Here are some quick thoughts about Parks & Rec and The Michael J. Fox Show. Honestly, I don't really have a lot to say about them, so it will be quick. Oh, and bonus Welcome to the Family hatred!
Parks & Recreation - This episode felt like a whole lot of set-up, so I'm not quite sure how to feel about it. The Pawnee/Eagleton merge should make for some entertaining stuff, but it never quite escalated into anything particularly funny in this episode. Kristen Bell was good in her role, but I wanted to see even more of her, which I'm guessing we will in the next few weeks. And after really liking her in the season premiere, Leslie was just...too much here. The show kind of lost their handle on Leslie in Season 5, and this episode continued that unfortunate streak. I didn't really care for either of the subplots - Ron trying to erase all trace of his existence was just way too cartoony, even for Ron Swanson, and the shows' attempt to ground it with the tie to his marriage to Diane felt very forced. The Ann & April plot was...strange. Ann is moving to Bloomingtown because they have a nice baby store? And it all came at the expense of what could've been an interesting April plotline? All in all, this was definitely a disappointment after last weeks' stellar premiere, but maybe it'll look better once we get more from these storylines.
The Michael J. Fox Show - The quote in the title made me laugh a LOT. Actually, a bunch of stuff in this episode made me laugh a lot. But I'm still sort of getting a generic family sitcom vibe from the plot and characters. Since this show doesn't look like it's going to be the mass-appeal hit NBC wanted it to be, maybe they'll let the show break out of the tired Modern Family storylines they're trapped in and start getting a bit more experimental. I'm not holding my breath, but it'd be nice. Still, there's a lot of other appealing elements to the show. MJF continues to impress, and Betsy Brandt is also pretty awesome here. It just feels like it's playing it a lot safer than it wants to right now. The writing and the humor is pretty great, but everything else feels a few steps behind. Still, it's only episode 3 - here's to hoping they get everything figured out soon.
I also, unfortunately, watched the Welcome to the Family pilot. It was maybe the blandest thing I have ever seen, and strangely completely devoid of laughs. I bashed it more here, if you want to read!
http://blog.sitcomsonline.com/2013/10/cbs-fall-pilot-review-millers-premieres.html
I will end this by saying the complete blandification of NBC's Thursday line-up, complete with obnoxious tiny Sean Hayes running around the bottom of the screen, makes me very sad and nostalgic for days past. Come save us, Community! (I'm tagging Community in this because I only have 2 posts tagged Community and that is just wrong).
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