This year's new TV shows (comedies)
I've now watched at least the pilot of every new fall show on the major networks (except Malibu Country, which premieres next month), and I am not very pleased. I'll get the "comedies" out of the way with this post. No spoilers really. I just mention the premise of each show.
ANIMAL PRACTICE: Set in an animal hospital. Stars the extremely annoying Justin Kirk. Features a cute monkey that really is the only good thing about the show. Number of times I laughed: ZERO.
BEN AND KATE: Brother and sister become roommates. Harmless but just plain boring. Number of times I laughed: ZERO.
GO ON: Support group for people dealing with grief. It fell flat for me, and I can't stand Matthew Perry. Number of times I laughed: ZERO.
GUYS WITH KIDS: See the title. Packed with stale "jokes" and very irritating to watch. Number of times I laughed: ZERO.
THE MINDY PROJECT: An OB/GYN is trying to figure out her love life while keeping her career going. I think. I found the lead character to be so annoying that I didn't care. Number of times I laughed: ZERO.
THE NEIGHBORS: A "normal" family moves into a community that is full of aliens stranded on Earth. Although this is still a terrible show, it had a few amusing moments. Number of times I laughed: FOUR.
THE NEW NORMAL: A gay couple hires a surrogate mother. Another one that simply fell flat for me. Number of times I laughed: ONE.
PARTNERS: Two male best friends, one gay and one straight. I loved Michael Urie on Ugly Betty, but he couldn't do much with the terrible script. Number of times I laughed: ZERO.
Isn't the main point of a comedy to be AMUSING? I figure I should get at least one laugh every three minutes or so. Actually, IMO, I should get more than that, but I'm being very generous here. And not one of these shows met that standard. I would have settled for one SMILE every three minutes. Didn't get that, either. No, instead I got all of five laughs across eight episodes, and four of those came during one series alone (The Neighbors, which is pretty bad anyway). This is a real crop of crap. :(
On to the dramas with my next post.
ANIMAL PRACTICE: Set in an animal hospital. Stars the extremely annoying Justin Kirk. Features a cute monkey that really is the only good thing about the show. Number of times I laughed: ZERO.
BEN AND KATE: Brother and sister become roommates. Harmless but just plain boring. Number of times I laughed: ZERO.
GO ON: Support group for people dealing with grief. It fell flat for me, and I can't stand Matthew Perry. Number of times I laughed: ZERO.
GUYS WITH KIDS: See the title. Packed with stale "jokes" and very irritating to watch. Number of times I laughed: ZERO.
THE MINDY PROJECT: An OB/GYN is trying to figure out her love life while keeping her career going. I think. I found the lead character to be so annoying that I didn't care. Number of times I laughed: ZERO.
THE NEIGHBORS: A "normal" family moves into a community that is full of aliens stranded on Earth. Although this is still a terrible show, it had a few amusing moments. Number of times I laughed: FOUR.
THE NEW NORMAL: A gay couple hires a surrogate mother. Another one that simply fell flat for me. Number of times I laughed: ONE.
PARTNERS: Two male best friends, one gay and one straight. I loved Michael Urie on Ugly Betty, but he couldn't do much with the terrible script. Number of times I laughed: ZERO.
Isn't the main point of a comedy to be AMUSING? I figure I should get at least one laugh every three minutes or so. Actually, IMO, I should get more than that, but I'm being very generous here. And not one of these shows met that standard. I would have settled for one SMILE every three minutes. Didn't get that, either. No, instead I got all of five laughs across eight episodes, and four of those came during one series alone (The Neighbors, which is pretty bad anyway). This is a real crop of crap. :(
On to the dramas with my next post.