Mixed ‘Company’

This ABC series can’t decide if it’s a heist show or a nighttime soap

A handsome con man works big scores with his family in “The Company You Keep.” After selling some property they don’t even own, they think they’ve hit the jackpot — $10 million free and clear. Turns out, they just got scammed themselves by someone else, who takes the money and runs. Now they’re back at square one.

Actually, it’s worse than that: They got made and now they’re on the hook to return all that money, bit by bit, to the Irish criminal syndicate they targeted with this phony deal — otherwise it’s lights out. A decent enough heist-ofthe-week premise, if only the ABC drama were going for that.

Starring Milo Ventimiglia in his follow-up to “This Is Us,” the show is a series of winking capers. But also family drama (involving multiple families). And also a nighttime soap juiced with romantic intrigue. It’s based on a Korean show called “My Fellow Citizens!” which I have not seen; Wikipedia describes the premise thusly: “A con man, who gets involved with unexpected incidents, marries a police officer and somehow ends up running to become a member of the National Assembly.”

“The Company You Keep” has made some key changes. The police detective love interest is now an agent working for an unnamed shadowy government agency, played by Catherine Haena Kim. Another tweak: It’s her brother who’s running for office, and as storylines go, this is underwhelming. Nor does it actually

develop her character further. Who is she, beyond these things that are happening around her?

More pressingly, the show can’t seem to land on an overall tone or sensibility.

Ventimiglia is likable — that’s not the issue. But as written, the character is too bland and underdeveloped to really carry a show. Same goes for his romantic counterpart in Kim, who is stuck with dialogue that has her saying things like “our friends at the FBI.” It’s unclear what she does exactly but it’s very important and she’s very good at ... whatever her job is.

The show is the latest addition to a roster of finebut-forgettable shows to premiere on ABC this season, along with the Gina Rodriguez comedy “Not Dead Yet” and the Hilary Swank newspaper drama “Alaska Daily” (which last aired in November; the final four episodes are slated to run next month if you haven’t forgotten about it already). These shows might be decidedly mid, but I do appreciate that the network isn’t just ordering up an endless array of cop dramas to fill its schedule (“Will Trent” is an exception; had to fit in some copaganda somewhere). I respect that ABC is actually trying to find success with the kind of shows that were once TV staples. I think there’s an audience for it.

COURTESY OF ABC Milo Ventimiglia plays a con man whose life suddenly becomes much more complicated in “The Company You Keep.”