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Thursday, September 28, 2017

CBS Orders Full Season of Young Sheldon; 30 Rock, Parenthood and More Head to Hulu

CBS has given a full season order to new comedy series Young Sheldon, which premiered Monday night, Sept. 25. Young Sheldon was the most watched comedy premiere on any network since 2011, averaging 17.21m viewers, and 3.8 in adults 18-49, the highest rating for any new comedy since 2013. In addition, it retained 98% of its The Big Bang Theory viewer lead-in, 93% in adults 18-49 and 95% in adults 25-54, the best retention percentages for any new comedy following an original episode of The Big Bang Theory. Following its special Monday night broadcast this week, Young Sheldon now moves to its regular time period on Thursday, Nov. 2 at 8:30 PM, following The Big Bang Theory.

Young Sheldon stars Iain Armitage, Zoe Perry, Lance Barber, Annie Potts, Montana Jordan, Raegan Revord and the voice of Jim Parsons. Chuck Lorre, Steven Molaro, Jim Parsons and Todd Spiewak are executive producers for Chuck Lorre Productions, Inc., in association with Warner Bros. Television.

30 Rock

Following a groundbreaking licensing agreement that marked the streaming debut of iconic series Will & Grace, Hulu and NBCUniversal Television and New Media Distribution today announced a new agreement that will make Hulu the exclusive SVOD home to all episodes of Emmy Award winning comedy series, 30 Rock, beginning October 1st, as well as add hundreds of episodes of shows for the whole family to Hulu. In addition to bringing the complete library of the critically acclaimed and Emmy Award-winning comedy series from creator and star Tina Fey - 30 Rock - to a new streaming home, the new deal includes a full suite of premium programming that will become available to stream on Hulu:

30 Rock. A three-time Emmy Award winner for Outstanding Comedy Series as well as a critical darling, 30 Rock comes from the brilliant mind of creator and star Tina Fey, whose character Liz Lemon is asked by her ultra corporate boss Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin) to somehow make the fictional program "TGS with Tracy Jordan" a success. Working with an oddball staff, no budget and no sleep, Liz keeps up the good fight against long odds. Also starring Tracy Morgan, Jack McBrayer, Scott Adsit, Judah Friedlander and Jane Krakowski, 30 Rock aired for seven seasons and arrives in its entirety on Hulu on October 1st.
Parenthood. The family favorite, hit drama series will stream in its entirety in early 2018 on Hulu. The critically-acclaimed series, which aired for six seasons, has remained popular with viewers since its finale. Parenthood is a one-hour drama from Award-winning executive producers Jason Katims, Ron Howard and Brian Grazer. It follows the trials and tribulations of the very large, colorful and imperfect Braverman family and features stars including Peter Krause, Lauren Graham, Craig T. Nelson, Bonnie Bedelia, Dax Shepard, Erika Christensen, Monica Potter, Sam Jaeger and Joy Bryant.
There's Johnny. Paul Reiser's highly-anticipated series, There's Johnny, will make its debut on Hulu. The deal marks the premiere for the NBCUniversal period comedy, set in the world of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson circa 1972, starring Tony Danza.
Made in Chelsea. The first 13 seasons of the BAFTA award-winning, reality television series from the UK will make their US SVOD debut on Hulu. Since its premiere, the hit series has captivated audiences in the UK and resulted in many spin-offs. Through the deal, the complete series will be made available to stream in the US on Hulu later this year.
Face Off. The first 10 seasons of SYFY's hit reality competition series, Face Off, will become available to stream on Hulu. The series will make its SVOD debut in early 2018. Face Off follows special effects make-up artists as they participate in elaborate challenges for a grand prize and the honor of being Hollywood's next great effects artist.

Wednesday, September 27, 2017

NBC Fall Pilot Review: Will & Grace - Premieres Thursday (Sept. 28); Freeform Orders Pretty Little Liars Spin-off Pilot

Will & Grace - Thursdays at 9:00PM on NBC
Premieres Thursday, September 28, 2017 at 9:00PM ET/PT

by Skees

Will, Grace, Jack, and (unfortunately) Karen are all back together again this fall after a hiatus of over a decade on Will & Grace. It's the same cast and characters that fans got to love in the original 1998-2006 run of the series, only now they're back together again in 2017. While the revival series was planned to be a "limited run," it has already been renewed for a second (or tenth depending upon how you look at things) season, and the series really does just pick up where the eighth season of the original did, for the most part.

Cast Details:

Eric McCormack as Will Truman
Debra Messing as Grace Adler
Megan Mullally as Karen Walker
Sean Hayes as Jack McFarland

It goes without saying that all of the four cast members are best known for playing these exact same roles in the original run of Will & Grace, but they've also been doing other projects since then, and some have been known for other projects before the original series.

Eric McCormack (Will) started his career with minor guest roles in series like Silk Stalkings and The Commish before starring in Lonesome Dove: The Series. Since 2006, he has appeared in series such as Trust Me and Perception. Currently, he also stars in the Netflix series Travelers.

Debra Messing (Grace) starred in the ABC series Ned and Stacey just before Will & Grace began. Since 2006, she has starred in two less successful NBC series, Smash and The Mysteries of Laura.

Megan Mullally (Karen) briefly had her own talk show after the original series, but it didn't last long. However, she did find success in guest roles, most prominently as Tammy II on Parks and Recreation. She has also had guest roles in series such as 30 Rock and Bob's Burgers.

Sean Hayes (Jack) has appeared in series such as Sean Saves the World and The Millers, but it seems that neither was a good fit for him as Will & Grace was. However, he has been the man behind a successful production company, Hazy Mills, which has produced Grimm, Hot in Cleveland, and Hollywood Game Night.

Pilot Plot:

We have watched the first four episodes for review (the first two of which will air this week), and the plots of them are as follows.

"Eleven Years Later" (Airs September 28 at 9:00PM ET)

We haven't seen Will, Grace, Karen, and Jack for over a decade and things have changed... well not exactly. Will and Grace are about to be living together again, and Karen and Jack are just as obnoxious as always. Meanwhile, politics becomes the topic of the day when Karen may be decorating the Oval Office for President Trump and Will has his eyes on a politician.

"Who's Your Daddy?" (Airs October 5 at 9:00PM ET)

What is an "acceptable" age difference in a couple? Will's latest date (who is only 23 years old) will test that out in this episode, where things get a little awkward when Will talks about a breakup he had in 1994... the year his date was born.

"Emergency Contact" (Airs October 12 at 9:00PM ET)

Grace is in the hospital and is put under sedation, where her emergency contact needs to be contacted. Naturally, that should be Will, but it seems that her ex-husband Leo (Harry Connick Jr.) was left as her emergency contact since Karen was charged with changing that. But can this emergency contact help them rekindle what they lost?

Analysis:

Obviously, our "pilot" review for this series is the most unique one that we've ever done, since (at least as far as I can remember) it is the first time we've ever had a situation where we've reviewed a pilot for a series that is effectively just picking up where the original left off. Sure, we had series like The Odd Couple, but it was a reboot with a new cast. This is something that we haven't seen on TV in a long time, in the vein of when Family Guy returned to Fox after being canceled for a few years, and it is much more like "season nine" of the original series than "season one" of a newly reimagined series. In fact, there doesn't even seem to be a clear consensus on whether this is just a new season of an old series or the first season of a new series. Most online sources seem to be going with "new season of an old series." If this is successful, we may be seeing more of this type of thing. We already have Roseanne returning to ABC later this season as a "limited series," but this was originally envisioned to be "limited" too, yet it has already been renewed for a second season.

The feel of this show, though, is very odd. But that isn't necessarily a bad thing. It has the feeling of that late 90s sitcom that aired on NBC back when NBC was the network to be in the world of sitcoms, when Friends-mania was taking over the network. What's interesting about the original series is that it was airing on NBC in that Friends era, and always living in the shadow of Friends. Friends even served as a lead-in for the original series. And once it lost that lead-in, people stopped caring about Will & Grace. It did continue on for two more seasons afterward, but by that time, it was more or less just floating on while NBC was focused on their future of single camera sitcoms (thanks to The Office).

There really isn't a lot to say about this series. It's Will & Grace, and it's the Will & Grace that fans (and probably even some new fans) have come to love in the original eight year run. It's really easy to be skeptical when a series has a reboot, reunion, or anything along those lines. Often they'll have very forced scripts to explain why they're all together again, they'll have missing key characters (and come up with a really stupid explanation of why that character is gone), they'll have new producers and writers that don't understand or even care to understand why fans liked the original series, and even kids that have grown up can ruin some of the original charm. None of that happens with this series. It's pretty much like a new season of an old show, that is able to do things it couldn't have done when it last aired in 2006. And if people don't recognize that things have changed, then they must have been in a coma for over a decade.

Obviously, the show still retains a lot of the LGBT themes. After all, what else would it be without those? A lot of things have changed since 2006 in terms of the LGBT community. For example, in 2004, one of the most "radical" presidential candidates (who lost his primary) was suggesting allowing gay couples to have civil unions to guarantee many rights associated with marriage, but not marriage because that's a step too far. And people couldn't believe somebody was saying something so radical, they thought civil unions were far fetched. In 2017, same-sex marriage is legal in all 50 states, and a lot of people support it or just don't care one way or the other. Even just considering how those who are not part of the LGBT community perceive those in the LGBT community has changed significantly from 2006 to 2017. Consider this: this show debuted in 1998, just months after ABC canceled the once popular sitcom Ellen following a very challenging final season. Ellen (both in real life as well as the character) had come out as a lesbian in the fourth season of that series, and it resulted in a fifth season that people accused of pushing a "gay agenda," and ABC even started airing "parental advisories" before each episode to warn parents of "gay content." Concerned mothers all over the country were in panic that there was a sitcom on broadcast television that had a lesbian character as the star. Now, in 2017, those same concerned parents are watching and loving the talk show hosted by that same woman, which has aired for 15 seasons. So, to be clear, things have changed, and Will & Grace is returning at a time when the perception of it will likely be different, specifically while it may have originally been perceived as a sitcom for the LGBT community in 1998, it can be seen more as a regular sitcom that includes LGBT characters in 2017. That makes a huge difference.

Yet at the same time, while the anti-LGBT attitudes died down over a period of several years, there has also been some backlash against all of the LGBT (and other groups) progress in recent years. Some people have been sitting in silence for years while all of the progress has been made, then in the past few years, those people have learned how to use Facebook and they head to the comments sections of any given news article that talks about these issues. A lot of people have learned that not everybody is on the same page, no matter what we think. So, while a lot of those people probably won't be as interested in this series, the fact that they exist still makes this series all the more topical, perhaps even more so. That's something that is brought up in the very first episode of the series, where we learn that (not surprisingly) Karen is a huge Donald Trump supporter and invites Grace to the Oval Office for a potential opportunity to redecorate it, since the president described it as a "dump" (both in real life and the series, so they're writing in topical themes).

The series isn't purely political, though (neither was the original), and it backs away from those themes in the other two of the first three episodes. The second episode, for example, deals with the issues of dating much younger people (it's interesting to point out that Will's date in this episode is said to have been born in 1994, which means he would have been four years old when the original series debuted) as well as a B-plot that borrows a storyline of being stuck in a shower from a classic episode of The Lucy Show. It makes for a solid standard sitcom plot. But don't expect the series to be completely devoid of politics, as Michelle Obama is set to appear in one of the episodes (we're not sure when, but it certainly wasn't one of the first three that were available for review).

One nice thing about this series, of course, is that you know exactly what you're getting into before you watch it, especially if you've seen the original series. The pilot takes off running without confusion over who the characters are and why they exist. We don't need boring, forced, and slow-paced introductions. It is already built in after 194 episodes of the original series. Ultimately, the bottom line is, this show just picks up where it left off, but it isn't "for better or worse," it's almost exclusively "for better." It is important to point out one thing, though: while this series mostly picks up where the series left off, pretty much all of the events of the final episode are "forgotten" in this new series, because things happened in that final episode that would make picking things up where they truly left off almost impossible for this series.

Conclusion:

Whether or not this series will be a success will depend upon the fans. It's already got a fanbase that was built during the original run, and it has gained a lot of new fans over the years as well. So, will the fans be returning to watch or not? It's hard to tell, but based upon the first three episodes, I actually found myself much more interested in the series now than I did originally. So there may very well be this third group of people who've never really watched it before (I have seen probably less than 10 episodes myself, so I think I can count myself among those) who'll be a fan of this new series. I certainly don't want to see any network building a sitcom lineup that depends solely upon new seasons of series that were canceled years ago, and I think it would irritate fans to see that. But for this series, perhaps the time is right to reboot it and perhaps in 2017, it is more "ready" for TV than it was in 1998.

Final Numbers (out of 5 stars):

Watchability: 4/5

Funniness: 4/5

Overall: 4/5

Discuss the show after you watch it on Thursday, September 28, 2017 at 9:00PM ET/PT on our message board.

Related Links:

NBC.com Official Site

Will & Grace Photo Gallery

Preview:

Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionisists

Freeform, Disney's young adult television and streaming network, has ordered a new drama pilot, Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists, from Warner Horizon Scripted Television. Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists, is based on the popular book series The Perfectionists, written by Sara Shepard, who also penned the No. 1 New York Times bestselling book series Pretty Little Liars. Everything about the town of Beacon Heights seems perfect, from their top-tier college to their overachieving residents. But nothing in Beacon Heights is as it appears to be. The stress of needing to be perfect leads to the town's first murder. Behind every Perfectionist is a secret, a lie and a needed alibi. Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists is produced by Alloy Entertainment and Long Lake Media in association with Warner Horizon Scripted Television. I. Marlene King wrote the pilot and serves as executive producer with Leslie Morgenstein and Gina Girolamo.

Pretty Little Liars stars Sasha Pieterse (Inherent Vice) and Janel Parrish (To All the Boys I've Loved Before and is currently starring in a production of Grease in Toronto) are set to reprise their original roles in the new pilot. In Pretty Little Liars, Pieterse played Alison DiLaurentis, the former queen bee whose mysterious disappearance rocked the small town of Rosewood. Parrish played Mona Vanderwaal, Hanna Marin's best friend, who was unmasked as the mysterious tormentor "A" at the end of the show's second season, and ultimately beat uber-villain, A.D., at her own game. Freeform's robust slate of scripted original series include fan-favorite comedy Young & Hungry; highly anticipated new comedies grown-ish and Alone Together, which are slated to premiere in 2018; along with scripted dramas including the summer breakout hit The Bold Type; supernatural thriller Beyond; Famous In Love starring Bella Thorne; critically acclaimed The Fosters; sci-fi phenomenon Shadowhunters; and the eagerly awaited series Marvel's Cloak & Dagger, coming in 2018.

Tuesday, September 26, 2017

COZI TV Acquires Will & Grace; Spike TV Turns to Paramount Network on Jan. 18, 2018

COZI TV announced that it will be the exclusive digital broadcast network of the first eight seasons of the Emmy® award-winning series Will & Grace. Leading up to the premiere of the new season of Will & Grace on NBC on Thursday, September 28 at 9 PM, COZI TV will offer viewers the opportunity to recall every hilarious moment of the iconic series with a special showing of the first four episodes of season one on September 28 at 7 PM. The network will also kick-off a special weekend marathon presentation of all 22 episodes from season one on Saturday, September 30 at 9 AM. In addition, the original series will run on COZI TV Monday through Friday at 10 PM, beginning Monday, October 2 (check local listings). The hit comedy series Will & Grace features actors Debra Messing as Grace Adler, Megan Mullally as Karen Walker, Eric McCormack as Will Truman and Sean Hayes as Jack McFarland. The series follows best friends Will and Grace as they navigate living together, while they deal with their eccentric friends Karen and Jack. The show originally aired on NBC starting in 1998, with the season eight finale coming in 2006. Will & Grace rejoins the NBC lineup with all new episodes Thursday, September 28 at 9 PM.

The following episodes from Will & Grace season one will air on COZI TV on Thursday, September 28 at 7 PM. Audiences can watch an encore presentation at 10 PM (check local listings):
S1: Love & Marriage (7:00 PM)
S1: A New Lease on Life (7:30 PM)
S1: Head Case (8:00 PM)
S1: Between A Rock And A Harlin's Place (8:30 PM)

Season one episodes that will air in COZI TV's special Will & Grace Saturday, September 30 marathon are:
Love & Marriage (9 AM)
A New Lease on Life (9:30 AM)
Head Case (10:00 AM)
Between a Rock and Harlin's Place (10:30 AM)
Boo! Humbug (11:00 AM)
William, Tell (11:30 AM)
Where There's a Will, There's No Way (12:00 PM)
The Buying Game (12:30 AM)
The Truth About Will and Dogs (1:00 PM)
The Big Vent (1:30 PM)
Will on Ice (2:00 PM)
My Fair Maid-y (2:30 PM)
The Unsinkable Mommy Adler (3:00 PM)
Big Brother Is Coming Pt I (3:30 PM)
Big Brother Is Coming Pt II (4:00 PM)
Yours, Mine or Ours (4:30 PM)
Secrets & Lays (5:00 PM)
Grace, Replaced (5:30 PM)
Will Works Out (6:00 PM)
Saving Grace (6:30 PM)
Alley Cats (7:00PM)
Object of My Rejection (7:30 PM)

Paramount Network

Paramount Network has set a date for its debut. The network will officially debut on Thursday, January 18 at 9:00pm ET/PT with a LIVE one-hour episode of Lip Sync Battle emanating from the Paramount lot in Hollywood. Details on this star-studded event will be announced in the coming weeks. Spike TV is being rebranded as Paramount Network, a premium entertainment destination that pushes the limits of story-telling with bold original scripted and non-scripted series. Inspired by over a century of cinema, Paramount Network is where today's brightest stars bring the experience of the big screen to every screen with stories that are immersive, inclusive, and deeply personal.

Later in January, Paramount Network will premiere the landmark six-part event series, WACO, with an award-winning cast including Michael Shannon, Taylor Kitsch, John Leguizamo, and Melissa Benoist. On the heels of the 25th anniversary, the eye-opening and captivating series is based on the controversial and harrowing true story of the 1993 FBI siege of a religious sect that resulted in the deadly shoot out and fire. The new original scripted series coming to Paramount Network in the first part of 2018 includes Yellowstone, starring world-renowned actor and Oscar(R)-winner Kevin Costner and written and directed by critically-acclaimed, Oscar(R)-nominated screenwriter Taylor Sheridan; American Woman from award-winning producer John Wells, a single-camera comedy set in the 1970s amid the sexual revolution and the rise of feminism starring Alicia Silverstone and Mena Suvari; and Heathers an hour-long pitch-black comedy anthology set in the present day, based on the 1988 cult classic film of the same name.

Monday, September 25, 2017

CBS Fall Pilot Reviews: Young Sheldon and Me, Myself & I, Both Premiere Tonight (Sept. 25)

Young Sheldon - Thursdays at 8:30PM ET/PT on CBS
Special Premiere Monday, September 25, 2017 at 8:30PM ET/PT

by Vincent

Young Sheldon follows 9-year-old Sheldon Cooper, a once-in-a-generation mind capable of advanced mathematics and science – but that isn't always helpful in East Texas, a land where church and football are king. And while the vulnerable, gifted and somewhat naïve Sheldon deals with the world, his very normal family must find a way to deal with him.

Cast Details:

Iain Armitage as Sheldon
Jim Parsons as Adult Sheldon (Voice)
Lance Barber as George Sr.
Montana Jordan as Georgie Jr.
Raegan Revord as Missy
Zoe Perry as Mary

Iain Armitage (Sheldon) is a young actor best known for his role on the popular HBO mini-series Big Little Lies. He has also appeared on Law & Order: SVU and in the film The Glass Castle.

Jim Parsons (voice of Adult Sheldon) is best known for his role as "Adult" Sheldon on the hit comedy The Big Bang Theory (which Young Sheldon is a prequel of). He also has a long-running Broadway career, recently starring in the play The Act of God.

Lance Barber (George Sr.) is a veteran TV actor who has appeared in many shows over the years, most notably as a cast member on HBO's cult hit The Comeback. He has also appeared in shows such as Faking It, black-ish and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

Montana Jordan (Georgie Jr.) is a young, nascent actor – Young Sheldon will be his first major role.

Reagan Reyord (Missy) is a young actress who has guest starred on shows such as Modern Family, Grace and Frankie and Teachers.

Zoe Perry (Mary) is an actress with a long list of TV credits, including roles on Scandal, NCIS and The Family. She also portrayed Young Jackie on Roseanne.

Pilot Plot:

"Pilot" (Airs September 25 at 8:30PM ET)

The pilot episode revolved around 9-year-old Sheldon's first day at high school. His father, George, is struggling to find his way as a high school football coach and as father to a boy he doesn't understand. Sheldon's mother, Mary, fiercely protects and nurtures her son in a town where he just doesn't fit in. Sheldon's older brother, Georgie, does the best he can in high school, but it's tough to be cool when you're in the same classes with your odd 9-year-old brother. Sheldon's twin sister, Missy, sometimes resents all the attention Sheldon gets, but she also remains the one person who can reliably tell Sheldon the truth. All of these people help guide him through a difficult first day of school.

Analysis:

I’ll get this out of the way first: I'm not a fan of The Big Bang Theory. I've seen enough of it that I'm familiar with the characters and the concept, since it's such a hugely popular sitcom – I wanted to see what all of the hype was about, but unfortunately I generally find the show to be too over-the-top in its humor, and I find Parsons' portrayal of Sheldon to be kind of unbearable most of the time. So I can't say I went into Young Sheldon expecting to like it all that much. I expected it to be basically a carbon copy of its parent show, complete with obvious set-ups and punchlines and a complete lack of subtlety. I was surprised, then, that Young Sheldon is actually quite different from The Big Bang Theory in a lot of ways. First off, the show drops Big Bang's multi-camera and laugh track set-up for a single-camera Wonder Years vibe, complete with a narration by grown-up Parsons. The show is clearly trying for something very different than The Big Bang Theory. A lot of the time, it seems like it genuinely wants to be a heartfelt, borderline sad, even a little wistful story of a young boy whose gifted but struggles to fit into the town he lives in. And there are times when it succeeds! Most of those times involve the mother-son relationship between Sheldon and Mary, which actually feels genuine, thanks to strong performances from both Perry and Armitidge. At its best, Young Sheldon is a sweet and sad little show about a precocious little kid who's clearly going to leave his town and do great things, and a mom who's hanging onto him for as long as she can despite knowing that she's going to lose him eventually. Pepper in a surprisingly funny performance from Reyord as Sheldon's perpetually annoyed sister and Lance Barber doing a pretty good "over it all" dad role, and you'd have a decent little coming of age sitcom, one that could air alongside The Middle and The Goldbergs on ABC and no one would bat an eye.

Unfortunately, Young Sheldon often has to remember that, ultimately, it's a Big Bang Theory prequel. And say what you will about The Big Bang Theory, but the often mean-spirited and condescending tone of Adult Sheldon doesn't really fit in with the gentle, warm tone that Young Sheldon is going for. Every time Jim Parsons' narration ends a scene, or every time his holier-than-thou attitude comes through in the form of his younger self, any sweet vibes that Young Sheldon gives off are immediately shattered. The problem is, if you like The Big Bang Theory, you're probably going to be turned off by the fact that Young Sheldon is essentially nothing like its parent show most of the time, and will probably not want much to do with a low-key coming of age sitcom. If you dig that kind of vibe, then you'll probably be turned off by the grating catchphrase factory that the show wants to be when it's not that gentle coming of age sitcom. Young Sheldon feels towards between two shows right now, and while The Wonder Years for a new generation is the more appealing route, chances are it will wind up pandering to its Big Bang Theory origins more to survive the network television chopping block.

Conclusion:

There's a warm, bittersweet show about growing up in a place where you don't belong lurking inside of Young Sheldon, but it's obstructed by the show's need to pander to its parent show's audience, in full display whenever Parsons interrupts with one of his painfully unfunny and often mean-spirited voice-overs. If Young Sheldon ever dropped the Big Bang side of its occasion, it might have a chance at becoming a truly sweet little show, but considering it's, well, a Big Bang spin-off, the chances of that happening seems low. Still, there are glimmers of this show that are worthwhile, and it's a lot less cloying and more thoughtful than you'd expect a Big Bang Theory prequel to be. Plus, if you're a Big Bang superfan, it's a fun and sweet origin story for a character you've grown to love over the years.

Final Numbers (out of 5 stars):

Watchability: 3.5/5
Funniness: 3/5
Overall: 3/5

Discuss the show after you watch it on Monday, September 25, 2017 at 8:30PM ET/PT on our message board.

Related Links:

CBS.com Official Site

Young Sheldon Photo Gallery

Preview:

Me, Myself & I - Mondays at 9:30PM ET/PT on CBS
Premieres Monday, September 25, 2017 at 9:30PM ET/PT

by Skees

Alex Riley can't seem to catch a break. He's well adjusted in life, or so it seems, but then something always comes crashing down on him. At age 14, life is well at home with his single mother, that is, until she decides to remarry, move him across the country, and introduce him to a new stepfather and stepbrothers. At age 40, he's happily married with a daughter, but that happy marriage goes sour when he least suspects it. At age 65, he's ready to retire and enjoy the retired life... unless he has a heart attack or something (you know he does). But at the end of the day, all of these stages come together as one piece in Me, Myself & I.

Cast Details:

Bobby Moynihan as Alex Riley (age 40)

Jack Dylan Grazer as Alex Riley (age 14)

John Larroquette as Alex Riley (age 65)

Brian Unger as Ron

Jaleel White as Darryl

Kelen Coleman as Abby
Skylar Gray as Young Abby
Christopher Paul Richards as Justin
Mandell Maughan as Maggie
Reylenn Caster as Young Nori Sterling
Sharon Lawrence as Eleanor Sterling

Bobby Moynihan (Alex Riley) is best known for his work on Saturday Night Live, where he appeared for nine seasons. He has appeared in a few movies, as well as guest roles on 30 Rock, Girls, and Portlandia. Additionally, he can be heard as the voice of Louie on the Disney XD reboot of Ducktales.

Jack Dylan Grazer (younger Alex Riley) is a relative newcomer to acting, but has already appeared in one prominent movie: the feature film version of Stephen King's It, playing Eddie Kaspbrak. He is the nephew of producer Brian Grazer.

John Larroquette (older Alex Riley) is perhaps best known for his role of Dan Fielding on the NBC sitcom Night Court. But his career has been more than just Night Court, as he also had his own sitcom, The John Larroquette Show, in addition to roles in series such as Boston Legal and The Librarians. He also starred in the short-lived 2002 sitcom Happy Family.

Brian Unger (Ron) has appeared in series such as It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Baby Daddy, but he is also known as a commentator, having been a contributor for The Daily Show (pre-John Stewart) and also is a commentator on the web series, The Young Turks.

Jaleel White (Darryl) is, of course, best known for his role as Steve Urkel on Family Matters. He also appeared in the short-lived UPN series Grown Ups, and did the voice of Sonic the Hedgehog in the animated series.

Kelen Coleman (Abby) has appeared in Big Little Lies, Men at Work, The Newsroom, and The Mindy Project, but her biggest role has been on the CBS series The McCarthys.

Skylar Gray (young Abby) is another (relative) newcomer to TV, though she has previously appeared in the series Married.

Christopher Paul Richards (Justin) is another young actor, who previously appeared in the Showtime series Billions.

Mandell Maughan (Maggie) has appeared in the Seeso original series Bajillion Dollar Propertie$, as well as episodes of The Young and the Restless, Ghost Whisperer, Sean Saves the World, and The Millers.

Reylynn Caster (young Nori Sterling) is yet another newcomer to acting, and has previously appeared on an episode of Speechless.

Sharon Lawrence (Eleanor Sterling) is best known for her role in NYPD Blue, and has also appeared in series such as Ladies Man, Fired Up, Drop Dead Diva, and others.

Pilot Plot:

"Pilot" (Airs August 23 at 9:30PM ET)

In the pilot episode, we get to meet Alex Riley. But there isn't just one Alex. There is 14-year-old Alex (Jack Dylan Grazer), 40-year-old Alex (Bobby Moynihan), and 65-year-old Alex (John Larroquette). At each stage of this life, they all have great ambitions to do great things... and they're all being dealt the short end of the stick as well. 14-year-old Alex is being forced to live in a new town with a new stepbrother and stepfather. 40-year-old Alex is happily married until he comes home to his wife and finds an ambulance parked in the driveway (it's worse than you think). 65-year-old Alex has just had a heart attack. But each version of Alex finds that a funny thing about life is how things work out, and even when you think you know what's going to happen next, you really don't know.

Analysis:

From what I saw in the pilot, I'm optimistic about this series. One somewhat unusual thing that this series has going for it is that they didn't skimp on the casting at all. While Jack Dylan Grazer, who plays the youngest Alex, is a relative newcomer to television, they put two comedy veterans into the roles of the other roles of Alex. Bobby Moynihan is best known for his role on Saturday Night Live, where he appeared for the past nine seasons. And John Larroquette is known for his role of Dan Fielding on the Night Court. They didn't even stop there, as they even cast Jaleel White (Urkel from Family Matters, of course) for the role of Darryl.

Something that slightly surprised me, though, is that this isn't exactly a laugh out loud goofball type of comedy, which was the first thing I expected when I saw that Bobby Moynihan and John Larroquette were involved. Looking back at a lot of the sitcoms that Saturday Night Live cast members went onto after leaving the series, the actors and actresses have had a tendency to play very goofy and offbeat characters (one very notable exception: Jane Curtin in Kate & Allie). That isn't to say that Alex, at any stage of his life is not a bit goofy or offbeat. But for the most part, he's just an average guy dealing with the quirks in his life. I think what's perhaps even odder is how hard it is to look at John Larroquette and not see Dan Fielding. Maybe in time, as we get used to these characters, we'll be able to separate them out. It took me a while to separate Ed O'Neill's two famous sitcom characters (Al Bundy and Jay Pritchett) from one another as well, but eventually they became two distinct people.

When I heard about the concept of this series, I immediately suspected it would be confusing, with all of the going back and forth in time. It would especially be confusing since we would have to deal with new groups of characters in each of those time periods, so that means a very large cast. But I can safely say after watching the pilot that they handle the transitions through time rather well, and often in a very clever manner. And as far as the large cast (which I imagine will get larger as the series goes on), it doesn't take much time to figure out what role the characters play in Alex's life. I don't think this will cause any problems or confusion at all.

Conclusion:

This really isn't a bad show. It's clear that CBS is desperately trying to branch out from being known as a network that is only about multi camera sitcoms with a laugh track, and so far, they've had limited success with that, specifically Life in Pieces, which hasn't exactly been a huge breakout hit but has floated along nicely. I don't know that this will be the show that will be a breakout hit that'll finally allow them to achieve their goal of having a successful single camera sitcom, but it's a good effort at least, and it is something that is different from other series in a good way.

Final Numbers (out of 5 stars):

Watchability: 4/5

Funniness: 2/5

Overall: 4/5

Discuss the show after you watch it on Monday, September 25 2017 at 9:30PM ET/PT on our message board.

Related Links:

CBS.com Official Site