Holy crap, we’re back! Yes, no more 15 consecutive weeks of songs you’ve probably heard before, we’re actually talking about television again.
Anyway to kick off the new television season I’ve decided to do a couple one-off reviews of some of the new pilots coming out this year. And who knows, if I like a few of them I just might stick with them.
Up All Night – “Pilot” (B+)
I think my new favourite thing might be cursing around newborn babies. I was actually pleasantly surprised with this debut. I always figured this show had a chance just because of the people involved. I was one of the few who actually liked Will Arnett’s failed Running Wilde last season and anyone who’s ever seen Anchorman or Saturday Night Live know that Christina Applegate and Maya Rudolph can bring the comedy. Throw in perennial executive producer Lorne Michaels and creator Emily Spivey – one of the very funny writers of probably the funniest show on television right now Parks and Recreation – and you’ve got all the ingredients of an extremely funny show.
Really the only question I had about this series was its overdone premise. Baby storylines tend to be very boring to watch primarily because the old parenting clichés that serve as the foundation of the genre are only funny to people who’ve just had a baby. Did you know new parents get really tired? Yeah, so did everyone else.
That’s kind of what makes Up All night so interesting though. It’s a mixture of some classic baby storylines with fresh writing and an absolutely fantastic cast. And make no mistake: it’s the cast that sells this show. Whether it be Will Arnett walking through a grocery store or Christina Applegate lamenting that Matt Lauer is talking to her through the TV, I feel like I can watch this couple do anything and still be entertained. That’s a very good sign for a brand new show.
Maya Rudolph’s character is the wildcard. She’s sort of a spin-off of a Tracey Jordan or Jenna Maroney type, rich and insecure. That’s a good and a bad thing. The good is that she allows the writers to go in pretty much any direction they want. She has enough money that almost any storyline is plausible and her character is portrayed as zany enough to get away with doing just about anything. The bad is that this type of character is already quite well represented on television right now, and if not written just right I could see her growing tiresome, especially with the strength of Applegate and Arnett as a comedic duo.
Overall though it was hard not to be taken in by the charm of this show. Not everything in the pilot worked. There were certainly moments where the show devolved into the tired parenting clichés I worried about before its debut, but I didn’t find them hindering my enjoyment as much as I thought they would. Up All Night has enough going for it that it feels like you can forgive it for the odd misstep. The best you can say about a pilot is that it has promise. Right now Up All Night has it in spades.
Free Agents – “Pilot” (C-)
I’m not going to write too much about this one. I hate to say it because I love Hank Azaria but this pilot just did not do it for me. I don’t really see a clear direction for the show beyond the relationship between Azaria and Kathryn Hahn’s character and to be honest neither of them was particularly funny. I may give this one a few more episodes – perhaps once they’ve gotten through the introductions in the pilot the show will get funnier – but at the moment there’s not much I see in this one that makes me want to keep watching.
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It’s good to be back.
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