Fox debuted their new Tuesday night comedy lineup, and it looks like I’ll be tuning into an hour of it, while actively avoiding the other hour…
Dads…One of the worst pilots in recent memory. Not only did I not laugh one time, but the entire enterprise has a generally cruddy, slapshot quality to it (the cinematography looks like the lens caught a staph infection). It’s also a major step backwards for Fox since it’s a traditional multi-camera comedy with a laugh track, and I can’t remember the last time the network had one of those. For all the controversy over the show’s offensive Asian jokes, I have to admit that seeing Brenda Song in a sexy Asian schoolgirl uniform was the only memorable thing about this episode. Grade: D
Brooklyn 99…I wish the show were a little bit funnier, but it has an ace cast headed by Andy Samberg, and the always excellent Andre Braugher. I’m afraid they may work a little too hard to make the characters likable—-there are some borderline sentimental moments towards the end of the first episode—-and it’s nowhere near as good as ABC’s cop comedy The Job (an underrated gem worth checking out on Netflix), but there’s more than enough reason to keep watching for a little while. Grade: B+
New Girl…I never liked this show and still don’t. I only tuned into this premiere because I wanted to watch the entire lineup, and because I was curious to know if Schmidt would pick Cece or Elizabeth. On a related note, who in their right mind would seriously have to debate picking the gorgeous Cece (the dryly sexy Hannah Simone, infinitely more interesting than Zoe) over Merritt Weaver’s schlubby Elizabeth? I think this is a fantasy that exists in the mind of a white female writer more than a situation that would ever happen in real life. I couldn’t care less about Nick and Jess, but I would gladly watch a show devoted to the manic Schmidt and more adult Cece. Grade: C-
Mindy Project…The best of the lot. I really enjoyed the first season of this underrated comedy, and I’m glad to see it back in fine form. Any broad Fox comedy that manages to sneak in lines like “Ken Burns does it again” is doing something very right. Grade: A-