House of Lies

House of Lies gave us a glimpse at what kind of series it could be in "Amsterdam."

I didn't care a bit about the Case of the Week (this show really is akin to a procedural, might as well use that jargon, right?), and there were too many examples again of gratuitous raunchiness, most involving Don Cheadle's Marty Kaan - but the scene in which Clyde and Doug placed a wager on how the former would land Cat Deeley was easily the best to date.

Granted, it's been two episodes.

But House of Lies is a show that will live and die with the chemistry between its characters. Do you really care what business the team swoops in to and pretends to rescue each week? I didn't think so.

Do you care that Marty can apparently bed (or, well, car) any woman he pleases, with just a look or a few supposedly smooth words? Neither do I.

I enjoyed Clyde and Doug's back and forth, though, as Marty and Jeanie looked on amused. There's major acting talent within this core quartet and I hope future episodes focus more on this kind of banter and interplay. I certainly get a lot more out of it than the program's attempt to make me invest in Marty's emotional troubles.

I don't doubt they exist, considering what we've seen from this man over two episodes. Ethically upstanding, he is not. But it will take more than the stare into the mirror that concluded the premiere, along with slight hesitation in his call with Jeanie here, for me to really care about the internal battle supposedly being waged for Marty's soul, in which the Devil is clearly winning so far. By a lot.

But I can be a patient critic, especially when it involves watching Cheadle, Kristen Bell and, as first seen this week, Richard Schiff on occasion. All great actors, all appearing to have a lot of fun in their roles. I experienced the same feeling of joy for about five minutes during Clyde and Doug's bedroom betting - and I'll be sticking around next Sunday night to see if we get more.