‘Two’: Too Obvious to Be Much Fun

Michael Easton should get plenty of exercise in the new syndicated drama “Two.” Portraying twin brothers in this thinly veiled reworking of “The Fugitive,” the former “Days of Our Lives” star will undoubtedly be doing his fair share of running in this series.

Easton is both the on-the-lam hero and the villain in “Two.” As Gus McClain, he’s a young college professor, blissfully married. As Booth Hubbard, he’s a malicious psychopath who is determined to make his brother’s life hell on Earth.

Hubbard frames his brother not only for the murder of his wife but also for the killings of four other people. This social deviant is bitter because the brothers were separated as infants after their parents were killed in a car accident, and McClain was brought up in a privileged, loving environment while Hubbard’s youth was filled with rancor and delinquency.

“Two” offers a less compelling set of circumstances than “The Fugitive.” McClain appears to have a far easier task in clearing his name than did Dr. Richard Kimble. Here, there’s no mysterious one-armed man; the professor knows the identity and motives of the real killer, who is an obvious lunatic with a troubled and seemingly verifiable history.

It’s also difficult to believe that an innocent man with an unblemished past could be successfully framed for not one but five murders committed by his brother.

As McClain flees authorities in the woods surrounding Seattle, one wishes he would just stop, turn himself in and ring up Johnnie Cochran.

* “Two” premieres at 11:35 tonight on KABC-TV Channel 7.