"Little Men" (which has aired for nearly two seasons on the still-growing US family network, PAX TV) is not only the latest Canadian period piece, but also the latest in a long string of Louisa May Alcott interpretations.
Debuting this week on it's parent network, "Little Men" is falling quickly into the "same old, same old" mold that many new Canadian ventures fall into. The series premiere is nothing more than the typical fare that results from trying to hard to introduce all the characters in one episode.
The premiere can be recapped in three sentences: Lone widow has deceased husband and finds business in trouble. Viewers introduced to any number of people. Widow risks defying convention to save business.
The series is not quite as racy as "Dr. Quinn", not quite as varied as "Avonlea", and slightly more homegrown than the short-lived "Christy" of a few years ago. Think of it as "The X Files" meets "Touched by an Angel", with a little "Nothing Too Good for a Cowboy" thrown in for good luck.
Jo March Bhaer, the widowed head of the school, is played by American Michelle Rene Thomas, and it's obvious to viewers in less than thirty minutes that she will eventually find herself married to merchant marine turned handyman Nick Riley, played by Canadian/American Spencer Rochfort. Thomas is semi-buyable as a widowed mother of one (Rob) in 1871, but Spencer Rochfort looks more like a beach bum than a merchant marine with a criminal record.
The rest of the cast is made up primarily of Canadian unknowns, with the notable exception being Robin Dunne (Franz), who could have shot to "teen heartthrob" stardom had his FOX series, "Manchester Prep", ever aired a single episode.
Unfortunately, although the series has just started airing the first of eight episodes filmed in the first season, there may not be much to crow about. Dismal ratings in the US have the series two steps away from cancellation (about 700,000 viewers per episode). If Canada matches the same ratings (meaning between 70,000 to 80,000 viewers), there's a good chance "Little Men" will fade into obscurity, and might be one of the first casualties of CTV's year 2000.
Pros: Excellent scenery, diverse cast, former "Dr. Quinn" production crew.
Cons: Something is very wrong with either the script or the talent -- one of them doesn't know what it's doing.
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