I really enjoyed the TV series Leverage (’08-’12.) As a fan of heist and con films it provided 77 nice episodes with well presented character tropes. It checked all the boxes and the cast seemed to enjoy putting it together. It was 75% obvious and 25% twist. And it was reasonably believable, and had some great conceits. At least that’s how I recall it a decade later.

And we now have a reboot. Aldis Hodge makes cameos but has been replaced by a foster-sibling who is young, spunky and woke. And Timothy Hutton is eventually replaced by Noah Wiley (reunited with Christian Kane from The Librarians.

First the positives. It’s New Orleans locale is awesome. We really enjoy street scenes we’ve walked along and restaurants in which we’ve eaten. And it’s nice to be reunited with old friends.

But just as in real life, old friends change during an absence. They’re still the characters they were, only more-so. The writing team has taken them from characters to caricatures. There was always a touch of fun and humor in the script but now much of it seems forced. Rather than adding humor to a real ongoing situation (as with a smart remark) there are now set-ups and gags that almost recall spit-takes. We’ve gone from smart, 40’s style comedy of Cukor and Wilder to the doorsteps of bad 70’s sitcoms.

And the plot lines? Let’s call them good-adjacent. They’re CLOSE to being good but just miss it. Either to go for a laugh, or to demonstrate their woke bona fides. And their seems to be NO attention to maintaining any verisimilitude. We’re supposed to believe Parker steals a work of art from each of the eight most famous museums in the United States in a 24 hour period. It’s now a cartoon. I don’t blame the cast. They still look to be enjoying themselves even if they DO all show their age a bit. And I don’t blame the directors. Jonathan Frakes is competent in his outing although he seems to be directing an episode of The Librarians. He did ten and seems to enjoy going for the laugh. It’s always THERE but that doesn’t mean it BELONGS there. And Wiley demonstrates the same touch in his three efforts.

Oh, I’ll keep watching. It’s been renewed for a second season. But I’ll hold my nose, remember how good it USED to be, and not recommend it for new viewers. Just too insipid.