Deja boo

I'm relieved to find that when it comes to television I still have some standards.

Despite having a predilection for US drama, not every new show can guarantee to set my heart racing when it flutters its eyelashes. And it seems that (contrary to my own expectations) stocking a series with hot women and switchback storylines isn't a guarantee of keeping my attention.

So it is with Day Break, the story of a detective with the LAPD who wakes up each morning to find a nightmarish 24 hours repeating themselves.

Our hero's been framed for the murder of a top lawyer. He soon discovers that he has to solve the case, clear his name and make sure he, his loved ones and complete strangers escape the day alive. If he gets just one thing wrong, the clock's reset and he's forced to go through it all again.

Those paying even the slightest bit of attention will probably notice the central conceit has been lovingly ripped off from the Bill Murray classic Groundhog Day. And transposed to this murder mystery action thriller format it should make great telly.

Except it doesn't. Four hours in, I find myself not caring about any of the characters (even the cute ones), failing to be surprised by any of the so-called twists and, most criminally of all, overwhelmed by antipathy towards the protagonist.

Day Break has hackneyed scripts and themes, wooden acting, cut-out-and-keep caricatures, bland, homogenous sex kittens, machismo for machismo's sake and a surplus of unshocking shocks. None of it means anything.

Shows such as 24, Heroes, ER and Battlestar Galactica engage the viewer with tight, witty writing, complex, compelling plots, strong performances or sympathetic characters - and in the rare case of shows like The Wire, all of the above and more.

But with Day Break, much like our man Detective Brent Hopper I feel I've seen it all before. So it's out, off the watch list, Sky nonplussed.

It really shouldn't be that much of a surprise. After all, the show's a vehicle for Broadway refugee and televisual Angel of Death, Taye Diggs. Take a look at his record for appearing in the twilight years of established shows, and failing to make a success of his own - truly, is he not the African-American Ted McGinley? ABC certainly seem to think so - Day Break got canned after just 13 episodes, the last seven of which never even made it to TV screens.

Maybe if Mr Diggs had the opportunity for another crack at it he'd do things differently.

Unfortunately, Taye, in this reality when you wake up tomorrow it'll be just that.

But at least Day Break won't be on.