Image via Complex Original
Oh, Robert Ironside—how we hardly knew ye. Well, come to think of it, we knew ye better than we knew Dr. Dan Yoder, or Miguel Hernandez, the lead characters on NBC's inert sitcom Welcome to the Family.
After last week's news, we'll never get to know any of them. NBC cancelled struggling freshman shows Ironside and Welcome to the Family last week, the latter move allowing the Peacock Network to air back-to-back episodes of critical darling Parks & Recreation on Thursday nights, leading into the also lagging rookie sitcoms Sean Saves the World and The Michael J. Fox Show. As for Ironside's Wednesday night replacement, NBC has called upon…Dateline. Try to contain your excitement.
It wasn't all bad news for the fall's new shows last week. Over at CBS, Mom and The Millers received full season pick-ups, sparing both shows from our weekly Cancellation Watch series. Which leaves six other programs still under speculation here, with a few more inclusions—NBC's Dracula, premiering this Friday night, and Fox's Almost Human, beginning on November 4—on deck. For now, let's see who's dangerous close to spending time with Robby Ironside and Danny Yoder's in television hell.
The Crazy Ones (CBS)
Number of episodes: 4
Stars: Robin Williams, Sarah Michelle Gellar, James Wolk, Amanda Setton, Hamish Linklater
Premise: Bouncing back after two divorces and a stint in rehab, the once-charming and confident yet kooky Simon Roberts (Robin Williams) returns to his corner office at a big time New York advertising agency. Unfortunately, Simon and his fellow ad team at Roberts & Roberts are treading on thin ice. Simon is late for a meeting with their biggest client and to make up for it, secretary Lauren Slotsky (Amanda Setton) has been flashing the McDonalds board for the past twenty minutes. Underappreciated copywriter Andrew Keanelly (Hamish Linklater) is grumbling that artistic director/office harlot Zach Cropper (James Wolk) gets all of the glory while Simon's hardworking daughter, Sydney Roberts (Sarah Michelle Gellar), tries to keep everything together. Sydney likes to play it safe and run the reliable pitches, but spontaneous Simon always manages to off the cuff and gets the team in way over their heads.
Worst moment from the latest episode: Sydney and Andrew kiss. Ugh. Barf. Ew. Thank goodness The Crazy Ones can have a go at itself and fast forward through all of the "signs" without a season of will they/won't they sexual tension. Situation diffused, but the seeds of romance have been planted. The Crazy Ones is too clever not to put the Sydney/Andrew relationship on the backburner for a little bit because as soon as a show starts relying on relationships to keep the audience interested, a fairy dies.
Prognosis: Let's give a round of applause to the crazy creator, Brian Kelly, and the superb cast and crew—CBS ordered another nine episodes of The Crazy Ones. Now that the show has immunity for the rest of the fall season it's time to get serious and start kicking off some of the other CBS competitors. The Crazy Ones is coming out strong ratings wise, but who wouldn't put it past Will Arnett and Anna Faris pull some batshit stunt like eating fermented fish and taking shots of cows blood. Robin Williams is hilarious, but how will the rest of the tribe react to his antics when the competition gets cut-throat—oh hold up, nevermind, this isn't Survivor.
Dads (Fox)
Number of episodes: 5
Stars: Seth Green, Giovanni Ribisi, Brenda Song, Tonita Castro, Vanessa Lachey, Peter Riegert, Martin Mull
Premise: Eli (Seth Green) and Warner (Giovanni Ribisi) are just a couple of fun-loving video game developers trying to live normal lives, Eli as a bachelor and Warner as a happily married man. But things are about to get wacky (emphasis on the "wack") now that they're annoying, sad sack fathers have moved in with them—Eli's pops, David (Peter Reigert), is generally insufferable, while Warner's, Craword (Martin Mull), is a well-meaning racial bigot. Cue the awkward and box father/son bonding time, with as many Asian stereotypes (mostly at the expense of the guys' cute assistant, played by Brenda Song) as can fit within an episode's 30-minute duration.
Worst moment from the latest episode: Ladies and gentlemen, this is what's considered "high-concept" in the world of Dads.
Titled "Oldfinger" (because that's the kind of wit we're dealing with here), the latest misfire centered around Eli (Seth Green) and Warner (Giovanni Ribisi) taking their fathers for medical check-ups, only to learn that the kids are the ones in bad health. Warner, who's afraid of doctors, reluctantly gets a prostate exam. The doctor sticks his hand up Warner's ass as the camera holds on Ribisi, tears flowing down his face, his hand stuck in a convulsed position, the live studio audience laughing their asses off (don't ask). The exam keeps going and going, and when Warner looks back at the doctor, he notices something—the doc's died from a heart attack, with his head stuck on Warner's derriere and his arm jammed into the crack. Anything to offer, Eli? "Well, at least he died in the line of duty."
And Dads dedicates its final 10 minutes to this set-up, with every single cast member eventually joining Warner in the room, as well as a cop, a fireman, and a priest. There's a medic who tells Eli that the proper equipment to remove the doc's hand is only in New Orleans. Eli's response: "How do you not have this equipment in San Francisco?" The priest, moments later, reassures Warner: "You're gonna be fine. We see a lot of this at the church."
Prognosis: Viewers, meanwhile, continue to have their heads up their own asses. Once again, Dads steadily climbed in the ratings, rising 8% from the previous week to post a 1.4/4 in the 18-49 demographic (3.4 million viewers). Looks like we'll have to get used to seeing Warner's violated ass.
Back in the Game (ABC)
Number Of Episodes: 4
Stars: Maggie Lawson, James Caan, Griffin Gluck, Ben Koldyke, Lenors Crichlow, Cooper Roth, J.J. Totah, Kennedy Waite
Premise: Terry Gannon, a recently divorced woman (Maggie Lawson), and her son Danny (Griffin Gluck) leave Michigan and reluctantly move in with her father "The Cannon" (James Caan). She resents her father and blames him for her being damaged. (He took her to Mexico and left her with a team mascot while he was in jail when she was younger and later he failed to go to her college baseball games). After Danny fails to make his school baseball team Terry decides to become the coach for the league of misfits that didn't make the team despite wanting to forget baseball. Now Terry must wrestle living with her dad, being a mom and playing coach.
Worst moment from the latest episode: In the first three minutes, Terry complains about how gross little boys are while working her job at a pizza shop, how unbelievable and gross it is that they overeat and then throw up, all in the name of fun. And then—you won't believe this turn—she goes home and finds her grown father acting like a gross little boy with her son. They've used every clean dish in the house. They're eating popcorn and drinking soda. The house is a mess. Isn't that funny? Can't you see why this is funny? Are you not laughing?
Prognosis: Back in the Game continues to be as middle-ground as sitcoms come. Content wise, it's yet to evolve into much more than a wannabe Archie Bunker showcase for James Caan; in terms of ratings, Back in the Game is similarly stuck in one mode, holding at the same 1.8 adults stat it achieved the previous week. Still, 6.2 million viewers isn't bad. Caan's racist antics remain in decent shape.
Super Fun Night (ABC)
Number of episodes: 3
Stars: Rebel Wilson, Lauren Ash, Liza Lapira, Kevin Bishop, Kate Jenkinson
Premise: Three nerdy friends, led by an inexplicably successful lawyer, Kimmie (Rebel Wilson), vow to live their lives to the fullest by going out every single weekend. The only problem is that they're all socially inept: Kimmie's got paralyzing shyness, Marika (Lauren Ash) is an unwittingly intimidating man-lady, and Helen-Alice (Liza Lapira) is a mousey Asian stereotype. Rounding out the cast are Kevin Bishop as Richard, Kimmie's immature but cute boss, and Kate Jenkinson as Kendall, Kimmie's ruthless, gold-digging co-worker.
Worst moment from the latest episode: If there's one joke that sums up the problem with this show, it's this: New to the concept of trick or treat, Kevin Bishop's Richard pretends to die of his peanut allergy at the law firm's Halloween party. When a joke's not even stupid funny, there's something seriously wrong with the show.
Prognosis: We'll give it a couple more episodes, tops. Corny characters on top of corny jokes plus contrived chemistry screams cancellation. And it's not like Wilson is enough of a name to keep the show afloat, as is the case with Michael J. Fox.
Betrayal (ABC)
Number of episodes: 4
Stars: Hannah Ware, Stuart Townsend, Chris Johnson, Wendy Moniz, Henry Thomas, Braeden Lemasters, Elizabeth McLaughlin, James Cromwell
Premise: A beautiful but unhappily married photographerm Sara Hanley (Hannah Ware) begins an affair with a charming well-to-do stranger, Jack McAllister (Stuart Townswend), only to find out that said stranger is married and is the defending lawyer in a murder case on which her husband (Chris Johnson) is the prospecutor. Think of it as Romeo and Juliet for people who enjoyed Fifty Shades of Grey.
Worst moment from the latest episode: Any moment that stars Henry Thomas. But to throw you a bone, here's one moment in particular: Thomas's T.J., fresh out of jail, decides to hit up an autobody shop run by a former cell mate. There, he and mechanics desperately trying not to laugh at his awful acting fix up an Impala for shits and giggles.
Prognosis: Here's what we can't figure out: who is this show's target audience? Just sad dudes? As the episodes increase, so does the number of times Hannah Ware undresses on screen, and not just for sex. The camera focuses on her changing into pajamas at least twice an episode. Betrayal is a romance novel for guys with a flimsy murder plot that's become more cliched and over-the-top by the minute. Case in point: James Cromwell's Donald Trump-meets-Michael Corleone Thatcher Karsten literally crucifies a business partner who double-crosses him. It's supposed to be shocking, but instead, we're left thinking, "Of course."
Sean Saves the World (NBC)
Number of episodes: 3
Stars: Sean Hayes, Linda Lavin, Samantha Isler, Thomas Lennon, Megan Hilty, Echo Kellum, Vik Sahay
Premise: Sean's (Sean Hayes) world is flipped around when he is dumped by the love of his life and his online retail company is bought up and his new boss Howard (Vik Sahay) is basically a manipulative robot. Oh, and his fourteen year old daughter, Ellie (Samantha Isler) has just moved in to his New York apartment after her mother abandoned her. How can Sean please his asshole boss by working late each night and get home to make chicken parm for a teenage daughter he knows almost nothing about? Thankfully, Sean isn't doing it alone, his mother Lorna (Linda Lavin) is there to help with a sarcastic remark and Sean's office pals Liz (Megan Hilty) and Hunter (Echo Kellum) have his back.
Worst moment from the latest episode: Not even the first commercial break and Sean has already hit a cringe moment. Scratch that, moments. The waterfall of weirdness begins when Lorna bursts into the office to share some exciting news with Sean: she's set him up on a date. Sean politely declines. After all, he did just go through a rough breakup (we've heard but not yet seen) and got saddled with a daughter. It's a very nice way of telling someone to just back the hell off, but Lorna insists he needs the sex. In fact, she tells him, "Roll around, have some fun. That's what I do. Wakes me up inside and I think that's why I don't have cancer." Oy vey. Not to mention, she sets him up with a man who coincidentally happens to be the son of the man she's dating. Somehow a totally irrelevant comment shifts the attention from Lorna's sex life to a set of old mattress commercials featuring Loran, Sean and some strangely sexual dialogue (and yes, Sean is playing his dad, Lorna's ex-husband). Incest, Oedipus complex, it's all unbearable.
Prognosis: Poor Sean, he can't catch a break. Really, he seems like a nice guy but he's just surrounded by clueless, one-dimensional characters. NBC just ordered four additional scripts, giving Sean more time to work out the kinks and tap into some new characters. Throw in an ex, more Liz and Lorna banter, Ellie's mom, Hunter, anybody, as long as it's not Max—he is also so disappointingly irrelevant. The show is increasing in potential, but it has to stop relying on childish quirkiness to drive plot. You're cute, Sean, but you're no Zooey Deschanel.