The Kathy Bates legal dramedy Harry’s Law barely squeaked into Season Two, given its lowest ratings and luke-warm critical reception. And part of the plan to bring it back big is, as usual, a revamp (removing at least some of the elements that made it marginally interesting, like a legal office in a bad neighborhood’s shoe store, or Brittany Snow as a paralegal). Mark Valley (Boston Legal, The Human Target, Fringe) is in as a new lawyer, Jean Smart has a recurring role as shark-like opposing counsel, and–best of all–Broadway star Karen Olivo is now working for Harry in her fancy new office.
It’s wonderful to see Olivo on a regular basis. She’s made the rounds of all the ‘classy’ TV shows already–guest shots on Criminal Minds, The Good Wife, and all three Law & Orders at one time or another. (In fact, you can catch her L&O: SVU appearance on Thursday, Sept. 22 at 8P on USA). She’s smart, she’s gorgeous, she carries a kind of snap and energy that’s sadly lacking in most TV ‘stars,’ and it’s about time she got noticed by the gazillion of TV viewers who don’t know a Tony from a Toyota. But…
…she doesn’t get to sing. Or dance. At all.
There’s a strange tradition in network (and cable) TV to pull the very best actors that Broadway has to offer and plunk them into TV frames where they never get to do the things that got them noticed in the first place. Sara Ramirez, who won a Tony for Spamalot–Spamalot, no less!–did two or more seasons on Grey’s Anatomy before the infamous “dream” episode where we actually heard her sing for one whole episode in a row And though he’s no Tony winner, Kristin Chenowith had done two or three series before she got to sing once (once!) on Pushing Daisies and later Glee.
Martha Plimpton has been nominated for more Tony Awards than we can count, including Pal Joey, but has yet to show off on Raising Hope. Marc Anthony just did more than a season on TNT’s HawthoRNe without so much as humming a tune.
And now Karen Olivo has arrived, in a solid, non-singing role.
You can glimpse–and only glimpse–her amazing energy on YouTube pops like her breakthrough performance from In the Heights right here that was duplicated on the Today Show a few years ago, or her Tony Award-winning portrayal of Anita from West Side Story on Letterman right here.
But please, folks, can’t we figure out a way to get her into a guest-performance gig on The Voice or The Sing-Off? Can’t we put together a weekly TV musical-variety show that can showcase the real talent of folks like Olivo? It can’t all be about Glee and amateurs making it big (or even the upcoming Smash, appearing mid-season).
In any event: welcome Karen, great good luck. We’ll be watching Wednesdays at 9P on NBC–and we know you’ll be around a lot longer than Harry’s Law, singing your heart out.
