‘Spy Game’ Struggles to Carry Out Its Mission

Rarely has there been a more derivative series than ABC’s new “Spy Game.”

The opening credits recall “The Avengers,” that grand escapist and inventive British series that ran on ABC in the 1960s. The premise--the United States needing protection from former Cold War agents resentful about being down-sized--echoes the 1996 movie remake of TV’s “Mission: Impossible.” And the friendly bickering between male protagonist Lorne Cash (Linden Ashby) and female protagonist Max London (Allison Smith) is classic “Remington Steele,” an NBC series from the 1980s that itself sought to reinvent “The Thin Man.”

Enough of name dropping, though, for no one will be imitating “Spy Game,” which doesn’t even approach any of the above series. Instead it is really bad television on just about every level.

That is surprising if for no other reason than one of the show’s creators, along with Sam Raimi and Ivan Raimi, is John McNamara, who was also co-creator of the highly original “Profit,” which had a fleeting run on Fox last season.

The brain center of “Spy Game” is ECHO, a government agency created to protect the United States from these dangerous renegades from within. Its success or failure rests on London and former CIA agent Cash (who carries no weapon because he is a weapon) and their boss, Micah Simms (Bruce McCarty).

Unfortunately for the series, its own success or failure rests largely on the work of Ashby, a wooden Ken doll, and Smith, who also has memorable looks but simply cannot act a whit.

The threat in the premiere comes not only from London’s bridges falling down but also from Cash’s demented former mentor and colleague Adam Quill (Cotter Smith), who controls a super-weapon known as the eradicator that he hopes to use on the president. Never mind that none of the principals here looks like he or she has ever come into contact with anything more technologically advanced than a blow dryer.

“Spy Game” is rather violent and lacks the acting talent to execute the occasional witty lines that surface in initial episodes. These stories include appearances by “Profit” alumnus Keith Szarabajka, as a former Soviet agent, and a brief early cameo tonight by Patrick MacNee. The latter evokes memories of MacNee with Diana Rigg, with superior skills and scripts, carrying off this brand of cheeky adventure so stylishly on “The Avengers.”

While watching “Spy Game” plod, meanwhile, you can think of good use for the eradicator.