The CW Summer Pilot Review: Significant Mother - Premieres Monday, August 3; Summer 2015 Week 10 Sitcom Ratings

Sunday, August 02, 2015

The CW Summer Pilot Review: Significant Mother - Premieres Monday, August 3; Summer 2015 Week 10 Sitcom Ratings

Significant Mother - Mondays at 9:30PM ET/PT on The CW
Premieres Monday, August 3, 2015 at 9:30PM ET/PT

by Pavan

Budding Portland restaurateur Nate's (Josh Zuckerman) world is turned upside down when he comes back from a business trip to find his lothario best friend and roommate, Jimmy (Nathaniel Buzolic), is now dating his recently separated mother, Lydia (Krista Allen). To make matters worse, Nate's previously disinterested dad, Harrison (special guest star Jonathan Silverman), is now determined to win Lydia back and isn't afraid to use Nate to get what he wants. Stuck between his family feud and his best friend's first serious relationship, Nate's "new normal" forever changes his relationships with his parents, and severely handicaps his own dating life.

Cast Details:

Josh Zuckerman as Nate Marlowe
Krista Allen as Lydia Marlowe
Nathaniel Buzolic as Jimmy Barnes
Emma Fitzpatrick as Sam Dillinger
Jay Ali as Atticus Adams
Jonathan Silverman as Harrison Marlowe

Josh Zuckerman (Nate) is perhaps best known for playing Mark Cullin on the ABC Family original series Kyle XY and as Eddie Orlofsky in Desperate Housewives. He also played Max Miller in the CW drama 90210. On the big screen, Josh has had supporting roles in the Ben Affleck, James Gandolfini holiday comedy Surviving Christmas (2004)and the Evan Rachel Wood dark comedy Pretty Persuasion (2005)

Krista Allen (Lydia) has had numerous television credits. She had regular roles on Days of Our Lives and Baywatch Hawaii. In 2005 she was one of the stars of HBO's Unscripted, playing herself as an actress who struggles to overcome her sex symbol status in order to win more serious roles. Her other numerous TV credits include recurring and guest roles on series such as What About Brian, Mistresses, The L.A. Complex, The Philanthropist, The Starter Wife, Castle, Melissa & Joey, Cashmere Mafia, Dirty Sexy Money, Freddie, Jake in Progress, Rules of Engagement, Hawaii Five-0, I'm With Her, Charmed, Two and a Half Men and Head Cases. On the big screen, her credits include an appearance as the "Elevator Girl" in the Jim Carrey comedy Liar Liar, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Anger Management and The Final Destination.

Nathaniel Buzolic (Jimmy) is an Australian actor known best for his role as Kol Mikaelson on the CW show The Vampire Diaries and its spin-off The Originals. He has also appeared in episodes of ABC Family's Pretty Little Liars as Dean Stavros, Spencer's (Troian Bellisario) substance abuse counselor. In Australia, he was the host of Nine Network's late-night television quiz show The Mint and had a regular role on the BBC soap opera Out of the Blue.

Emma Fitzpatrick (Sam) is known for her roles on the big screen in The Social Network, The Collection and In Time. She has also guest starred on series such as Covert Affairs, CSI and Undercovers.

Jay Ali (Atticus) has a recurring role on the ABC Family hit series The Fosters as Timothy. He also starred on the online sitcom Bloomers. He has also appeared on NCIS, Rizzoli & Isles and CW's Melrose Place.

Jonathan Silverman (Harrison) is perhaps best known for his role in Weekend at Bernie's and its sequel Weekend at Bernie's II. Jonathan started off his career with a recurring role as Jonathan Maxwell on the sitcom Gimme a Break! opposite Nell Carter. Silverman played the title role in the mid-1990s television sitcom The Single Guy (which aired on NBC), as well as the lead role in the early 1990s movie Little Sister with Alyssa Milano. He last starred in the short-lived sitcom In Case of Emergency, which was a mid-season replacement on ABC for the 2006 season. His long list of guest starring roles include Friends, Caroline in the City, Arliss. Miss Match, CSI: Miami, Related, Close to Home, NUMB3RS, Psych, Medium, Greek, White Collar, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Hot in Cleveland.

Pilot Plot:

"Welcome to Bonetown" (airs Monday, August 3 at 9:30PM ET/PT)

Budding Portland restaurateur Nate's (Josh Zuckerman) world is turned upside down when he comes back from a business trip to find his lothario best friend and roommate, Jimmy (Nathaniel Buzolic), is now dating his recently separated mother, Lydia (Krista Allen). To make matters worse, Nate's previously disinterested dad, Harrison (special guest star Jonathan Silverman), is now determined to win Lydia back and isn't afraid to use Nate to get what he wants. Stuck between his family feud and his best friend's first serious relationship, Nate's "new normal" forever changes his relationships with his parents, and severely handicaps his own dating life.

Analysis:

We finally have a sitcom on The CW! It's not an imported comedy either. And this comedy is good! Significant Mother is fairly easy to watch and it will make you laugh. It is a simple plot, but for the characters the situation is complicated, or should I say it's "momplicated." The chemistry between the three leads, Nate, Jimmy and Lydia is certainly there. The pilot starts it off with a bang, literally. It basically revolves around the fact that Nate's best friend and roommate is now sleeping with his mother, Lydia. Nate is coming back from a trip and catches them. He thinks it might be a one-night stand, but it could be more than just that. To make it more complicated, Lydia's recently separated husband Harrison is trying to get her back. Maybe because he finds out about Jimmy and Lydia's affair? The other supporting characters are found at Nate's restaurant-- Sam and Atticus. Nate seems to have a crush on Sam, so that will be interesting to watch in subsequent episodes. However, the main plot of this series is with the dealings of Nate, Jimmy and Lydia.

Krista Allen, who plays Lydia, is superb in this comedy. She looks amazing, as usual, and she is vibrant and funny. In real life, she's only 13 years older than Nathaniel Buzolic, so that is the only thing that is unbelievable because Krista is playing someone older and she certainly doesn't look older. She's a young cougar! The CW viewers will be familiar with Josh Zuckerman and Nathaniel Buzolic from its other series, so viewers should be interested, especially females. Jonathan Silverman is great in the supporting role of Harrison, Nate's dad. He could be the antagonist of this series trying to mess up the situation between Jimmy and Lydia. I think Nate will probably get over it after the pilot, but Harrison will probably try to pursue Lydia.

Conclusion:

This show is a summer gem! While some of the previous summer comedies on other networks in recent years were either burn-offs or just not that good, this one is special. If given a chance, the show could be a building block for The CW in the comedy field. It should lure both young women and men, and not just lean towards one gender. It's a Graduate-esque plot, so it's a familiar plot. Broad appealing comedies should have an easy to follow & simple plot, familiarity, and of course should be funny. And this show has all of that. It's not a niche comedy. The pilot is a little predictable maybe, but there are a lot of wrenches that could change things up...so maybe it's not that predictable after all. Krista Allen deserves to show off her great talent and we hope she gets to do that for years to come on this comedy.

As for the timeslot, it will follow an all-new CW Monday so The CW is not burning this off or throwing it to the wolves, I think. Penn & Teller: Fool Us at 8 and the new season of Whose Line Is It Anyway? at 9 do pretty well in the ratings for The CW. If this show can hold on to most of Whose Line's numbers, it will be picked-up for more episodes we think. Perhaps a 0.5 or 0.6 18-49 rating will be good, if Whose Line does a 0.7 or 0.8 or so. Whose Line is probably the best lead-in possible, since it's the only type of funny The CW has. Forgetting the possible numbers, the show is solid and deserves to show what it can do. We hear the Denise Richards episode, which airs next week, is even better than the pilot. Krista and Denise on the same screen, screams for a great episode. This show was originally developed for CW Seed, which is where web series reside. However, the network must have really, really liked what they saw and now it is on the network itself. There are great funny one-liners in the pilot. In fact, the last one-liner to end the pilot is hilarious when Nate says "is it over yet?" I certainly didn't want the pilot to be over, so that's a good sign. Significant Mother is a great racy comedy...it's juicy and you'll want more. It's better than some of the recent sex comedies in recent years like Bad Teacher and others. Watch this show tomorrow night with your friends and family, but perhaps not with your mother!

Final Numbers (out of 5 stars):

Watchability: 4.5/5
Funniness: 3.5/5
Overall: 4/5

Discuss the show after you watch it on Monday, August 3, 2015 at 9:30PM ET/PT on our message board.

Related Links:

The CW Official Site

TV.com

epguides.com

Internet Movie Database

Wikipedia

Significant Mother Photo Gallery

Preview:

We're in the middle of summer and we will be back with our normal weekly ratings report with the first four nights numbers and analysis in the fall, but we still will have our regular how the sitcoms did all summer long! Here are our summer ratings:

Summer Week 10 (July 27-Aug 2) How the Sitcoms Did
(Sun comedies are previous week and Fri/Sat are prelim ratings)
Sorted by 18-49 Rtg
Title	Network	Time	Day	Total Viewers	18-49 Rtg	Notes

The Big Bang Theory	CBS	8:00PM	Thu	7,160,000	1.50	REPEAT
Mom	CBS	8:30PM	Thu	5,350,000	1.10	REPEAT
Mike & Molly	CBS	8:30PM	Mon	4,490,000	0.90	REPEAT
2 Broke Girls	CBS	8:00PM	Mon	4,520,000	0.90	REPEAT
Modern Family	ABC	9:00PM	Wed	3,490,000	0.90	REPEAT
The Simpsons	Fox	8:00PM	Sun	2,100,000	0.90	REPEAT
black-ish	ABC	9:30PM	Wed	2,980,000	0.80	REPEAT
Family Guy	Fox	9:00PM	Sun	1,760,000	0.80	REPEAT
The Goldbergs	ABC	8:30PM	Wed	3,130,000	0.80	REPEAT
Fresh off the Boat	ABC	8:00PM	Tue	2,730,000	0.70	REPEAT
Brooklyn Nine-Nine	Fox	8:30PM	Sun	1,460,000	0.70	REPEAT
The Middle	ABC	8:00PM	Wed	3,800,000	0.70	REPEAT
black-ish	ABC	8:30PM	Tue	2,200,000	0.60	REPEAT
Bob's Burgers	Fox	7:30PM	Sun	1,230,000	0.60	REPEAT
Bob's Burgers	Fox	7:00PM	Sun	1,180,000	0.50	REPEAT
The Last Man on Earth	Fox	9:30PM	Sun	1,230,000	0.50	REPEAT
Welcome to Sweden	NBC	8:00PM	Sun	1,160,000	0.30
Welcome to Sweden	NBC	8:30PM	Sun	1,120,000	0.20
Dates	CW	9:30PM	Thu	550,000	0.20
Dates	CW	9:00PM	Thu	550,000	0.10
Modern Family	ABC	10:30PM	Wed			preempted
black-ish	ABC	9:00PM	Wed			preempted
black-ish	ABC	8:00PM	Wed			preempted
black-ish	ABC	8:30PM	Wed			preempted
The Odd Couple	CBS	8:30PM	Thu			preempted
Significant Mother	CW	9:30PM	Mon			8/3 prem
The Millers	CBS	8:00PM	Sat			canceled
The McCarthys	CBS	9:00PM	Sat			canceled
Weird Loners	Fox	9:30PM	Tue			canceled
One Big Happy	NBC	9:30PM	Tue			canceled
Marry Me	NBC	9:00PM	Tue			canceled
About a Boy	NBC	9:30PM	Tue			canceled
Cristela	ABC	8:30PM	Fri			canceled
The Mindy Project	Fox	9:30PM	Tue			canceled
Mulaney	Fox	7:00PM	Sun			canceled
Bad Judge	NBC	9:00PM	Thu			canceled
A to Z	NBC	9:30PM	Thu			canceled
Selfie	ABC	8:00PM	Tue			canceled
Manhattan Love Story	ABC	8:30PM	Tue			canceled
Two and a Half Men	CBS	9:00PM	Thu			canceled
Parks & Recreation	NBC	10:00PM	Tue			canceled
Golan the Insatiable	Fox	9:30PM	Sun			completed
Undateable	NBC	9:00PM	Tue			completed
New Girl	Fox	9:00PM	Tue			completed
Last Man Standing	ABC	8:00PM	Fri			completed
Galavant	ABC	8:00PM	Sun			completed
American Dad!	Fox	9:30PM	Sun			completed

SOURCE: Nielsen Media Research

Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Wednesday, July 30

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - "The Gang Goes to a Dog Track" (FXX and FX, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Frank attempts to win big with an old business associate at a West Virginia dog track; Dennis and Dee lose more than their shirts to gambling addiction; Mac and Charlie learn about a simpler way of life.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of July 28)

Wednesday, July 30

Anthony Anderson (black-ish/Guys with Kids/All About the Andersons) - Anthony guest hosts a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Pamela Anderson (Stacked/Home Improvement) - Pamela appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Marc Maron (GLOW/Maron) - Marc is a guest on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC. He also talks about comedy special Marc Maron: Panicked on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
Dave Franco (The Afterparty/Scrubs/Do Not Disturb) and Alison Brie (Community/GLOW) - Dave and Alison on Comedy Central's The Daily Show at 11pm. They also talk about Together on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am and on ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis at 7pm.
Christine Baranski (The Big Bang Theory/Happy Family/Welcome to New York/Cybill) - Christine talks about The Gilded Age on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
Michael Angarano (Laid/I'm Dying Up Here/Will & Grace) and Michael Cera (Life & Beth/Arrested Development/I Was a Sixth Grade Alien) - Michael and Michael talk about Sacramento with the ladies of The View on a repeat on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Sam Rockwell (F Is for Family) - Sam talks about The Bad Guys 2 on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am.
James Van Der Beek (Friends with Better Lives/Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23) - NBC's Today catches up with James in the 9am hour.
Liza Koshy (Liza on Demand) - Liza talks about The Naked Gun on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Manny Jacinto (The Good Place) - Manny talks about Freakier Friday on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
Valerie Bertinelli (Hot in Cleveland/Café Americain/Sydney/One Day at a Time) - Valerie opens up about her healthy lifestyle journey and prioritizing mental health on a repeat of The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Joey Lawrence (Gimme a Break!/Blossom/Brotherly Love/Run of the House/Melissa & Joey), Matthew Lawrence (Gimme a Break!/Drexell's Class/Walter & Emily/Brotherly Love/Boy Meets World) and Andy Lawrence (Tom/Brotherly Love/Oliver Beene) - The Lawrence brothers talk about their Brotherly Love Podcast Live event in Las Vegas on a repeat of Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.