Raisin' and Runnin'

Comedies are always a little touch and go for me, what with number of insanely unfunny shows out there, so I generally go in with a healthy dollop of apprehension. Fox's new pair of comedies on Tuesdays turned out to be a mixed bag.

First off, the mostly good news...

RAISING HOPE

I wouldn't say this little show will ever be appointment TV for me, but it had quite a bit of charm and enough laughs to make it a nice alternate. This quirky, off-color, slightly trashy show about a kid who ends up with a baby could have been incredibly hokey, but it actually worked pretty well. I'm none too fond of babies, so the fact that I enjoyed this pilot says a lot. The show isn't always polite or high brow or family friendly, but it's not vulgar either. It forges a nice balance of charm and trash, something Greg Garcia always does well with. It relies a little too heavily on sight gags and crudeness for my tastes, but also has quite a lot of heart (without being schmaltzy). Martha Plimpton and Garret Dillahunt are hilarious and the rest of the cast does a good job keeping up with them. Plimpton's line deliveries are always so spot on that even if a line is weak, she makes it work. Her timing is just flawless and she plays the haggard, slightly white trashy mom to perfection. I'm a little afraid it will become a bit one-note in terms of story, and lord knows anecdotes about children aren't really my thing, so if it starts to veer in that direction, I'll probably ditch this one. But, it made a fair showing in its premiere and I'm willing to DVR it for a rainy day or happily stumble across it when my must-watch shows aren't on. It's a bit coarse, but also lovable. What I really walked away from the show with was a true appreciation for what a weird sounding word "Hope" is. Hope. Hope. Geez, say that a few times. If it didn't have any actually meaning, it would be a seriously strange sound to employ. It would be like naming a baby "Snup" or "Flen" or something.

Pilot Grade: B-

And now for the mostly not good news...

RUNNING WILDE

From the original promos for this show, I was afraid. Very afraid. Then I heard that the concept of the show was being retooled and David Cross was being added to the show. Given the creative team behind this one, I was very hopeful they could turn this ridiculous misfire into some real comedy. Well... the pilot was retooled all right... but not nearly enough, I'm afraid. I loved Arrested Development and I adore the majority of the principal cast, but this uneven, unfunny farce about an entitled rich guy learning to be less shallow from a humanitarian just didn't really work. You could tell that Will Arnett and Keri Russell were making the best of what they were given, but that it just didn't quite come together. The concept alone sounds more like the plot of a bad romantic comedy than a great TV series. Seriously, although there were a couple of glimmers of funny, most of the pilot was fairly cringe-worthy. There were so few genuine laughs that I could count them. Total? Two. One of which was really more of a smirk (I'll admit it, the piano gag at the end got me). The only real laugh came when David Cross' character, about to be pulled apart by unsuspecting loggers, attempts to save his life by yelling for Keri Russell to "Tell them I'm white!" Heh. Other than that, there were a lot of moments that were almost funny, but just didn't quite make it. I honestly don't know if the powers that be can turn this into a winner, but if anyone could do it, it would be Mitch Hurwitz, so who knows. At present, this pilot was more ridiculous than funny, and the base concept just doesn't seem sustainable over the long-run. Such a shame.

Pilot Grade: D+