Eli's Coming

The WGA nominations are pretty good. I like how they nominated the episode of My Name Is Earl entitled "Vote for This and I Promise to Do Something Crazy at the Emmys." But I can't say I'm thrilled at their choice of the Eli Stone pilot.

I don't think much of the show. It's about a rich lawyer who sees the light and starts taking cases for the little guy against big corporations--pretty tired concept. (The gimmick is he has visions which make him take these cliched cases.) But it's not that the pilot was just so-so. Its message was despicable. I know that's not how art should be judged, but I can't help but wonder if the Writer's Guild actually agrees with the message.

The plot is about a mother suing a pharmaceutical company on behalf of her autistic son. She claims their vaccine is responsible. Eli Stone plays on the fears of the jury and his selfless client receives a huge award.

Since this is a triumph, the show implicitly endorses this view of vaccines. The best science suggests otherwise. As it is, millions of parents are wondering if they should avoid vaccines. If enough opt out, the consequences could be disastrous. This is one Stone that should have remained unturned.