"Six Degrees" a rewarding character ensemble

By Barry Garron

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Kevin Bacon notwithstanding, the phrase "six degrees of separation" has evolved to stand for the idea that we're all somehow connected, a slightly hipper version of "It's a small world."

Practically everyone has a story about a coincidental connection that changed their life and rare is the film or TV series without one or more. This year's best picture Oscar winner, "Crash," for example, might just as easily have laid claim to the title "Six Degrees."

This series, though, is a softer, gentler and more romantic version of the concept. It owes more to the storytelling tradition of Aaron Spelling than to the societal observations of Paul Haggis. Also, the ABC series from Stuart Zicherman and Raven Metzner, produced under J.J. Abrams' umbrella, plays out on the other coast.

The pilot starts with a tedious and too-cute voice-over by Jay Hernandez, who plays public defender Carlos, one of six strangers whose lives become intertwined by the time the final credits roll. But get through the monologue about how you never know whether this stranger will turn out to be an important figure in your life, yada yada, and you are rewarded with several highly entertaining, if not always plausible, stories filled with appealing characters.

Take, for example, Mae (Erika Christensen), who is on the lam from someone for something. We don't know what, but we know it's serious and her life is in danger if she gets caught. She is desperate for anonymity, so what does she do? Peels off her top and stands with arms outstretched on a slow-moving garbage truck. Her subsequent arrest for public indecency leads to a brief but meaningful meeting with Carlos, the public defender.

Other stories are only slightly more credible, but that's not the point. These are characters in a modern Damon Runyan story, all of them engaging and entertaining in their own ways. What's more, if the stories aren't entirely convincing, the actors are. Campbell Scott is superb as Steve, the photographer tying to make a new start after kicking his drug habit. Dorian Missick brings a bushel of charm to the part of Damian, the chauffeur dodging gambling debts even as he resists lucrative offers from his brother, the criminal. The others are equally fun to watch.

Zicherman and Metzner love New York, and their affection shines through. They have said they do not intend for "Six Degrees" to be a serialized drama, but it will be interesting to see how they incorporate into future episodes the back stories that largely consume the premise pilot. Continued...