rita dead. All is lost...

Until he wakes up the next day and it's the same day again! Get the picture? Brett must use this miraculous circumstance to find new answers each day that bring him one step closer to discovering the truth behind the elaborate conspiracy that results in not merely his arrest, but the death of those he loves this most.

This is the premise of Day Break, and let me tell you, it's as interesting and risky an action drama as ABC has ever had. Think about it-- what would you do if every day was a do-over? The acting is superb, the plot intricate and unpredictable without being confusing or far-fetched (aside from the whole "each day is the same day" thing), and overall, the show is extremely suspenseful and compelling. Once Hopper makes a mistake or learns new information, it's just fascinating to watch how he avoids that mistake or uses the information in a new way the next day. For those of you who enjoy a good onion-esque narrative, with each episode revealing new layers of information, this is the show for you.

You might be asking yourself, "If this show is so great, why was it canceled mid-season, only to be replaced with double episodes of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition?" I have a few theories to answer this question:

1) Complexity-- it's near impossible to join this show mid-season. They do a great recap at the beginning of each episode, but the show just isn't as effective if you aren't on Hopper's journey from beginning to end. Each different repetition of the day sees another of Hopper's closest friends or family members killed-- there just isn't as much emotional gravity if you can't feel compassion for Hopper for having witnessed his love ones die in front of him day after day. Also, it's just tough to catch up on all the individual pieces you might have missed if you don't watch from the beginning.

2) Suspension of disbelief-- Perhaps some people simply can't deal with the fact that to buy into the show is to buy into the notion that someone can actually be stuck living the same day over and over. It works for a light 90 minute comedy like Groundhog's Day, but maybe it just doesn't work for some people when its a weekly hour-long drama.

3) Casting-- I hope this is not the case, but I fear the show may have been doomed by the casting of Taye Diggs, a black actor, as the leading man. Think about it- Can you name a single show on ABC that stars a black man? Aside from Isiah Washington on Grey's Anatomy, can you even think of a prominent black male character on the network (and no, we aren't counting Extreme Makeover: Home Edition...or Dancing with the Stars. Ugh. Just typing that title makes me want to throw up.) Mainstream America just isn't ready to let a black person be the lead of a show. End of story. If you want black leads in this country, watch the CW because you aren't going to find one anywhere else

(I was thinking about this yesterday in terms of the show Battlestar Galactica, another one of the best shows on tv that you aren't watching. Basically, there are less than 50,000 humans left in the universe and according to this show, one of them is black. The show is still awesome though. I'll post about it once I catch up to current episodes.)

4) Lack of subplots-- While there are certainly a handful of other characters, none are important enough to have their own subplot. There is just the one main mystery to be solved centered around Taye Diggs' character. It's very difficult to think of a show with literally no subplots (to be fair, a few early episodes feature a small subplot about Andrea's illegal activities while on duty), and perhaps this lack of texture is another factor that lead to Day Break's demise.

My advice? Watch the first 2-3 episodes. It's certainly worth your while. If you aren't hooked, this show isn't for you. If you're hooked, you can thank me later.