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Who doesn’t love Emily VanCamp (right)?

The Canadian actress has been adorable ever since she hit the regular TV screen as a teenager on “Everwood,” the WB series in which she played Amy Abbott, the love interest of the emotionally-scarred Ephraim.

Greg Berlanti, the creator of “Everwood,” eventually found a place for her on “Brothers & Sisters,” as Rebecca, who become the love interest of the emotionally-scarred Justin (Dave Annable).

And now she gets her star turn on “Revenge,” an ABC drama that the producers have told TV critics is loosely based on “The Count of Monte Cristo.”

VanCamp plays a former jailbird who got rich and now is out to get all the obscenely rich people in Southampton, Long Island who conspired to ruin her father’s reputation years and her childhood years earlier when she was an adoring daughter. It premieres at 10 tonight on Channel 7.

In other words, Emily has gone bad after getting rich. But it is the kind of bad that people can root for against even worse rich people, the one group that TV series love to hate.

As good as it is to see VanCamp expand her acting range, it is a little unsettling to see the formerly adorable Emily play such a schemer. And I can almost hear Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner lament the class warfare in “Revenge.”

VanCamp plays a character who has taken a new identity as Emily Thorne, who narrates the pilot and looks great in a red dress. Through flashbacks, viewers learn that Emily lived in Southampton 17 years ago when she was known as Amanda and only a dog and a nerdy rich tech guy Nolan (Gabrielle Mann) still recognize her.

She rents a house next to the wife (she is known as Queen Victoria and is played by Madeleine Stowe) and husband (Henry Czerny) who destroyed her father. Emily’s primary goal is seeking revenge in a way that nobody figures out what she really is up to. Her entrée into Queen Victoria’s family is Daniel (Josh Bowman), the handsome son who can’t resist Emily’s charms. Who can?

Emily’s beauty helps her pull it off for the most part, with the help of an event planner Ashley (Ashley Madekwe) who is her close friend. Flashbacks enable viewers to see what Emily’s life was like when she was known as Amanda. Back then, she hung out with the middle class son of a local tavern owner, Jack (Nick Wechsler), before her dad was arrested right before her eyes.

The villains are rich people, who have affairs with their best friends’ spouses and screw their underlings financially while they smile and act like do-gooders.

It makes it easy to root for Emily, who gets people in trouble acting naïve when she knows exactly what she is doing. When she tells a rich woman “I hope your husband is feeling better” it is to get the woman in trouble and not to sympathize.

The hour is intriguing and very easy on the eyes, but glamorous series like this can be tough sells beyond a season or two despite all the potential stories with this rich cast.

“Revenge” probably would have played much better as a TV movie, but I can think of much worse ways to spend 13 to 22 evenings a year  than watching VanCamp parade around in colorful dresses at opulent parties in what could become this generation’s version of “Dynasty” or “Dallas.”

Rating: 3 stars out of 4

pergament@msn.com

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