Chatter Of The Squirrel

Cupid

September 28, 2006 on 12:29 am | In TV | No Comments

Who knows Jeremy Piven?

He’s been around here and there. For me, one of his most memorable roles was the Versace salesman in Rush Hour 2. It’s hard to explain, you either noticed him then, or you didn’t. He had a three minute part, and he did the best gay salesman stic I’ve ever seen.

But then, I noticed him because I’ve known him from much earlier…

He produced and starred in Cupid.

Caught the show on TV many years ago. Brilliant story. Witty dialogue. Amazing actors. But the show was axed halfway through its pilot season.

Only 15 episodes made.

Years ago, I even looked for the show on Amazon. Complete VCD set for a few hundred USD. I loved the show enough that I was even mildly tempted.

Then last month, I was commiserating with friends how there’s nothing to download nowadays until the new season of TV shows start up again and the end of this month… And I suddenly remembered about Cupid.

I popped the word into mininova search, never expecting to find anything. It’s an old show, and had such a low fan-base. But what serendipity, someone had just put on a share a week before that!

It took a month to download all the episodes, partly because my friend put it as a low priority download. Anyway, I’ve finally got them all, and spent the last few days watching them again.

The show is still as great as I remembered it.

The story is about a psychologist/therapist who writes a column in the papers about love. Claire comes across Jeremy Piven, who’s a mental patient with delusions that he’s Cupid.

Cupid has been banished from Mt Olympos, bereft of his powers, and he has to match up a hundred couples before Zeus will let him back.

Or so he believes.

So there’s the pop pscyhologist, with all her educated and philosophical approach to love and dating. Running a singles group therapy to help people wake up from their dreams of romance, and learn to look for compatible mates. And there’s the god of love, who constantly plays match-maker and throws people together.

They’re like Fox and Scully. Love is Cupid’s UFO.

The banter between the scientific doctor, and the deluded madman / fallen god is brilliant. Naturally they argue constantly about love, about relationship, about human nature.

And through the couples Cupid tries to match, the show illustrates the games people play on each other in this tormentful game of love. There are many happy endings, of course. But not all of them are Touched By An Angel kind of inspiring romance. Science and statistics make many compelling arguments.

Many people have never seen a UFO. And remain sceptical of those who claim to have. Madmen hallucinate UFOs. Hoaxers make up crop circles. Some people spend their whole lives looking for aliens. And many go through life just fine never even thinking about them.
The series also never really resolved whether Cupid is really who he claims to be. And the show downplays this aspect of the story. But the soul of the show is the banter, and the witty repartes.

Doc: I can find women who are right for him…

Cupid: Right… What does “right” mean?

Doc: Right. Common interest. Common background. Common goals

Cupid: I don’t want to be set up by a woman who uses the word “common” three times to describe my dream date…

But sadly, the show didn’t pull in enough ratings. Maybe that’s understandable. An intelligent but flat-chested woman. A man with gay looking hair. Not the most appealing characters. TV viewers rather watch boobs on their boob-tube.

It is sad. But the crass common denominator determines what we all see or don’t see on TV.

And that common denominator says, “Baywatch and WWE”.