Reef Break premiere: Will Poppy Montgomery’s new show succeed?

Reef Break

Tonight on ABC, be prepared to be introduced to a new show in Reef Break that offers up a few different reasons for excitement. The show’s bringing you Without a Trace / Unforgettable star Poppy Montgomery, a format that should feel very appealing, and hopefully an overall product that is worth watching time and time again.

If there is one thing holding it back, it’s simply awareness. How many people know that this show is even on? It’s basically, even down to the premiere timeslot, a similar show to Take Two when it aired on ABC last year. Even though the two stars had a certain degree of notoriety, there just wasn’t enough attention around the show for it to take much of a splash. We’re already worried about that, and also just that the title doesn’t really do much to give people an understanding of what this show is. Reef Break just, for whatever reason, doesn’t roll off the tongue.

Let’s move over now to some of the reasons why you do want to give this show a chance, including that it seems to be almost the perfect marriage of White Collar and Hawaii Five-0. You’ve got a beautiful setting, and then also the story of a criminal who may actually be the best person out there to stop other criminals. Check out the premiere synopsis for some other details:

When former thief Cat Chambers returns home to the Pacific island paradise known as The Reef, she finds herself in the center of a kidnapping, when the daughter of the island’s most prominent resident goes missing. Cat’s less-than-perfect past gives her an instinctive gift for understanding crime and criminals, as she becomes enmeshed in the first of many fast-paced, high-octane island adventures.

The appeal for this show is mostly going to be having a chance to really experience some bizarre capers in a beautiful setting. It’s also a series that is coming on at a time when there are a lot of people likely starving for/hoping to get some more scripted programming. We just wish that it was airing in a different timeslot — you basically have here a crime-based show that is airing directly up against another in Elementary. Given that there aren’t necessarily that many out there this summer, it feels like Reef Break didn’t have to air when it did.

Who knows? Maybe this show could end up becoming one of the surprise hits of the summer. We just know that it does have an uphill battle ahead of it and the only way that it can overcome that is if it gets people watching it right away. Maybe that will give it enough time to spread via word of mouth, and then, it can accumulate a higher number of viewers before the end of the season.

What are you the most excited to see when it comes to Reef Break when the series does premiere? Be sure to share right now in the comments. (Photo: ABC.)

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