"STANDOFF" MIMICS "BONES" …
BUT WITH HOSTAGES

September 22, 2006

I've mentioned twice before that FOX's new series "Standoff" sounded a lot like the network's current series "Bones." Turns out I was right. Three weeks into "Standoff"'s first season, the best way to describe it is -- if you enjoy "Bones," you'll probably enjoy this.

Both take cutesy leads with tons of chemistry and drop them into the middle of an unthreatening procedural. "Bones" has got Emily Deschanel and the Artist Formerly Known as Angel. "Standoff," airing Tuesdays at 9 p.m., stars Rosemarie DeWitt and the Artist Formerly Known as Peter Gibbons. Yes, it's the cult flick "Office Space" that earned Ron Livingston his loveable regular joe image, but the guy's done good work in a variety of roles over the years, including winning turns for HBO in "Band of Brothers" and "Sex and the City."

He last popped up in a stellar episode of "House" in the spring, and it's about time some studio exec decided to give the guy a leading role in a network series. In "Standoff," Livingston plays Matt Flannery, an FBI negotiator who, with his partner Emily Lehman (DeWitt), makes a living by talking down the bad guys when innocent lives are at stake. The show makes sure to point out that Matt and Emily are crisis negotiators not hostage negotiators, presumably to give the writers more leeway when planning out episodes. However, the first three eps all prominently featured hostages held against their will. One wonders how long before the writers struggle to come up with new permutations of the same basic confrontation. (Although episode two's air-traffic-control crisis was totally ripped off from "Die Hard 2," so maybe originality isn't a high priority right now.)

All the things you expect from the genre are present and accounted for. There's the gruff Tactical Response Unit who'd rather take out the bad guys than negotiate with them. Every episode has that shot of a sniper setting up shop on a roof across the street from where all the trouble is going down -- just to let you know that things could get ugly. But most of the action takes place over the telephone as Matt and Emily attempt to mentally diffuse the situation by getting inside the villain's head and finding the psychological combination that will result in a peaceful resolution.

Like "Bones," the concept sounds heavy, but everything is treated with a light touch. So far, Matt and Emily haven't got anyone killed, and I would guess that we'd be well into a hypothetical season two before either of them screwed up enough to allow for some character depth. "Standoff" is more concerned with the two's personal relationship. Oh, did I forget to mention that they're sleeping with each other? Well, they are. And their FBI boss (the infallible Gina Torres) knows it. But this is TV, and they're allowed to keep being partners anyway.

And, hey -- why not? I can complain about plotting all I want, but the show's chance of survival rests on whether the audience likes Matt and Emily and wants to see them survive their jobs so they roll around in the sack together at the end of the day. Livingston remains one of the most easy-to-root-for actors around, and DeWitt makes for the perfect girlfriend -- she's attractive, smart, good at her job, and not afraid to make a snarky joke about Lindsay Lohan.

"Standoff" isn't a show that demands to be watched, but it's an awfully likeable enterprise nonetheless. If you come across it while flipping, there'd be no shame in putting down the controller for an hour. Kind of like with "Bones." Next year, I'm expecting a FOX series about two sexy and charming fire marshals who flirt in between arson cases.