Screen sirens of the ‘90s – Jennifer Love Hewitt, Tori Spelling and Jennie Garth – have been piquing curiosity with their new TV roles. Debashine Thangevelo gives her verdict on who takes the honours for the good, the bedazzling and the ugly…
THE GOOD
WITH more than two decades in the industry, this title goes to Jennifer Love Hewitt – TV Guide’s Sexiest Woman on Television (2008) – hands down.
She is cast in the 10th season of Criminal Minds as Kate Callahan, a new agent filling the shoes of Dr Alex Blake (Jeanne Tripplehorn), who left the BAU team.
Kate is a bit of an enigma. She isn’t one for pity parties. And she has this commendable intrepid spirit. With the series playing out, nuggets of information have been coming to light. What viewers have been able to glean is that she lost family in the 9/11 terrorist attacks and is now the sole guardian of her teenage niece.
And, with savvy from all her undercover work and that killer gut instinct, she fits into the team marvellously.
Okay, so she may not be as sylphlike as she was in Ghost Whisperer or The Client List. But, in her defence, she returned to work shortly after giving birth to her baby daughter, Autumn James, last November. Her frame is just a bit more curvaceous and the cleavage, well, a bit fuller (if you get my drift!).
And, let’s face it, as an actress Love Hewitt has come a long way from the I Know What You Did Last Summer franchise and Party of Five. Heck, she was the poster girl for popular culture in the latter show.
In fact, the 35-year-old has unleashed her flair for comedy, too, making a guest appearance in Hot in Cleveland not too long ago.
On switching from her supernatural hit show to a crime procedural drama, she told InsideTV: “I had been on a break for a bit being a mommy.
“They were looking to add a new cast member and obviously I’d spent some time at CBS before, doing Ghost Whisperer. Honestly, I had always wondered and been waiting to find the perfect way to get back. My first CBS experience was so awesome. They’re great, and Les (Moonves) has been great to me. I was really excited when they called and asked to take a meeting.
“I met with show runner Erica (Messer), whom I have known since I was 14 from Party of Five. I hadn’t seen her in a really long time, so it was great to catch up with her. It all fit and the timing was perfect.”
What is truly admirable about the actress though – aside from her sense of style and trademark poise – is her versatility. While her acting career has been her most prominent asset in Hollywood, she is also known for her plaudits as a singer-songwriter, producer, author and television director.
Once again, her performance is as impregnably brilliant as ever.
Good is as good does!
THE BEDAZZLING
FROM IT girl Kelly Taylor in Beverly Hills 90210 to reality star, actress Jennie Garth has managed to remain relevant all these years.
At 42, she remains as striking as she was when she bagged her breakthrough TV role. The difference being, those enchanting looks are now underscored by experience.
Okay, she hasn’t exactly embarked on the road of success á la Friends stars Jennifer Aniston and Courteney Cox.
But she has enjoyed a fruitful career in made-for-TV movies, big screen offerings and has dabbled in the reality arena.
Aside from bagging Jennie Garth: A Little Bit of Country, she participated in season five of Dancing with the Stars (she made the semi-finals with dance partner, Derek Hough) and proved to be quite the sport on Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?, where she won $100 000 for the American Heart Association.
And she returned in the remake, 90210, along with former co-star Shannen Doherty and, later, Tori Spelling.
With so much fresh blood flooding the industry at the moment, it isn’t easy bagging those youthful, sassy roles.
Hence, I imagine the prospect of teaming up with Spelling on Mystery Girls was indeed tempting. However flawed that decision was, though, she can, at least, seek solace in the fact that she is the only reason that comedy has been watchable.
Her brutally honest and level-headed character derails from the OTT shenanigans. Hats off to her!
THE UGLY
OH dear, where do I start with this one. Perhaps, taking a no-holds-barred page from the late Joan Rivers book will help here.
Simply put, Tori Spelling is a joke in Mystery Girls.
Her plastic surgery exploits have clearly gone south. These days, she looks like a cross between Donatella Versace and a hideous drag queen.
That she is frighteningly skeletal as well doesn’t do Spelling any favours.
Her daddy Aaron must be turning in his grave at the realisation that she didn’t inherit his creative genes.
Aside from a few movies, her reality series with husband Dean McDermott and their four kids, and the shameless pouring of her celebrity life experiences into her autobiographies – she doesn’t have much going for her.
In Mystery Girls, which she co-produced, she plays an airhead who tries to rekindle her yesteryear stardom as a TV star. Hmm, there’s a premise that sounds familiar.
Dressed like a Barbie doll, hammy acting and not-so-sexy pouts leave viewers cringing from embarrassment.
While I don’t condone McDermott’s unfaithfulness, he does get some sympathy for having to go home to that circus act.
She definitely would have been a better fit on American Horror Story: Freak Show.
Thankfully, Mystery Girls will not be on air for much longer – the plug has been pulled on the insufferable “horror” show.
Ugly really doesn’t make for great television, Tori, it just spells disaster!
• Criminal Minds 10 airs on M-Net Edge on Thursdays at 7pm, Mystery Girls airs on Vuzu Amp on Mondays at 7pm.