Hello everyone! If you watched NBC's coverage of the Summer Olympics, then you're probably aware that the network showed the pilot episodes of two of their new series, Go On and Animal Practice. I watched both of them and I'm ready to tell you all about which one you should definitely watch this fall and which one you'll probably hear very little about.
Go On, the new Matthew Perry comedy, premiered first, and even before it started, I had high hopes. I really wanted Perry to find a good show like his Friends co-stars Courteney Cox (Cougar Town), Matt LeBlanc (Episodes) and Lisa Kudrow (Web Therapy). So far, he hadn't been having the best of luck with misfires like Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and Mr. Sunshine. But this premise sounded promising and the cast had a few bright spots: Laura Benanti, who some may remember from the three episodes of The Playboy Club that aired, but I remember from the awesome short-lived ABC musical drama Eli Stone; Tyler James Williams, who once played a young Chris Rock on Everybody Hates Chris; and Suzy Nakamura, who has been in just about every TV show ever created. The plot of the show was that Perry's character, Ryan King, had lost his wife in a car accident and, despite his protestations, his boss was making him join a group therapy in order to truly come to terms with the loss before heading back to work. Perry is obviously the king here (get it, his character's last name...ha ha.) and he's more in his zone here than on any of his previous post-Friends attempts. A particular sequence, March Sadness, is the episode's highlight with Perry holding the reins. The whole group got some good exposition from it, and my favorites so far would have to be Julie White's Anne, Brett Gelman's Mr. K, and Sarah Baker's Sonia. The show walks that thin line between genuine emotion and melodrama, but it succeeds in showing real heart in both laugh-out-loud situations or honest moments, like Perry's final monologue of the episode when he tells the group about his wife's accident. It was a very good pilot episode, and comedies really grow into their skin a few episodes in, so it's reassuring to see a comedy that knows itself so well already. I know bringing up the word Emmy is SO premature, but I'd guess that Perry's name alone has him in the race. The episode brought in 16 million viewers, so if NBC can retain a big portion of that, it could have a real genuine hit on it's hands! I certainly will be watching.
One show I won't be watching? Animal Practice. I never really had any desire to watch it before I saw the first episode, but I figured I would check it out anyway. Honestly, it's just okay. The only thing that really stood out in my mind was the chemistry between the two lead stars, Justin Kirk and Joanna Garcia Swisher. Basically, Garcia Swisher's character, Dorothy, recently inherited the animal hospital that Kirk's character, George, works at, and she is ready to turn the place around, but George isn't digging the idea that much. He has a very specific idea of how the place should be run, and it means putting the animals first, the humans second. There's also obvious sexual tension between Dorothy and George which the show openly admits to by having characters comment on it right in the dialogue. The rest of the ensemble didn't really pop, even Tyler Labine, who I loved on Reaper and I've prayed for a good TV show for him. Here, he's just a watered-down version of that Reaper character. Could the show turn around? It's possible. It certainly has the talent on-screen and behind the scenes (executive producers Joe and Anthony Russo have worked on critical favorites like Community, Happy Endings, and Arrested Development), so maybe things could turn around. For now, this is a pass.
That's my two cents on two of this fall's newest shows! Did you watch? Let me know what you think in the comments section below!
Evan
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