It's a shame Bionic Woman wasn't good enough to avoid the chop on NBC – if only because Michelle Ryan's the perfect role model for young girls: a pleasant, beautiful, well-spoken, intelligent, girl-next-door type. Did you see her on Friday Night With Jonathan Ross? Unpretentious, charming and eloquent throughout, I thought...
She just needs a role that plays to her strengths. Something light-hearted and fun. Bionic Woman wasn't it, with its chilly business-like vibe and bone-crunching martial arts. Ryan did well to look half-way proficient at the violence, but the best episode of the 8 produced had her undercover (and out of black clothes) as a nice English girl at a university campus.
I think she'd be the first to admit she's not the greatest actress in the world, but years working on a soap like EastEnders allows you to access big emotions more easily, and the work schedule is gruelling. Soaps are a good foundation for a teenage actress, and first-hand experience of the US TV system can only be a good thing. Oh, and she can do a decent American accent, of course.
Jonathan Ross avoided mentioning Bionic Woman was axed in the States, and thus perhaps damage ITV2's audience for the show when it starts on Tuesday (11 March) -- which was fair enough. You wouldn't really want to make Michelle Ryan uncomfortable, would you?
She did extremely well to land a plum role in the USA. Of the many problems Bionic Woman had, her performance wasn't really one of them. The revamp of the concept was flawed in so many ways, and there was no clear direction or vision for the show. Gritty espionage drama? Globe-trotting adventure? Frothy superhero show? Romantic thriller? It was all of those, and none of those.
Oh well. I look forward to see the gorgeous Michelle Ryan in something better; back here in the UK (no shame in that), or cast in another US show by a producer who recognised she was the glistening cherry on a cake burnt by too many cooks.
