I am - Hercules!!

We knew it’d be worse than "Groundhog Day"; what throws us is it’s not even as good as "Early Edition." Overwrought and hampered by relentlessly uninspired characterization, Fox’s "Tru Calling" is likely to find little favor among fans following Eliza Dushku from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." It may, in fact, make more than a few Buffyphiles grateful that the proposed "Faith on a Motorcycle" spinoff never materialized. It also airs opposite "Survivor," "Friends," "Scrubs" and "Smackdown"; were it well-crafted it’d still face a ghastly uphill battle. I held a bit of hope when ace "Buffy" writer-producer Doug Petrie joined "Tru" post-pilot, but now it looks like he’s already moved on to the WB’s proposed "Lost in Space" revival. My pal Kristin over at E! Online has been raving for months about how great she thinks "Tru" is, so maybe she knows what the Fox execs were thinking. I sure can’t figure it out. TV Guide says: Dushku has lost none of the gutsy attitude she displayed on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but this convoluted thriller has at least one too many concepts, stretching logic and our patience. … Even by cult standards, Tru might be DOA.

The Hollywood Reporter says: … the opener is heavy-handed and fatiguing. … Creator-exec producer Jon Harmon Feldman’s script has a couple of interesting plot turns but not enough to distract from the ham-fisted way in which the story gets played out. … Overall, a far more serious problem is that Dushku is not forceful enough to be entirely convincing as a young woman capable of altering the future. Nor is her character drawn with enough texture or idiosyncrasies to make it stand out in scenes in which Tru interacts with others.

Variety says: Although fraught with silliness, the familiar premise does yield a modicum of suspense and appears destined to go about as far as Eliza Dushku’s adorableness can take it. … if this mildly entertaining series faces the executioner’s ax, it wouldn’t be the kind of unnatural death that merits Tru’s heroic measures.

The Los Angeles Times says: The pilot was directed by Philip Noyce, who has made some very good movies ("The Quiet American") and some less good ones ("The Saint"), and one might say that he is working his full range here. The dialogue is serviceable but does not crackle. Dushku is really the only reason to stay tuned …

USA Today gives it two and a half stars (out of four) and says: You have a heroine with no official contacts playing Junior G-Man every week, hunting down clues and making intuitive leaps that would make Sherlock Holmes blanch. … The show doesn’t overreach: Tru can’t solve everyone’s problems every time. And the plots, if not always involving, are at least complicated.

Entertainment Weekly gives it an "C" and says: Dushku as do-gooder doesn’t fit with the actress’ naturally sour line readings, and the pilot for this thriller, directed by feature-filmer Phillip Noyce (’’The Quiet American’’), is disappointingly slack.

Herc’s rating for "Tru Calling" 1.1? *1/2 The Hercules T. Strong Rating System: ***** better than we deserve **** better than most motion pictures *** actually worth your valuable time ** as horrible as most stuff on TV * makes you quietly pray for bulletins 8 p.m. Thursday. Fox. I am - Hercules!!