ucker Burns (Willett) recently graduated from the Columbia School of Journalism, won a student Pulitzer and would seem to have everything going for him that a young journalist could want. Everything except a job. One slip-up in the past seems to have derailed his career before it got started, and now 47 newspapers have turned him down. His girlfriend is patient, but patience doesn't pay the rent.
Realizing that he's run out of options, he applies for an investigative reporter position with one of the world's least reputable tabloids, The World Chronicle. During his interview, he discovers himself in a world where a toilet demon, the Anti-Christ and a three-legged man are commonplace. The Editor-in-Chief Donald Stern (Polito) asks him, "Are you prepared to write about the most important events affecting mankind today?" Tucker doesn't have to think hard about it, especially when there's a paycheck at the end of the question.
At his first staff meeting, Tucker meets staff photographer Wes Freewald (Wilson) and ace reporter Grace Hall (Sofer). When the paper's psychic predicts that the entire island of Manhattan will be decimated by an angry alien force, Tucker only begins to realize what he's gotten himself into.
Tucker's first assignment is to track down the Brooklyn Bloodsucker. Hot on the Bloodsucker's trail, Tucker soon discovers there may be more to the story than he could have imagined. Iridescent green slime covers the trees at the location of the last sighting, and an eyewitness, a little boy, can't stop drawing pictures of scary red eyes.
Even after Tucker meets The Chronicle's researcher, "Pig Boy" (Armstrong), and sees the paper's bizarre archives, he can't quite accept that the outrageous stories they print are true. Worse yet, if the stories are true, then the Brooklyn Bloodsucker might be real and his first assignment might be his last.
A little goofy and a little tame
The SCI FI Channel's new original series, The Chronicle, is a promising addition to their lineup with a talented cast, some nice amusing touches and a bit of a goofy attitude. Given some time to develop it may just prove to be another solid show for the channel.
However, for a series that could be cutting, funny and bizarre, The Chronicle is fairly tame. Judging by the pilot episode, the material isn't particularly fresh, and it's not as funny as it should be. As with most new shows, the series may take a few episodes to find its footing and settle in, so this may change. While the show does toy with an occasional scary moment and the limited monster effects are nicely done, the overall impact is that The Chronicle is sporadically amusing, but not really fun.
While the initial pilot would have profited by adding more of that fun-quotient, it is a good introduction for the appealing leads and the solid supporting actors, Polito and Armstrong. Polito and Armstrong are both gifted comedic actors and The Chronicle will benefit from their experience.
The SCI FI Channel is leading off back-to-back new episodes of The Chronicle with a special Saturday episode of a new Farscape. That's about as good an introduction as this series could hope for if it's going to be stuck on Saturdays where SCI FI's original shows haven't done well. However, with an entire summer of new episodes, The Chronicle should have a chance to find an audience.
