Fox Fall Pilot Review: Allen Gregory - Premieres October 30; Sitcom Stars On Talk Shows (Week of October 31, 2011)

Friday, October 28, 2011

Fox Fall Pilot Review: Allen Gregory - Premieres October 30; Sitcom Stars On Talk Shows (Week of October 31, 2011)

Allen Gregory - Sundays 8:30PM ET/PT on Fox

Premieres Sunday, October 30, 2011 at 8:30PM ET/PT

Allen Gregory De Longpre is just your ordinary seven-year-old. Well, that actually depends upon how you define "ordinary." Having grown up in a wealthy two-parent (both parents being male) household, things have started to change for him as one of his fathers can no longer afford to home school him, and it is time for him to make the transition to a public school. But being unable to relate to other seven-year-olds (or other people in general, for that matter), that transition isn't going to be easy. He's a little advanced for his age in some areas, yet in other areas, he is just completely clueless about the world around him. In this new Fox animated sitcom, he'll try to adjust to his new world--at least to the best of his ability.

Cast Details:

Jonah Hill as Allen Gregory DeLongpre

French Stewart as Richard DeLongpre, Allen's father

Nat Faxon as Jeremy DeLongpre, Richard's life partner-husband

Joy Osmanski as Julie, Allen's adopted Cambodian sister

Renée Taylor as Principal Gottlieb

Leslie Mann as Gina Winthrop

Jonah Hill (Allen Gregory) is the star of the series, the kid trying to adapt to a life where he isn't the center of the universe. Hill is well-known in the entertainment industry, most notable with his film roles in The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Evan Almighty, and Superbad.

French Stewart (Richard) plays the role Allen Gregory's father in the series. Stewart has had roles in series including The New WKRP in Cincinnati, Seinfeld, and Pushing Daisies, but is best known for his role as Harry Solomon on the series 3rd Rock from the Sun.

Nat Faxon (Jeremy) is Richard's life-partner/husband in the series. Faxon is a relative newcomer to the entertainment industry, but has appeared in The Cleveland Show and the movie Beerfest.

Joy Osmanski (Julie) plays the role of Allen Gregory's adopted sister from Cambodia. Osmanski's most well-known role was on the series The Loop, which aired for two seasons on Fox, but she has also appeared in Samantha Who? and Better Off Ted.

Renée Taylor (Principal Gottlieb) plays the role of the elderly and unattractive principal that Allen Gregory is romantically attracted to. While Taylor's name may not be so recognizable, her career has been lengthy and impressive, primarily as a writer and director. But TV (particularly sitcom) fans will recognize her from her role of Sylvia Fine, the mother of Fran Drescher's character on the sitcom The Nanny.

Leslie Mann (Gina Winthrop) plays the role of Allen Gregory's teacher. Mann is the wife of well-known producer Judd Apatow (who has also done much work with Jonah Hill), and has appeared in many of his films, including The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up.

Pilot Plot:

The pilot begins with a party for Allen Gregory to celebrate his big victory: he has just won a Tony Award! Except... not really. The party was put together by his father, Richard, and Richard's life partner Jeremy in an attempt to ease the bad news that is about to come. He's no longer going to be home-schooled and will be sent to a public school.

It doesn't take long to realize that this new environment is going to be a major adjustment for Allen Gregory. Accustomed to a world that revolves around him and everybody catering to every one of his whims, he is now just one among many, and the adaptations are difficult. He begins the school day by trying to do an uninvited "Q&A session" for the class to get to know him, proceeds to seat himself at the "cool kids" table in the cafeteria (where he also brings a bottle of wine), and ends up in the elderly and, well, ugly principal's office, where he even proceeds to try to make romantic moves on her. And to top it all off, he, well, defecates in his pants and ends up going home crying. Just how will he adapt to his new school if this is how his first day went?

Analysis:

In viewing the pilot, I can already see some major problems with this series. It is basically just another fish-out-of-water animated comedy that seems to focus on the mere act of adjustment, and I'm not sure how this series can go on from there. Will every episode of the series be about another day at school? I feel that there is limited potential to where this can go, and I'm not sure how the series can handle that.

But that is far from the only problem that I saw in the pilot. Simply put, although the pilot was mildly enjoyable, it just really wasn't that funny in my opinion. There were a few mildly humorous moments, such as when Allen Gregory was trying to make the moves on his principal, but it wasn't one of those situations that was just completely hilarious. I was hoping for so much more in that regard.

I also would have liked to have seen more about the other members of the family, such as the "two dads" and Allen Gregory's adopted sister, Julie. In fact, it was hard to even remember that Julie existed in the pilot. She had very few lines and was almost seen as an afterthought, yet there is so much more that could (and should) have been done with her character. Yet that opportunity seemed to be wasted. Even though the series is called Allen Gregory and is supposed to focus on him, it sometimes seemed like he really was the only person in the world.

Conclusion:

Unfortunately, I feel that Fox has once again fallen flat on another animated comedy. They have attempted so many of these over the years, yet it seems that lately, only the Seth MacFarlane series have really shown any level of enjoyment and success. I don't predict this series lasting too long, and even if it does, I can easily see it becoming one of the 7 PM hour series that just seems to air, yet nobody really cares about it. Perhaps if the series had some way of broadening the series instead of making it all about Allen Gregory's universe (even though that is supposed to be the premise of the series) and making it a bit funnier, there would be fewer problems with the series, but I feel that it is already dead in the water--and will only win awards like Allen Gregory's fake Tony award that he won in the beginning of the pilot.

Final Numbers (out of 5 stars):

Watchability: 3/5

Funniness: 2.5/5

Overall: 3/5

-- Reviewed by skees53 on 10/28/11

Discuss the show after you watch it on Sunday, October 30 on our message board.

Related Links:

Fox.com Official Site

TV.com

epguides.com

Internet Movie Database

Wikipedia

Allen Gregory Photo Gallery

Preview:

It's Friday, so it is time for "Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows" for the coming week. This is where we list what sitcom stars are appearing on talk shows for the coming week, the stars are both current and past sitcom stars, so this is for all sitcom fans of all eras!
For the week of October 24-28, 2011, we have many current sitcom stars and past sitcom stars on TV talk shows! All times listed are Eastern. So get your DVR's (or whatever you use) ready! Ready? Here is all what you need to know for the coming week!

Monday, October 31, 2011

Zooey Deschanel (New Girl) - Watch the adorable Zooey on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson at 12:37am on CBS.
Mindy Kaling (The Office) - Mindy appears on Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart at 11pm.
Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother/Doogie Howser, M.D.) - Neil stops by The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check listings.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Whitney Cummings (Whitney) - Catch Whitney on The Late Show with David Letterman at 11:35pm on CBS.
Tracy Morgan (30 Rock/The Tracy Morgan Show) - Tracy drops by Late Night with Jimmy Fallon at 12:37am on NBC.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Ellen DeGeneres (The Ellen Show) - Watch Ellen on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 12am on ABC.
Ted Danson (Cheers/Becker) - Ted visits the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson at 12:37am on CBS.
Mindy Kaling (The Office) - Mindy talks about her book, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns), on NBC's Today between 9-10am and later chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Bill Cosby (The Cosby Show/Cosby/The Bill Cosby Show) - Bill discuss his book, I Didn't Ask to Be Born: (But I'm Glad I Was), on NBC's Today between 7-9am and 10-11am.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Alan Alda (M*A*S*H) - Catch Alan on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson at 12:37am on CBS.
Miranda Cosgrove (iCarly) - Miranda visits Chelsea Lately on E! at 11pm.
Louis C.K. (Louie) - Louis drops by Conan at 11pm on TBS.
Tracy Morgan (30 Rock/The Tracy Morgan Show) - Tracy continues to make the rounds on The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Katie Aselton (The League) - Katie appears on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.

Friday, November 4, 2011

Bill Cosby (The Cosby Show/Cosby/The Bill Cosby Show) - Watch the legendary Mr. Cosby on The Late Show with David Letterman at 11:35pm on CBS.
Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother/Doogie Howser, M.D.) - Neil is a guest on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson at 12:37am on CBS.
Drew Carey (The Drew Carey Show) - Drew appears on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon at 12:37am on NBC.
Florence Henderson (The Brady Bunch) - Florence stops by The Rosie Show at 7pm on OWN and will also be on Tavis Smiley on PBS, but check listings for time.
Whitney Cummings (Whitney) - Whitney chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Michael J. Fox (Family Ties/Spin City) - Michael visits LIVE! with Regis & Kelly, so check your listings.
Johnny Galecki (The Big Bang Theory/Roseanne) - Johnny drops by The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check listings.
Alan Alda (M*A*S*H) - Alan wraps up his appearances this week on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.

Leave us comments on our message board or Tweet/Facebook us to let us know what you think of this Friday feature! We do listen!

Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Tuesday, October 8

Tyler Perry's House of Payne - "Hut-Hut Psyche" (BET, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Calvin wants Calvin Jr. to play football, but Ella thinks football is too dangerous and pushes him to play tennis instead.

Tyler Perry's Assisted Living - "Roll Model" (BET, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Vinny's weed smoking is making him a bad role model for Philip, so he attempts to rehab his image by volunteering at Cora's church; Cora lands a date with a promising gentleman.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of October 7)

Tuesday, October 8

Harrison Ford (Shrinking) - Catch Harrison on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Nathan Lane (Only Murders in the Building/Modern Family/Charlie Lawrence/Encore! Encore!/One of the Boys) - Nathan is a guest on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Rosemarie DeWitt (United States of Tara) - Rosemarie appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Skylar Astin (Ground Floor) and Mary Holland (The Big Door Prize/Robbie/Blunt Talk) - Skylar and Mary are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
Drake Bell (Drake & Josh) - E! News has an interview with Drake at 11pm on E!.
Lamorne Morris (Woke/New Girl), Ella Hunt (Dickinson) and Kim Matula (LA to Vegas) - Lamorne, Ella and Kim talk about Saturday Night on NBC's Today some time between 7-9am.
Jim Parsons (Young Sheldon/The Big Bang Theory) - Jim talks about Our Town on NBC's Today in the 9am hour.
Patricia Clarkson (Davis Rules) - Patricia talks about Lilly on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Quinta Brunson (Abbott Elementary) - Quinta talks about the new season of Abbott Elementary on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your listings.
Terry Crews (Everybody Still Hates Chris/Brooklyn Nine-Nine/Are We There Yet?/Everybody Hates Chris) - Terry tells Sherri about the animated new series Everybody Still Hates Chris on Comedy Central on Sherri, so check your local listings.
Ali Wong (Big Mouth/American Housewife/Are You There, Chelsea?) - Ali talks about Ali Wong: Single Lady on ABC's Good Morning America some time between 7-9am.
Quinta Brunson (Abbott Elementary) and Tyler James Williams (Abbott Elementary/Go On/Everybody Hates Chris) - Quinta and Tyler talk about Abbott Elementary on ABC's Good Morning America some time between 7-9am.
Brooke Shields (Suddenly Susan) - Brooke is sharing the secrets behind her shiny and bouncy hair and why she decided to create he own haircare line in her 50s on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Lisa Ann Walter (Abbott Elementary/Emeril) - Lisa disusses Abbott Elementary on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
Sasheer Zamata (Home Economics/Woke/Robbie) - Sasheer talks about Agatha All Along on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.