User Reviews

The basic premise of Raines is this: Jeff Goldblum is a detective who sees the murder victim until he solves the crime. Now, based on this premise, I wasn't really impressed. I love Jeff Goldblum, but there are too many cop shows on TV already, IMHO, and I'm not a fan of Medium or ghost shows in general. I tuned in last night because I figured Goldblum has made worse ideas entertaining to me before and I was very pleasantly surprised.

The first thing that stood out to me was that the whole tone of the show was very different most detective dramas. It doesn't take itself as seriously and is quite fun. You know how House is a medical drama but there are a lot of funny moments and one-liners? Well, as House is to Serious Medical Dramas (ER, I'm looking at you), you could say Raines is to Serious Detective Dramas. The show also has this cool, funny film noir vibe that I liked a lot.

The character of Raines is very appealing; the first episode did a very good job of both establishing his character and setting us up with the beginning of his back story. (I'm avoiding spoilers here, because I want you all to watch it on your own.) Goldblum does his typical weirdo role but also clearly portrays Raines as a skillful detective. The side characters (other police, detectives, etc) weren't firmly established in this episode but there seemed to be a good selection with potential for development.

Now, about the ghost thing. This is what I was really worried about, because if it turned out to be all spiritual, life-after-death stuff, I wouldn't watch no matter how good Goldblum was. I had absolutely nothing to worry about! The "ghost" in this episode mostly seemed like a hallucination-who-might-really-be-a-ghost and her primary function in the story was to help Raines solve the crime, which is just what the "ghosts" should be used for on a detective show. The "ghost" didn't tell him anything he didn't already know or hadn't already figured out. It created a different feel from other detective shows; the detective talking to himself/the victim shook up the typical crime-solving format. I think this getting to the know the victim, seeing the victim and then having him/her disappear at the end is going to set this show apart. (The actress who played the victim in this episode was very good too. I was sad to see her go!)

The mystery itself in this episode was different from a lot of mysteries you would see on other shows, I think. It was a little over the top, but that only made it more fun. I'm looking forward to the other episodes and I hope the show does well. I would recommend it to anyone.

I went to Universal Studios two Saturdays ago, and I was fortunate enough to watch this show and paid 15 dollars to do so. Who wouldn't love to see a show with Mr. Jeff Goldblum on it? I loved it. I don't watch Medium nor have I ever seen an episode, but if I did, I suppose I would see similarities between the two. As far as I know, Raines is a bit unique. Jeff Goldblum is detective Raines and every time he is assigned to a case, he sees the victim as a figment of his imagination. The victims talk back to him, but they only know what he knows. And, they will not go away until he solves a case. It's clever, I think. Oh, and the quips are pretty funny.

I think the show will do well.

Jeff Goldblum is amazing. lol.

This show was so good. It was so cleverly written and Jeff Goldblum was...Jeff Goldblum... just excellent! I would be interested to know how many lines he is ad libbing. I might have to watch this again because there were a couple of lines that 'Raines" said that I might want to use someday. I'm sorry this is debuting against March Madness on CBS. I see that it is being replayed tomorrow, Friday. I hope it gets a good audience. A comment made by someone else was that she thought that this show might be like Medium. Its similar but yet very different. Medium is also a very good show. I am setting this one up to tape the series in case I am out. I don't want to miss it.