Okay, I’ll admit, 10 years and a handful of failed relationships have left me a smidge more jaded towards love, but my heart’s just not feelin’ ABC’s new incarnation of CUPID (2009). It feels cold and clinical, it’s been dumbed down, slowed down…  Missing is the frenetic energy, exuberance and warmth in Trevor – while in the original there was never a doubt that he was dead-set on hooking people up, it was never done callously. This Trevor feels rough, pompous, smug, insensitive and grandiose for his own benefit: The kindness is missing. And while this Claire is still very much a practical, repressed individual, she’s dull, and a little, I dunno, mean (don’t get me wrong, I love Sarah Paulson – we could use a little more “Harriet Hayes” added to the mix).

The antagonism between the pair isn’t fun, it’s forced and a tad uncomfortable. I don’t know whether to blame chemistry (or a marked lack thereof), but whereas in the original I couldn’t get enough of Trevor and Claire’s banter, teasing, frustrated admiration – even just occupying the same room, they vibrated off one another… In this incarnation? Nada, nil, zip, zilch. Makes me wonder: where has the love gone? (…Not to mention the cultural diversity: I realize we’ve relocated from Chicago to NY, but suddenly there are only white folk to be found? And suddenly bars/clubs are brightly lit?) Did like the “couple of the week” though… but shouldn’t they have been less interesting and involving than, say, the lead characters?

I’ll keep watching (the pilot was near verbatim in many spots, so it was impossible not to compare, no doubt unfairly), but I fear despite my best intentions, this love affair may end up in “I just want to be friends” territory.

CUPID official site: abc.go.com/primetime/cupid