My brother Zach graciously agreed to guest blog the April shows. Please know that his opinions and representations are his own and do not represent mine. That said, after reading his reviews...I agree with almost everything he says. Without further adieu, April show reviews by Zach Parry:
Full disclosure: I hate romantic comedy more than Eliza hates science fiction.
Best Friends Forever (NBC) 4/4When Jessica's (Jessica St. Clair) husband files for divorce, she flies across the country to seek comfort and move back in with her best friend Lennon (Lennon Parham). However, Lennon's boyfriend Joe (Luka Jones) has recently moved in and has a hard time fitting into Lennon and Jessica's close friendship.
Remember New Girl? The show about a girl who moves in with three guys and has a hard time fitting into their close friendship? Well, this one sounds just like it to me except in reverse and without Zoe Deschanel. Instead, it has Lennon Parham, who you might remember from Confessions of a Shopaholic, which I never saw, and let’s be honest, you probably don’t remember her if you did see it. Rounding out the unknown cast is Luka Jones as the guy trying to fit in, whose most notable prior role was also his first role, in which he played the best man on an episode of How I Met Your Mother in 2011. The third major cast member is Jessica St. Clair, who does have some acting history, but other than a one-time guest role in Parks and Recreation and Samantha Who, I didn’t really recognize anything she’d been in either.
That’s not to say that an unknown cast is a bad thing, just that it makes it hard to predict whether the show is going to be any good. With Fred Savage as an executive producer, though, I am skeptical. Not just because he’s an executive producer—because who knows what that really means—but that his name being attached to the show is supposed to be a good thing. Remember him in The Wonder Years, The Princess Bride, and not really anything of note since 1993 except as the guy with the big mole in Austin Powers?
Another strike against this show is the preview, which reeks of new-show-insecurity by promoting the show with both male and female nudity. There’s only one naked lady I want to see, and she’s not on tv.
While I wont’ be tuning in due to its offensive romantic-comedy nature, others are more forgiving of formulaic stories and mind-numbing humor (that must be true or Three and a Half Men and Big Bang Theory would not still be on the air). Oh, and also, I really have no idea if the stories will be formulaic or the humor mind numbing, but since I won’t be tuning in, it doesn’t really matter either way.
Scandal (ABC) 4/5Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington) dedicates her life to protecting the public images of the nation's elite and making sure their secrets never get out. Olivia is a former White House communications director for the President, but has left to start her own crisis management firm, Olivia Pope and Associates. She is hoping to begin a new chapter of her life, but is finding out that she cannot leave parts of her past behind.
Olivia Pope and Associates staff includes Stephen Finch (Henry Ian Cusick), a womanizer considering settling down, Harrison Wright (Columbus Short), a smooth and efficient litigator, Abby Whelan, (Darby Stanchfield), the firm's investigator, Huck (Guillermo Diaz), a hacker with a CIA past, and Quinn Perkins (Katie Lowes), a fresh faced lawyer quickly learning the world of crisis management.
This one intrigues me. First, I really liked Henry Ian Cusick in Lost (Desmond) and second, it is about a bunch of lawyers doing something other than practicing the law. I am not sold on Kerry Washington as the big bad crisis manager, however. In the preview, she said “I can have a reporter here in twenty minutes. . . . That was me threatening you.” It just didn’t have the scary-threat-vibe one would expect in the preview—which is supposed to parade the highlights.
I’ll give it two or three episodes and see where that takes me.
Don't Trust the B in Apt. 23 (ABC) 4/11The series follows June, as she moves to New York City to pursue her dream job, until she finds out that it no longer exists and she ends up moving in with a con-artist, party-girl named Chloe. The two at first don't get along, however, when Chloe's attempts at scamming June fail, they end up forming an unlikely friendship.
This looks like it has promise. Although the promotional trailer doesn’t give much away about the show itself, I think its purpose was more to showcase the writers’ abilities to create something funny. The promo was pretty standard comedy fare but ended in a brilliant reference to one of the main character’s previous shows. I could have done without James Van Der Beak, but then I was never a fan of Dawson’s Creek.
Despite Van Der Beak’s role, it is probably worth a look.
NYC 22 (CBS) 4/15The series follows a diverse group of rookie New York City Police Department officers as they patrol the streets of Upper Manhattan.
With such an exciting and detailed synopsis, there’s little doubt that this show will be a hit.
Although slated as a drama, it looks like it might also be pretty funny. Adam Goldberg, whom I liked as a cop in The Unusuals, appears to be the principal rookie alongside Helen Slater’s clone, Leelee Sobieski.
This show looks like it has some potential, although like other shows with promise, it will come down to the writing and the character dynamics. It’s at least worth a look since Suits doesn’t come back with its second season until July.
The LA Complex (CW) 4/24This show has a lot going for it. It’s got a catchy title, it’s produced in Canada, it is about struggling actors, Alan Thicke will have a recurring role (Jason Seaver from Growing Pains), and it is on the CW. Need I say more?
