The Crazy Ones (Thu., CBS, 8:00 CT)
For better or worse, this show is Robin Williams at his most Robin Williamsy. I'd argue for worse, because his fast-paced rambling isn't remarkably funny and it's certainly a little old by now. Also, in the first episode already, there's blatant product placement with a story revolving around McDonald's and a "big" guest appearance from Kelly Clarkson that is almost entirely pointless and unfunny. (Does even the concept of Kelly Clarkson wanting to sing a sex song in a McDonald's commercial song sound funny at all to you?)
Williams is Williams and Sarah Michelle Gellar is competent. The supporting players are pretty broad humor-wise. There's Zachary who apparently sleeps with a lot of girls. Then there's the clueless assistant who flashed the McDonald's execs and allowed Williams to smell her hair to motivate him. Yeah, to say the least, they are thinly veiled characters.
If shallow characters, obvious product placement, and a guest star appearance whose only purpose is to showcase her vocal ability and to collect a paycheck appeal to you, then this is the show for you. Apparently, 15 million people watched this premiere - I don't think it really looked good in commercials either - which is immensely depressing to me.
Verdict - Unless you're a huge Robin Williams fan - of his comedy specifically - I'd avoid it.
Back in the Game (Wed., ABC, 7:30 pm)
To my complete surprise, I liked this pilot - with some serious reservations. It's the kind of pilot where I inexplicably liked it yet I know that there's basically no way that the show will be any good. There are big red warning signs that are surmounted past in this one episode thanks to... sheer luck? I don't know.
Maggie Lawson is charming as a single mother, recently divorced and forced to live with her alcoholic, uncaring father. James Caan plays him, which is depressing, but also probably why I liked it. Unfortunately, he plays an asshole who doesn't appear to have any redeeming qualities - he DID watch every one of his daughter's baseball games - but that's just about the only good thing about him.
The side characters is where the show really shows why it won't continue being a decent show. The fathers (or villains) are caricatures - there's not even an attempt to show them as human beings. They are delusional sexists who make fun of little kids. The kids who are on the "bad" baseball team - they are also caricatures - outrageously unrealistic one-note kids.
Verdict: I liked the three leads, but really the show's portrayal of anyone else is so mind-numbingly bad that there's no way this will be a good show.
The Millers (Thu., CBS, 7:30 pm)
Arrested Development, Running Wilde, The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret, Up All Night: What do they all have in common? It's a cancelled Will Arnett sitcom. He's like cancer to a sitcom's chances. This show has a good shot, because it follows the The Big Bang Theory, but it's also probably the worst of his five shows. (I've only not seen Up All Night)
The cast is magnificent. I'm not kidding when I say I liked everybody who was prominently featured. The aforementioned Arnett, Margo Martindale (The Americans), Beau Bridges, J.B. Smoove, Jayma Mays, and Nelson Franklin (unknown, but I loved him on New Girl) were in the pilot. Unfortunately, more jokes than not miss and for some reason, the laugh track hasn't died yet.
The premise is that Arnett's character got divorced, he keeps it from his parents (does this happen?) for three months, and then when his parents find out he's divorced, they split up themselves. Because they only stayed together to not set a bad example or something. The actors did the best they could, but the material is just not there. I may watch to see if they are maximize their cast, but I am skeptical.
Verdict: Unless you're really looking for a new show or love Will Arnett and want him to succeed, this show can easily be skipped.
Updated Thoughts on New Shows
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
The second episode and some digging on the people involved with this show have made me come to an unfortunate realization. The second episode was merely serviceable. That's fine except for the fact that I kind of want to watch shows that qualify as better than "serviceable" given the options I have. Hell, I'd rather re-watch Friday Night Lights or Buffy than watch a serviceable show for the first time.
I'm not quite giving up on this show, but I need to shorten my leash with shows like this. I have a limited amount of time and if I watched every mediocre show, I'd be losing the opportunity to watch shows like Deadwood or The Sopranos. I'll give it a few more episodes.
With that said, make no mistake, this is not a Joss Whedon show. Last week's pilot was co-written by Whedon and directed by him, but post-pilot, he's basically not involved. This show is like a lesser imitator of Whedon. Almost everyone involved has extensive experience working on Whedon shows. The co-creators with Whedon - Maurissa Tancharoen and Jed Whedon - worked with Whedon on Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along-Blog and Dollhouse. No offense to those two projects, but Buffy, Angel, and Firefly are all significantly better (Given what I've heard about Dollhouse at least.)
Then, the only other writer involved in the four episodes available on IMDB are to Jeffrey Bell, who wrote on Angel and was the head writer for a time.* But he was the head writer on Season 4, which was the worst season behind Season 1. This show is kind of seemingly like Whedon at his worst. Whedon at his worst is mediocre. All I'm saying is this show has the tag of a Whedon show, but it's actually a Whedon knock-off.
*Knowing the behind-the scenes for Angel's fourth season makes sense of why that show lost its way for a little. Whedon was pretty busy with two other shows. Talented writer Tim Minear wrote just one episode in that season and David Greenwalt - co-creator - left the show after the third season. The man who was supposed to become head writer left due to creative differences. That's a whole lot of change.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine
They seemed to have built strongly off the pilot with pretty good episodes. Most importantly, the characters are people I want to hang out with on a weekly basis and it has its fair share of laughs. It isn't a great comedy yet, but it is just oozing with potential. The first three episodes have earned enough goodwill for me that I will watch the rest of the season barring an immense drop in quality. If and when it ever reaches that potential, I'll make sure to be there to see it.
The Blacklist
I think my original plan was to watch more than just the pilot, but I have absolutely no desire to watch any more episodes when it came time to pull the trigger. Sleepy Hollow provides me with my improbably stupid show, but does it ten times better.
Trophy Wife
The second episode was pleasant with some mild laughs. I really like Malin Akerman in this role and all of the characters are likable and smart. Bradley Whitford plays the sort of cool, relaxed dad that I wish I had. I'm going to continue watching and hope it hits its stride soon.
Playlist
1. The Keepers - Santigold
2. Soapbox - Cyne
3. No Way Down - The Shins
4. The Way - Fastball
5. Get By - Talib Kweli
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