After boasting a series of awards and Golden Globe nominations for an exceptional cast and equally phenomenal production, the creators of the primetime drama "Nip/Tuck" have made a bold move in an effort to compete with up-and-coming shows.
In hopes of garnering higher ratings, creator and executive producer Ryan Murphy moved the McNamara/Troy offices from comfortable and familiar Miami to sunny Los Angeles, where the plastic surgeons must rebuild their practice from the ground up.
As the fifth season of the critically acclaimed show takes off, it is evident that to make it in superficial Los Angeles, doctors Christian Troy (played by Julian McMahon) and Sean McNamara (Dylan Walsh) will have to be not only surgeons, but celebrities as well.
A fitting analogy for the show: To survive for yet another season, "Nip/Tuck" needs to retain the level of acting and writing that characterized previous seasons, rather than allowing the excitement of the doctors' move to Hollywood overcome the fundamentals of the show.
With the help and humble counsel of anesthesiologist Liz Cruz (Roma Maffia), Sean and Christian are able to get their private practice, "McNamara/Troy," up and running. While they embody everything that their patients yearn for - as attractive and successful surgeons, they seem to have it all - their lives are anything but perfect. Through past seasons, it has becomes entertainingly clear that the McNamara/Troy reality is riddled with dysfunctional relationships, fantastical self-image problems and even crime.
Troy has always been the womanizer: the charmer who feeds off of the insecurities of beautiful women and never settles down with any one of them. The writers set up McMahon's character as the pompous better half of McNamara/Troy.
In Los Angeles, however, the tables are turned: Christian's good looks cannot lift the practice off the ground regardless of how many women he sleeps with. Instead of playing the sidekick role, McNamara now begins to overshadow Troy's sex appeal.
Troy is hilariously emphasized throughout the premiere by the duo's cameo in the "Grey's Anatomy" rip-off, "Hearts n' Scalpels." Sean is suddenly and inexplicably bolder in this one episode than he ever was in any of the earlier seasons. Immediately, then, it becomes clear that the move to L.A. is changing Sean's character, giving him a more confident edge than he had in Miami; although the sudden change is too abrupt for viewers to accept right away.
Christian's ridiculous and overwhelming attempt to steal the limelight from his supposed best friend is equally mediocre. He gets work done in anticipation for his 15 minutes of fame, pins Wilbur, his adopted son, on Sean in order to maintain his bachelor lifestyle, all the while sleeping with a potential patient to squeeze out as many surgeries as he possibly can from her.
The premiere was not without its usual guest-stars and amusingly warped storylines. The funny and always ditzy Jennifer Coolidge made an appearance as Candy Richards, the supposed star of "Hearts n' Scalpels." Coolidge's character gives the audience a much-deserved break from the disappointing acting and slow progression of the episode when she has her lips replaced by tissue from her "lady cha-cha."
Although the show was not entirely disappointing, the move to Los Angeles is almost too much of a risk to take on an already remarkable show. The audience is already familiar with the dirty habits of McNamara/Troy, and having to re-introduce those qualities to build the practice from the ground up decelerates what was, notably, a fast-paced show.
