MODERN FAMILY: Easily one of the best pilots of the fall. It has a mockumentary format (sans laugh track, thankfully), but felt more like Best In Show or A Mighty
Wind than The Office, like I had expected. The lack of a laugh track always make shows easier to watch, but Modern Family had enough laughs that I probably wouldn't have noticed it. The show is quirky and light but definitely has an inappropriateness to it that I definitely enjoyed. It could have been your standard, tacky, cheesy, family sit-com, but the writers took it in a very different, and superior direction. I'm not sure what kind of long term potential it has at this point, but I'm confident the writers will make it work. It's not often that new comedies make it onto my rotation (what with them generally sucking and all), but I'm happily adding Modern Family and Community to my list. Both are definitely worth your time. I'm not married and I don't have kids (nor do I generally enjoy watching sit coms about either), but Modern Family totally makes it work. Pilot Grade: B+COUGAR TOWN: I have to admit, it wasn't anywhere near as bad as I expected. I know, I know, I'm as shocked as you are. I'm not saying it was good, but I went in expecting it to be eye-gougingly painful and it was actually kind of watchable. I probably won't be tuning in again next week, but the pilot
wasn't as train wrecky as it could have been, especially given the premise. Although I found Courtney Cox's portrayal of a recently divorced 40 something woman to be forced, over-eager, and desperate, she actually kinda sorta made it work. By all accounts, I should have hated every minute, but leave it to Courtney to make an annoying, whiny, neurotic nut-bag kind of likable. Overall, it was definitely heavy-handed and isn't the kind of show I'd be eager to see week-to-week, but no where near as off-putting as expected. I'm not sure exactly what demographic they're aiming for, but somehow the show pulled huge ratings with its premiere. It didn't suck me in, and I have little desire to watch Cox make an idiot of herself every week, but at the same time, I don't think it would appeal to an older demographic either. I expect the week two ratings will be considerably lower, and for as "not as awful as expected, though still not very good" as it was, I won't be sad to see it slip. If you happen to be a huge Courtney Cox fan or if you have figured out what demographic this show appeals to and happen to be a part of it, I guess you could give this one a shot... At least the clothes were cute? Pilot Grade: CEASTWICK: I'm not even sure where to start with this one. It's kind of like Desperate Housewives meets Charmed. Bear in mind, I was never a big fan of either of those shows. The writers were clearly aiming for a quirky, light-hearted, magical romp, but it didn't strike a chord
with me at all. I spent the better part of the pilot wishing it would just hurry and end. The writing was cheesy and uninspired, the acting was iffy, and the whole concept just kind of fell flat for me. I can see where there might be an audience out there that would totally love this show, but I was bored, bored, bored from minute one. The pilot just didn't really seem to have a whole lot of focus or drive and while a whole lot of things happened, it just didn't feel like they were really getting anywhere. Add to that the lingering instances of painful, painful, painful and you can see where this one won't be making it into my rotation. I'm generally quite a fan of the supernatural and the sudsy, but Eastwick sucked the life out of both. I can't even really quantify how and why exactly, but this pilot that should have been fanciful and fun managed to bore from beginning to end. It certainly didn't do it for me, but I can see where there might be some lonely, unicorn-loving people out there that might enjoy this... Pilot Grade: D+
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