'Zero Day' review: Robert De Niro's first TV series has interesting premise, but is deadly dull

WHAT IT'S ABOUT After the country has been crippled by a cyberattack, the revered former ex-President George Mullen (Robert De Niro, in his first TV series), is persuaded by his wife, Sheila (Joan Allen) to head up the commission that President Evelyn Mitchell (Angela Bassett) has created to find out who launched it. Mullen is reluctant — he's enjoying the quiet life at his upstate manse by the Hudson — but duty calls. There are problems, however. Mitchell will let him suspend habeas corpus in pursuit of the bad guys, which he does, perhaps a little too eagerly. His congresswoman daughter, Alexandra (Lizzy Caplan), is concerned, but not so much his shady chief of staff, Roger Carlson (Jesse Plemons). Meanwhile, Mullen is having a few too many "senior moments," which may be clouding his judgment.

This six-parter comes from Eric Newman ("The Watcher"), Noah Oppenheim ("Jackie," also former NBC News president), and New York Times reporter Michael Schmidt.

MY SAY "Zero Day" won't keep anyone on the edge of their seats but definitely at the back of them, where they'll kick up their heels, occasionally glance at their watch, then nod off into a deep, untroubled sleep. Upon waking, they'll be relieved to learn that not all that much has changed, because not all that much has. The plot remains in situ: An unyielding gelatinous blob that refuses to move forward, sideways or even backward. De Niro has surely picked an unusual project for his first TV series — an inert one.

These things happen, unfortunately. Great actor finds an interesting project, then attracts A-listers for the supporting cast. These luminaries then all jump off into the great unknown, hoping for the best because they usually get it. But something clearly went sideways between that jump and the landing and here is one possible culprit: This six-parter is more about an idea than an actual story, or a series of "what ifs" in search of a compulsive (or at minimum cohesive) narrative. What if a former president was put in charge of such a commission? What if he lost his marbles? What if he suspended human rights, then turned into a mini-me dictator? What if social unrest followed?

These are perfectly plausible "what ifs," and "Zero Day" does indeed take place inside a perfectly plausible idea — this so-called post-truth world of ours, where facts are twisted into disinformation, where no one's quite certain what's "real."

If all this sounds familiar, that (of course) is the other idea. What is the truth? What is a lie? And if we can't depend on a revered public servant to help us sort out the difference, what hope then do any of us have?

To its considerable credit, "Zero Day" does in fact land on a wild and woolly metaphor for both Mullen's and the country's disintegration. In 1978, the film critic Roger Ebert wrote a screenplay for a movie starring the Sex Pistols entitled "Who Killed Bambi?" The film was never released, but a single came out of it — a violent, jarring, deranged ode to Disney's four-hoofed hero. This single tracks in Mullen's head during his more despotic episodes, and he wonders why (as will you). The sheer wackiness of "Bambi" is the best part of "Zero Day," and some viewers may start to wonder — I did — whether a little more Sid Vicious and a little less of all these ideas might've been the difference between "success" and "flop."

 Might've — but probably not.

BOTTOM LINE Interesting idea, otherwise deadly dull.