Jason Biggs
According to Nikke Finke, this is the younger-skewing sitcom written by Mitchell Hurwitz and Jim Vallely, and starring Jason Biggs, that CBS thinks could do well paired with The Big Bang Theory. “The network is happy with the way it came in.” Good thing, too, because this is CBS’ biggest commitment and there’s a giant penalty. Five scripts are already in.
I’m not gonna bother with a full review of the script because frankly it was pretty terrible. Call me a stickler, but I think a sitcom should actually be funny, and this one isn’t.
I’m sure the casting of Jason Biggs will go towards attracting viewership should it make the schedule, and I’m equally sure that it will appeal to those less demanding of their sitcoms, but for me it’s an utter failure. It’s almost like the exact opposite of Arrested Development, not only is it not funny, but the actual family dynamic of the characters is reversed. They’re all in love with each other, caring, supportive, and kissy. Yeah, that’s right, the whole pilot is about kissing between brother and brother, son and mother, and son and father, and none of it is funny.
Now I know you shouldn’t judge a show by it’s pilot episode, it should be given time to grow and adapt, but my standards for comedy are a little higher than most peoples and the script for Community (reviewed here), has shown that a good sitcom can be written right from the get-go. I often wonder why exec’s can’t fill their lineup with top-to-bottom quality shows, maybe it’s because not all of the pilots are good, or maybe it’s because they choose shitty ones over better ones, but in the end it’s just disheartening to think that this show will probably make it onto the airwaves and garner better ratings than quality sitcoms like The Office or Parks and Recreation. After Sit Down, Shut Up and now this, it’s seeming more and more likely that Hurwitz’s success on Arrested Development was fluke more than anything else.
Final Grade: D
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