letterten 2003-04 fall preview

debuts Monday, Oct 20, 9:00pm

premise from	Set against the backdrop of the adult film industry, two teens meet and fall in love, even as their warring families will do anything to keep them apart. [Fox link]
stars	Ron Silver ("The West Wing"), Kevin Anderson, D.J. Cotrona, Olivia Wilde, D.W. Moffett, Rachel Ticotin ("Total Recall," "One Good Cop"), Pamela Gidley
producers	Jerry Bruckheimer, Jonathan Littman, Jim Leonard
studio	Warner Bros. Television, Jerry Bruckheimer Productions, Hoosier Karma Productions

opinions
	Jerry "Midas Touch" Bruckheimer might not have it here. The concept of yet another modern-day "Romeo and Juliet" parallel is getting a little old. There are other stories available to update.
	Overplays its connections to the Romeo and Juliet story, particularly the Baz Luhrman adaptation. Many of the shots in the clip reel are direct thefts from that film. Fox is already trying to downplay the pornography aspect of the story (the female teen's pop is an adult movie baron), which is a mistake, because without that kind of grit and detail, this is fairly straight-forward soap opera stuff. Ron Silver and Kevin Anderson are good enough actors that they can pull off even the most melodramatic moments, but the young stars will have a lot to prove.

my thoughts on "Skin"
	The Bruckheimer connection is going to give it a longer leash, but I think it could be a better fit against "CSI" on Thursday, I'm sure Bruckheimer will not allow that. It won't be "girls club" (last year's Monday 9pm entry), but I think the pornography angle will hurt more than help.