1-800-Missing

I read the teen book series on which this new TV series was based, and am a bit disappointed in the show. The four books could have provided at least four good episodes to start off (or even more), but were largely ignored.

The series, which premiered on Lifetime Channel on August 2, 2003, skips most of the events in the book, leaving out the father and barely touching on her mentally ill brother, completely ignoring her long battle against the FBI and the team of psychics she eventually works with at the very end of the book series.

So, the show is only vaguely related to the books. Yes, she is a psychic who gained her powers after being hit by lightning and finds missing people in her dreams. But don't expect to see anything from the books.

Casting for the main character is good, any other casting is immaterial since none of the other characters from the book are in the series.

It is unclear if they intend her to be the high school student she was in the books, or if she is college age (as is stated in the series, which may have just been a smartass comment and not her "real age").

Overall, the new series is worth watching, if you like psychic cop shows. If you liked Profiler, you will probably like 1-800-Missing. It has a similar feel, with a *much* younger heroine.

I watched every episode the first season and enjoyed the mentoring of Jess by Brooke. Gloria Reuben brought maturity and nuance to her character.

Unfortunately, this season is almost unbearable to watch with the absolutely horrible acting by Vivica Fox. Her character is simply not believable as a senior FBI agent (at least not in the way she "acts" it). The secondary storyline of Fox's character with the hunky Mark Consuelos is also a bit contrived. Thank God for the over the top abrasiveness of their new supervisor (played to perfection by Justin Louis). The new supporting cast overall is good, but is not an improvement over the first season's. I'm giving it a couple more episodes before I give up on it.

I think it says a lot about a show when over half the principal cast is changed, plus the title of the show (changed to "Missing").

Now with Gloria Reuben (as Brooke Haslett), Justina Machado (as Sunny Estrada), and Dean McDermott (as Alan Coyle) gone, I really don't think Caterina Scorsone (as Jess Mastriani) can hold the show together. How in the world can three quarters of the main cast be just nixed like that? Something more than people just "moving on" to better things is going on, I think.

Yeah, Reuben's character can be written off easily based on the season one finale, but dropping Machado and McDermott like lead balloons is very sketchy. Even the storyline for Reuben was a stretch since there was a sub-plot pertaining to her personal life (ie. Rick Fox guest-starring) that was developing.

I enjoyed season one immensely because the acting was believable, the chemistry was there, and the writing/directing was top-notch. I'll give season two a chance with new-comers Vivica A. Fox and the rest, but when there are major changes to an already quality cast, usually it's not for the better. We shall see.

I liked the first season a lot better than the second.

Vivica A. Fox was good in Two Can Play That Game but the jeans and heels attire took the integrity off her character in Missing and now even Caterina Scorsone is dressing the same! You can look older without looking trashy.

It could be that there is no 4th season due to the writing/directing but I had no complaints when Gloria Reuben was FBI agent Nicole Scott. I was hoping Gloria Reuben would replace Marianne Jean-Baptiste on Without a Trace but I was only disappointed, yet again, with the addition of Roselyn Sanchez.

Is there anything good left to watch?

1-800-Missing was an imperfect but enjoyable show.

Sadly, in a counter-productive attempt at helping the show, Lifetime ruined it.

They ruined the look of the show by shooting it on video, giving it a barely-professional look and most importantly, they cast Vivica Fox.

Vivica Fox ruins every scene she is in on that show. She is devoid of any discernible acting ability and grimaces her way through scenes.

It's hard to imagine why they let an excellent actress like Gloria Reuben go, but to replace her with a bad actress like Ms. Fox shows that the show has now reached its creative death.

Maybe it is now so cheap to do (it does look like amateur hour at the local theater!) that they are still shooting it, but really... is there anyone still watching it?