In Plain Sight

[Witchie]

It would be more believable if it was a ratings stunt, but 3 years of a nice guy like Marshall pining for someone as self-absorbed & bitter as Mary is not.

[Deleted]

The whole thing still annoys me, no matter how long they've had it in there. It's just so annoyingly boring. The only crime-based drama I can think of where the leads were only ever just friends and never had any unresolved sexual tension is The 4400. Why can't male and female partners on TV ever just be friends?

[kostgard]

I'm fine with it, as long as it is done well.

I've pretty much accepted that it's going to be there because TV writers like to go there. And they like to go there because a good chunk of the audience likes it when they go there. They wouldn't keep returning to that particular well if they weren't rewarded for it.

And outside of the fact that I have to wonder why anyone would be ga-ga for Mary when she's so mean and rude, it doesn't bother me here because for the most part they keep it on the back burner and we aren't constantly hammered over the head with it, with Marshall constantly giving her puppy dog eyes or getting all huffy whenever she talks to a different guy.

I actually wish that after she ended things with Raph that they would have laid off her love life for a while and instead maybe focused on the mystery surrounding her father. But no - the second she and Raph broke up, she's got a new dude panting for her in the very next episode.

Or if they just have to focus on her love life, I'd like to see Mary actually pursue someone and put herself out on the line. But all she does is sit at home and these dudes just drift up to her door because she's just so irresistibly awesome or whatever.

[kostgard]

It just got renewed for two more seasons (which kinda surprises me. I thought it might eek out one).

They just need to give Marshall something to do other than pine for Mary, and I really hope Steven Weber isn't around much. He icks me out.

[Witchie]

I'm surprised it got renewed. I actually forgot it was on at times.

Mary isn't growing as a person, so I have little interest in her moments each week. They need to give Marshall a life outside of Mary because he freaking deserves it.

[bklynred]

I thought it might get one too. But it needs five years for syndication, right?

[kostgard]

I thought it might get one too. But it needs five years for syndication, right?

I'm not sure if it is five seasons or a certain number of episodes.

But syndication on cable is a bit of a weird thing - the only place it could go is other cable channels, and that's kind of a rare thing right now. And it's why network shows are still the big money-makers -- they can make huge dollars selling their shows into syndication, while cable shows make most of their money through subscription fees and selling the shows to international markets (they almost always at least break even with just that revenue, so the ad revenue is just gravy). Cable shows are more of a sure thing in terms of profits even if they are relatively smaller, but while you take a bigger risk on a network show, you could get a much bigger payback with syndication rights.

But with the way cable has been putting out better shows than the networks lately, I wouldn't be surprised if someday in the near future they start syndicating more cable shows. Right now it's only a handful.

[Witchie]

Is Marshall finally getting over his Mary issues on In Plain Sight? Probably not, but at least he’s found himself a nice distraction: American Dreams‘ Rachel Boston!

Sources confirm to TVLine exclusively that the 500 Days of Summer actress is joining the USA Network drama as Detective Abigal Chaffee, a recurring love interest for Fred Weller’s Mary-crushing U.S. Marshall.

Production on Sight‘s fourth season begins later this month in Albquerque.

TVLine[/color]

I hope TPTB doesn't use this character to make Mary jealous. That would be irritating as hell, and the way they've written Mary is irritating enough.

[kostgard]

I'm glad that they finally got a love interest for Marshall. Watching three seasons of him pining over Mary while getting nothing in return AND not getting anything from anyone else (and come on - he's nice, smart, funny, and employed. He's a catch), was getting ridiculous.

I guess we'll see how pleasant or unpleasant Mary will be about it. E! reported that Mary hates her on sight, but Mary hates most people on sight, so we'll see how it goes.

[Witchie]

Any word on Steven Weber's character? He irks me. He irks me even more when they are trying to create chemistry between him & Mary. Just no.