Sunday, August 02, 2015

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


Significant Mother

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
    TitleNetworkTimeDayTotal Viewers18-49 RtgNotes







    The Big Bang TheoryCBS8:00PMThu7,160,0001.50REPEAT
    MomCBS8:30PMThu5,350,0001.10REPEAT
    Mike & MollyCBS8:30PMMon4,490,0000.90REPEAT
    2 Broke GirlsCBS8:00PMMon4,520,0000.90REPEAT
    Modern FamilyABC9:00PMWed3,490,0000.90REPEAT
    The SimpsonsFox8:00PMSun2,100,0000.90REPEAT
    black-ishABC9:30PMWed2,980,0000.80REPEAT
    Family GuyFox9:00PMSun1,760,0000.80REPEAT
    The GoldbergsABC8:30PMWed3,130,0000.80REPEAT
    Fresh off the BoatABC8:00PMTue2,730,0000.70REPEAT
    Brooklyn Nine-NineFox8:30PMSun1,460,0000.70REPEAT
    The MiddleABC8:00PMWed3,800,0000.70REPEAT
    black-ishABC8:30PMTue2,200,0000.60REPEAT
    Bob's BurgersFox7:30PMSun1,230,0000.60REPEAT
    Bob's BurgersFox7:00PMSun1,180,0000.50REPEAT
    The Last Man on EarthFox9:30PMSun1,230,0000.50REPEAT
    Welcome to SwedenNBC8:00PMSun1,160,0000.30
    Welcome to SwedenNBC8:30PMSun1,120,0000.20
    DatesCW9:30PMThu550,0000.20
    DatesCW9:00PMThu550,0000.10
    Modern FamilyABC10:30PMWed

    preempted
    black-ishABC9:00PMWed

    preempted
    black-ishABC8:00PMWed

    preempted
    black-ishABC8:30PMWed

    preempted
    The Odd CoupleCBS8:30PMThu

    preempted
    Significant MotherCW9:30PMMon

    8/3 prem
    The MillersCBS8:00PMSat

    canceled
    The McCarthysCBS9:00PMSat

    canceled
    Weird LonersFox9:30PMTue

    canceled
    One Big HappyNBC9:30PMTue

    canceled
    Marry MeNBC9:00PMTue

    canceled
    About a BoyNBC9:30PMTue

    canceled
    CristelaABC8:30PMFri

    canceled
    The Mindy ProjectFox9:30PMTue

    canceled
    MulaneyFox7:00PMSun

    canceled
    Bad JudgeNBC9:00PMThu

    canceled
    A to ZNBC9:30PMThu

    canceled
    SelfieABC8:00PMTue

    canceled
    Manhattan Love StoryABC8:30PMTue

    canceled
    Two and a Half MenCBS9:00PMThu

    canceled
    Parks & RecreationNBC10:00PMTue

    canceled
    Golan the InsatiableFox9:30PMSun

    completed
    UndateableNBC9:00PMTue

    completed
    New GirlFox9:00PMTue

    completed
    Last Man StandingABC8:00PMFri

    completed
    GalavantABC8:00PMSun

    completed
    American Dad!Fox9:30PMSun

    completed

    SOURCE: Nielsen Media Research


    Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

    Wednesday, October 9

    Abbott Elementary - "Back to School" (ABC, 9:30PM ET/PT)
    The neighboring construction site of a new golf course is causing issues at Abbott, forcing the teachers to find creative solutions. An HR representative visits the school. Following their kiss, Janine and Gregory’s relationship status is revealed.

    Everybody Still Hates Chris - "Everybody Still Hates Cheat Codes" (Comedy Central, 10:00PM ET/PT)
    Chris debates using a cheat code to win a free Nintendo.

    Everybody Still Hates Chris - "Everybody Still Hates Halloween" (Comedy Central, 10:30PM ET/PT)
    Chris spends Halloween at a church event, hoping to hook up with Tasha.

    Complete TV Listings


    Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of October 7)

    Wednesday, October 9

    • Quinta Brunson (Abbott Elementary) - Watch Quinta on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC. She also talks about the new season of Abbott Elementary on Sherri, so check your local listings.
    • Henry Winkler (Barry/Arrested Development/Out of Practice/Monty/Happy Days) - Henry appears on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
    • Rachel Sennott (Call Your Mother) - Rachel is a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
    • Eric Idle (Suddenly Susan/Nearly Departed) - Eric stops by Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
    • Michael Keaton (Report to Murphy/Working Stiffs/All's Fair) - E! News has an interview with Michael at 11pm on E!.
    • Ali Wong (Big Mouth/American Housewife/Are You There, Chelsea?) - NBC's Today catches up with Ali in the 10am hour.
    • Rita Wilson (Girls) - Rita stops by to talk about her new album on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your listings.
    • Goldie Hawn (Good Morning World) - Goldie appears on ABC's Good Morning America some time between 7-9am.
    • Sheryl Lee Ralph (Abbott Elementary/Fam/Instant Mom/Moesha/It's a Living) - Sheryl Lee talks about Abbott Elementary on ABC's Good Morning America some time between 7-9am and on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm. She chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
    • Josh Gad (Wolf Like Me/Avenue 5/The Comedians/1600 Penn/Back to You) - Josh talks about his new children's book PictureFace Lizzy and fatherhood on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
    • Jessica St. Clair (Avenue 5/Playing House/Best Friends Forever/In the Motherhood) - Jessica is sharing her breast cancer experience with Drew and Dr. Suzanne Gilberg-Lenz is talking about breast cancer diagnoses on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
    • Abigail Spencer (Extended Family/Burning Love) - Abigail discusses her television series Shatter Belt on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
    • Kim Matula (LA to Vegas) - Kim is a guest on PIX 11 Morning News on WPIX in New York at 9:39am.
    • Lea Thompson (Caroline in the City) - Lea appears on New York Living on WPIX in New York at 10:05am.


    New on DVD and Blu-ray

    The Ropers - The Complete Series Friends - The Complete Series (4K Ultra HD) Young Sheldon - The Complete Series Veep - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) I Love Lucy - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)

    09/10 - Rick and Morty - The Complete Seasons 1-7
    09/10 - The Ropers - The Complete Series (VEI)
    09/10 - Ted - Season One (Blu-ray) (DVD)
    09/17 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - Video Scrapbook
    09/17 - Top Cat - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
    09/24 - Friends - The Complete Series (4K Ultra HD)
    09/24 - Young Sheldon - The Complete Seventh Season (DVD) / The Complete Series (DVD) (Blu-ray)
    10/08 - Curb Your Enthusiasm - The Complete Twelfth Season / The Complete Series
    10/22 - Veep - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
    11/05 - I Love Lucy - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
    11/19 - SpongeBob SquarePants - The Complete Fourteenth Season
    02/04 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)

    More Recent and Upcoming TV DVD and Blu-ray Releases / TV Shows on DVD, Blu-ray and Prime Video / DVD Reviews Archive


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