From the opening frames of NBC’s new drama Rise — an idyllic panorama of all-American scenery set to lilting guitar — you start to feel that familiar rush: This is Jason Katims country. The Friday Night Lights and Parenthood creator’s distinctive imprint is all over Rise, from the shaky-cam cinematography to the off-the-cuff dialogue, and if you loved Katims’ past shows, you’ll find a lot to love here, too. Whether Rise can ultimately rise to the level of those two stellar achievements, though, is still a question mark.
The premise of Rise — debuting this Tuesday at 10/9c; I’ve watched the first five episodes — makes it sound a lot like Glee: Josh Radnor, of How I Met Your Mother fame, stars as Lou Mazzuchelli, aka Mr. Mazzu, a high school teacher in an economically depressed former steel town in rural Pennsylvania. (See, he even has a cute nickname like Glee‘s Mr. Schue!) Mr. Mazzu volunteers to take over the school’s theater program, hoping to rescue the kids from another uninspiring production of Grease and put up the provocative Spring Awakening instead. And this isn’t just charity; Mazzu is looking to inspire himself as well. “I need this, Gail,” he tells his wife (Marley Shelton). “I need something.”
