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Mark Valley as Christopher Chance on Fox's Human Target

There’s a new show on Fox called Human Target about a guy named Christopher Chance who works as bodyguard for clients in serious danger. It’s part Burn Notice, part 24 – each episode tells a standalone story, but I have a feeling the main character’s background and private life will eventually get thrown in the mix. A lot of things blow up, or get set on fire, or get shot at, and it’s quite entertaining to watch Chance care very little for his own safety. His handler/partner is a guy named Winston, who used to be on Pushing Daisies and who plays essentially the same character here, complete with pleasant curmudgeonly attitude and humorous straight-man role. The show can be reasonably well summed up in an exchange from the first episode: after Chance takes a bullet for his client, he strips off his shirt to reveal a bulletproof vest underneath. “You’re wearing a vest?” his client exclaims, “where’s my vest?!” “I’m your vest,” Chance answers. It’s fluffy, and it’s not breaking any new televised ground, but for my money it’s more entertaining than Law and Order. The acting is good, the premise is effective, and the characters are agreeably intriguing. Plus, as I mentioned before, a lot of stuff blows up, and that’s always fun.

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Not bad, right? With a second paragraph, I might mention its surprisingly lush musical score, (done by Bear McCreary, late of Battlestar Galactica musical fame) the high quality talent they’ve lined up for the first few episodes (Tricia Helfer!), or the amusing cast of minor character nerds who supply all the technical support. Possibly also its entertaining opening credit sequence, which was done by the same company that made the credits for Chuck and Mad Men. But I don’t think you miss a whole lot without it.

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Oh yes, this also happened today. The two-week long implosion had to end sometime, but it sure has been fun watching Conan O’Brien burn every possible NBC bridge he can name.