Human Target - 9 p.m. Wednesday. Fox

[Emperor]

Very very loosely based on the DC Comics character, action-adventure “Human Target” follows a high-priced undercover bodyguard for hire named Christopher Chance, played by the always-watchable Mark Valley (“Boston Legal,” “Fringe”). His associates are played by actors also fresh off better projects, namely Chi McBride (“Boston Public,” “Pushing Daisies”) and Jackie Earle Haley (“Little Children,” “Watchmen”).

 

The supertrain-centric pilot, written by Jonathan Steinberg (“Jericho”) and screened last summer at Comic Con, had a diverting scene or two with Haley’s character but truthfully seemed to add up to a big wad of generic TV action nonsense.

 

To my eyes and ears it’s not appreciably better than NBC’s recent revival of “Knight Rider,” and maybe a little worse than NBC’ recent reinvention of “Bionic Woman” – but it’ll be airing after “American Idol,” so I’ve little doubt it will prove a big spring hit.

 

Critics are mixed:

 

USA Today says:

 

… McBride and Haley provide great side notes, but the center has to be held by Valley, and he does it well. …

 

 

The New York Times says:

 

… a cross between a cartoon and a Saturday matinee … struggling to capture the jaunty tone it’s striving for. … the writing, in terms of both humor and plotting, isn’t at the level of the show’s role models. …

 

 

The Los Angeles Times says:

 

… Steinberg does an admirable job preserving the smart-mouth humor and ker-pow, splat fun while creating story lines and characters grounded in the alpha-male charm that made guys like Pierce Brosnan, Bruce Willis and Robert Conrad so popular. …

 

 

The Chicago Tribune says:

 

… zzzz … There are a lot of explosions and running around on display here, but there's just not much substance …

 

 

The Washington Post says:

 

… seems charmingly assembled from leftover "Magnum P.I." and "Spenser for Hire" polyforms kept in a storage bin somewhere. … The "Human Target" is cardboard.

 

 

The San Francisco Chronicle says:

 

… an action-packed drama that entertains with ease. …

 

 

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says:

 

… Making the show believable is not high on the writers' priority list. … Valley has long displayed a flinty appeal and here he adds a knowing sense of humor. But it will take more than that to get viewers interested enough to take aim at "Human Traget" on a weekly basis.

 

 

The Newark Star Ledger says:

 

… as played by the charming, rough-and-tumble Mark Valley, he's a very entertaining action hero. …

 

 

The Salt Lake Tribune says:

 

… the show's pacing is choppy, and the incidents are so unbelievable that it's hard to suspend your disbelief when Chance is "dispatching" bad guy after bad guy. Worst of all, Chance is a breezy hero who winks in the face of danger rather than sweating through it. He's prone to making jokes and blowing his way through the fight scenes and episodes of peril, which siphons any suspense from the scenes.… looks like a lazy, average-looking action set piece that pales in comparison to much more thrilling shows, such as Fox's "24." This is one target the producers completely missed.

 

 

The Boston Herald says:

 

… the closest thing on TV to swigging a keg of Red Bull. It’s one hour of pure energy, a blast of fun action and stunts. …

 

 

The Boston Globe says:

 

… perfectly adequate action fluff. It’s fast-paced, chock full of fight choreography, and filled with gimmicks including an out-of-control train and an upside-down airplane. The plots are completely inane; you won’t want to think very hard about the logic of the killers or of Chance. Better to just sit still and enjoy all the crazy movement. …

 

 

The Hollywood Reporter says:

 

… a more accurate description of the character, at least as it has been drawn for TV, would be Human Shield, not Human Target. … In each episode, the story is weighed down by mechanical technicalities that are far-fetched enough to make an engineer's eyes glaze over. At the same time, writer/executive producer Jonathan E. Steinberg and executive producer/director Simon West compensate by injecting enough action and suspense to make watching a genuine thrill ride.

 

 

Variety says:

 

… Maintaining this level of firepower obviously poses a challenge, but two episodes in, anyway, the execution appears to be right on target. …