CBS | 6 episodes | Drama
WHO'S IN IT? Montel Williams, Kristen Wilson, Richard Chevolleau, Sam McMurray, et. al.
SYNOPSIS: Montel Williams - yes the chat-show host - plays science teacher, Matt Waters, a recently retired naval officer, whose brother is tragically murdered in the same New Jersey neighborhood in which Williams character grew up. Matt decides to dedicate his life to helping troubled youth at the New Jersey high school he attended.
VERDICT: ★★☆☆☆
Montel worked on the show while hosting his chat show, but this wasn't for long - Matt Waters lasted for just six episodes. Typical inner city troubled teens, array of ethnic characters, and a character who can't even read and write but has a knack for mathematics (Later in the show Matt convinces her to return to school, offering to write her a check each week so she doesn't loose out on a salary). Scenes are delivered with such seriousness and lines like:
"Sometimes you gotta lose the battle to win the war"
"Don't through the rest of your life wondering what you could've been".
[On empty seats in the classroom] "The hardest part of this job isn't dealing with the filled seats, it was dealing with the empty ones, because the empty ones remind you of the ones that got away."
Montel isn't that bad, but doesn't quite work as the lead. The title of the show puts me off - Matt Waters. MW...Montel Williams. Not a stretch. Character names in TV shows are always a bit meh anyway. A working title was "Educating Matt Waters" which is a bit better.
In the first episode, Montel, I mean Matt, returns to the school that he attended, soon becoming the talk of the faculty, namely the sister of his ex-girlfriend. She says:
"I know more than I ever wanted to know about Matt Waters"
"Did he shave his head back then?"
"He's bald?!"
CANCELLED TOO SOON? I think had it been more of an ensemble show, it would've worked a bit better. Maybe if it had been given a bit more time, things would have been different.
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