A strange thing happened recently I got an invitation to preview a Television Show.  Me?  I am certainly not your typical Nielson family.  But there it was, an invitation from Fox Television to preview Lone Star a new program premiering next Monday night.

How did they find me?  That is the really interesting thing…  they approached me through Klout.com. Base on my Klout score, the decided I might just be influential enough to drive a few more viewers their way. There was no requirement that I do anything ( see official disclaimer) but if they really have been paying attention to my tweet stream, they probably guessed I would say something.

To be perfectly honest, when the invitation arrived in my email, I had never heard of the show, I don’t watch many programs on Fox, so I hadn’t seen the previews.  But they were offering a free Lone Star T-shirt (and my husband is a Texan), popcorn and a party pack with plastic wine and beer glasses, a wine opener, napkins, a key ring/beer opener, all in this cool carrying case.  (Note to Fox and Klout, it might have been a good idea to ask a few questions when I responded to find out if I was a good candidate)

I figured if the show wasn’t any good, at least Andy would have a Tshirt.  And, I was impressed by their creative approach to introducing their product. I also thought there might be a few interesting lessons on how to use social media to promote a product so I accepted the offer.

So what did I think of the show? It is the story of a 2nd generation con man, who has exceeded his dad’s ability to separate people from their money.    Actor James Wolk, in the lead role of Robert/Bob Allen is extremely likable as the con man with a double life.  He is also the only character we got to know in the first episode, which tried to cover too much ground in an hour.  He is in love with two women,  (Cat and Lindsey) though you really never get to know why.  With barely a dozen lines of dialog between them, all we know is they are both very pretty.

There is one tough guy ( Cat’s dad) who might have murdered his brother, two  bad guys;  Robert/Bob’s dad who wants his son to continue in his footsteps and Cat’s older brother who is threatened by his sister’s husband,  one sweet, ne’er-do-well ( Cat’s younger brother) and a former boyfriend who had just enough screen time to make a brief threat.  Clearly their are plots afoot, reminding me of another Texas based show  – “Dallas”.

With all of this intrigue, what did I think of the show?  It was ok. The people are  pretty, the concept is interesting,  but there isn’t a strong core.  The dialogue is flat and the characters are one dimensional.   It wasn’t awful, it just wasn’t engaging.  Because they were nice enough to send me the cool party pack, I will probably check out the second episode to see if the writers hit their stride, and begin making the characters more interesting.  However, they haven’t earned a spot on my DVR yet.   But don’t take my word for it, check it out on Monday and decide for yourself.  Of course, you will have to make your own popcorn, but you can borrow my glasses.