Greg Kinnear
John Ortiz
Necar Zadegan
Bojana Novakovic
Tara Summers
Miranda Otto
Ian Colletti

Created by:
Peter Duncan

2014
Comedy, Drama
Fox
TV-14

(After watching the first episode)

“Rake,” based on an Australian show of the same name, relies on the charms (i.e., smiling) of its star, Greg Kinnear. He plays a lawyer who’s a gambling addict. Of course, he owes money to some sort of mob figure.

While “Rake” has been compared to “House,” based on its first episode, “Rake” and “House” couldn’t be more different. House, the character, is brilliant, witty, and nasty, all at the same time. Also, Hugh Laurie’s very entertaining and snarky as that character; he owns it. Kinnear’s a skilled actor, but his material’s nothing special. He doesn’t have much to do.

A rake is a prodigal man who typically takes advantage of women. That’s fine, but it would be better if Keegan Dane (Kinnear) were a brilliant lawyer, too. He needs to be more in the mold of House, who’s a brilliant doctor, or of the central character of “Mad Men,” Don Draper, who’s a brilliant ad man. That would create an interesting tension, at least.

There’s a promise of a darker episode to come, but I don’t believe that’s where “Rake” is likely to go, overall (especially since the producers swapped that darker episode for a lighter one to start the series). Regardless, whether they go in a darker or lighter direction doesn’t really matter, because it’s hard to care about the central character.

“Rake” isn’t bad; it’s just boring. There’s no reason to watch it.

Verdict: Whatever

About: (Source: rake)

Academy Award nominee and Emmy Award winner Greg Kinnear (“Little Miss Sunshine,” “The Kennedys”) makes his broadcast television series debut in the bold new legal drama RAKE, created by Peter Duncan (ABC1 Australia’s “Rake”) and executive-produced by Peter Tolan (“Rescue Me,” “Analyze This”) and Michael Wimer (“2012”). Kinnear is KEEGAN DEANE, one of life’s great addicts, a brilliant and frustratingly charming criminal defense attorney, whose chaotic and self-destructive personal life often gets in the way of his professional one. Keegan takes on the cases that nobody else will touch, ruled by a resolute optimism, belief in justice and dogged determination to defend those who seem beyond redemption – much like himself.