Cooper Barrett's Guide to Surviving Life Doesn't Need a Guide to Success

Cooper Barrett (played by Jack Cutmore-Scott), a young, wild, recent college-graduate, stars in Fox's new comedy, Cooper Barrett's Guide to Surviving Life. The show opens with hundreds of graduation caps being tossed in the air. The camera then cuts to Cooper who stares deeply into the camera, breaking the fourth wall, telling the audience that nothing in college prepared him for the situation he's currently in. As the camera continues to pan out, it's obvious that Cooper is in quite the predicament, tied down to a rickety chair in a sketchy attic. He never breaks eye contact as he informs the audience that the first lesson he will be teaching started the day after he graduated college. 

The show then flashes back to 2011, when we are introduced to the other characters. Neal (played by Charlie Saxton) is the lanky awkward nerd, and Barry (played by James Earl) is loud and unapologetic, referred to as the jerk of the group. Together, Neal, Barry, and Cooper make up the typical power trio of friends who are moving into an apartment together. Josh (played by Justin Bartha), Cooper's older brother, a successful lawyer, pays the three a visit, dropping off a brand new 3-D flatscreen TV. In return, all Josh wants is a fun night, giving him a break from his cookie cutter life, and extremely pregnant wife. 

Barry has grown a deep attachment to the new TV, and makes it his mission to protect it during the party. He becomes suspicious of a group of shady, mobster looking men eyeing up the TV, and almost starts a fight, but becomes distracted by a partier who offers Neal, Cooper, Josh, and him a bag of blue pills. The next morning, all four wake up to the sound of a phone ringing, in a trashed apartment, void of the new TV. 

Two years later, Barry walks out of a movie theatre and sees the sketchy men he thinks stole the TV. Making a rash decision, he follows these men home alerting the others that he has hunted down the men who stole their TV. With the help of Cooper and Neal, Barry manages to take back his precious TV, but not before the group of men sees Cooper's face. However, much to their surprise, Josh tells the group that the TV they retrieved was not the one he bought them. Another two years later, Cooper meets the mobster men again in the bathroom of a Clipper's game, where he's knocked out, and held hostage, bringing the audience up to speed. 

I fully enjoyed this pilot episode and think it establishes the great potential the show has. It was refreshing to watch an action packed comedy show, and every character is quirky and has room for development. My only concern is that eventually the writers will run out of ideas for crazy adventures. The characters and plotline reminded me of The Hangover, so if you're a fan of movies/shows formatted in that manner, be sure to give this show a chance!

Neal: “The thing is dude, I've been crunching some numbers and based on my looks, salary, and personality deficiencies, there's a 87% chance my wife will have a mustache." 

The Real O'Neals: Could It Be a Real Hit?

Eileen (played by Martha Plimpton) and Pat O'Neal (played by Jay R Ferguson) are an Irish-Catholic couple whose lives revolve around the church and the family, which is kept under tight control by Eileen, who even decides what each member of the family will order for brunch. Eileen and Pat have three children: the oldest, Jimmy (played by Matt Shively) is the family athlete, and the youngest, Shannon (played by Bebe Wood) is the family brainiac. The middle child is Kenny (played by Noah Galvin), whose life the show revolves around.

The O'Neals seem to be the perfect family, organizing a big Bingo night fundraiser, and having their priest congratulate them on being selected to be featured in the church's monthly newsletter. However, this perfect family facade quickly tumbles away after Kenny's girlfriend wants to move too quickly in their relationship. After being pressured, Kenny freaks out and realizes that it's time for him to come out of the closet.

After gathering his courage, Kenny decides to hold a family meeting during the fundraiser. Before he can tell his family his big story, Pat has a mini-freak out about the lack of communication among their family, and tells everyone that Eileen and him are getting a divorce. After this confession, Jimmy reveals that he's been fighting anorexia, and Shannon tells everyone that she's a kleptomaniac. Little do the O'Neals know, the seemingly private and sound-proof room they were in was actually connected to the room where the Bingo fundraiser was occurring. Eileen's friend opens the door connecting the two rooms, revealing a room full of church go-ers staring at the O'Neal's. Mortified, Eileen quickly grabs the family's coats and leads their dramatic exit.

This episode was fantastic and shows the great potential this show has. I had several laugh out loud moments, and the jokes incorporated were all well written. Although the characters all seem to be pretty ordinary, they're very likable and their revealed issues give them a chance to be developed further.

The casting was also very well done. Martha Plimpton has had a lot of experience playing hard-edged but sympathetic moms in shows such as Raising Hope. Although she's an overbearing type-A crazy mom in this show, the audience can't help but root for her. Jay R Ferguson who played Stan Rizzo on Mad Men has perfected the archetype of the typical American dad, just trying to find out what's best for his family. Finally, Noah Galvin, who surprisingly has never worked in the TV industry before, portrays the perfect angsty teenager just trying to figure out who he is.

All in all, this show holds a lot of potential in being a great show. The set up reminds me a lot of ABC's other family sitcom, Modern Family, and I can't wait to see what the rest of the season has in store.

Father Phil: “Hello Shannon!"
Shannon: “Welcome!"
Father Phil: “I will take four cards please."
Shannon: “But everyone's looking to you to set the bar. You gotta go high Father Phil." 
Father Phil: “Well... I took a vow of poverty."
Shannon: “Does your Lexus know that?"

Crowded: Packed With Great Jokes

Crowded starts out with a scene that we've all lived through recently. Martina (played by Carrie Preston) and Mike (played by Patrick Warburton) are parents dropping off their oldest daughter Stella (played by Mia Serafino) at college. Martina seems to be composed as she reminds Stella to be safe and use two forms of birth control, but as soon as she leaves to go up to her dorm, Martina breaks down crying in Mike's arms. The typical parents dropping their kid off at college scene is repeated with Mike and Martina's youngest daughter, Shea (played by Miranda Cosgrove). Martina and Mike realize that dropping Shea off means they officially have an empty nest back home, which results in them collapsing and sobbing on the steps of a building in Shea's college as the other parents observe with judging looks.

After the initial sadness of living in an empty house, Martina and Mike realize that having the house to themselves might not be such a terrible thing. They start doing rebellious teenage activities, when their fun is cut short by the return of their daughters. Stella returns first, stating that she just got in a huge fight with her boyfriend, which means she has no where to stay. In the middle of her story, Shea bursts through the door lugging a suitcase behind her. Shea reveals that the science funding at her job was cut, so she considered her options and decided that the most economically sensible decision would be to move back home. Mike's pushy parents hear the great news about Shea and Stella's return and decide that instead of moving to Florida to retire, they want to stay close by to help with any issues that arise. Although Martina and Mike love their daughters, they are thoroughly disappointed that their teenage lifestyles must end. They're even more disappointed that Mike's parents won't be out of their hair as soon as they had anticipated.

I was pleasantly surprised by this pilot. The plotline seemed to be one of a typical family sitcom, but the characters were each well developed and there were lots of good jokes written in. Martina and Mike are laid-back parents who obviously care about their childrens' well-being; Stella is the typical wild child while Shea is the polar opposite, always level-headed and making sure to stick to the rules; and last but not least Mike's parents love being involved in Mike and Martina and the girls' lives. Although the plotline might have been used before on other shows, Crowded definitely puts its own spin on it.

Martina: “Wow. The empty nest."
Mike: “We're gonna die in this house."
Martina: “I need alcohol." 

Truth Be Told: This Show Isn't Too Great

In NBC's new sitcom Truth Be Told, Mitch (played by Mark-Paul Gosselaar) is a college profesor who is married to Tracy (played by Vanessa Lachey). Mitch and Tracy are raising their four-year-old daughter, Sadie. Mitch's best friend and neighbor is the successful standup comic Russell (played by Tone Bell), who is married to Angie (Bresha Webb), a doctor.

Angie has recently scored Jay Z concert tickets from an old boyfriend, which makes Russell jealous, causing tension in their relationship. Meanwhile, Mitch and Tracy are struggling to find a babysitter to watch after Sadie. Tracy is an overprotective mom who doesn't trust anyone with her precious daughter. She's turned down several possible babysitters, but is dying to get the opportunity to finally have a night out. After inquiring about a neighbor's babysitter, Tracy agrees to meet up with the possible candidate.

The candidate is extremely qualified, and the perfect match, and Tracy loves her immediately. However, she's extremely attractive, making Mitch uncomfortable. Not to mention, Russell recognizes her and he realizes that the babysitter is hiding a dark secret. 

This show really flopped for me. The acting was subpar, and seemed extremely forced for the duration of the episode. Also, it's apparent straight from the beginning that this show would be focusing its jokes on racial topics. There were many situations that were highlighted that displayed how Russell was mistreated for his race, which seemed to offend Mitch greatly. It also seemed like the show was trying to be edgy, by addressing topics that we don't really openly talk about. But instead of being edgy and funny, the mix of topics that were attempted to be made into comedy just created an uncomfortable atmosphere.

The last time I checked, comedy shows are supposed to be funny, and I can honestly say I didn't laugh once throughout this episode. Not to mention, I had to skim back through the episode three times in an attempt to find a funny quote. 

All in all, this show definitely isn't worth the time. the characters are all extremely ordinary and have no personality traits that would lead you to grow attached to them. The plotline was also very bland, and disconnected, and did not flow together well. I personally also did not like the acting very much since the actors seemed to just be running through their lines, without putting in any heart or their own spin on things. 

If you don't trust my review, it seems that my opinion agrees with the general public's. NBC first cut the episode order of Truth Be Told from 13 episodes to just 10. A post on twitter revealed that just two weeks after the episode order was cut, the set had been dismantled. Also within the first three airings, it had an average rating of 0.68, making it the lowest-rated of any series on the Big Four networks this fall. 

Mitch: “Did you look?"
Russell: “Of course I looked. If I can guess your password in four tries you're basically just telling me to look!"

Superstore: Could it be a Super Hit?

Superstore is NBC's new comedy produced by Justin Spritzer, the producer of The Office. It's another workplace comedy, but it ditches the desk-job environment for a giant megastore, Cloud 9.

The show starts out introducing the audience to Jonah (played by Ben Feldman). Jonah is interviewing for a position at the megastore, and is seemingly overly qualified for the job. After an awkward interview with the assistant manager, Dina (played by Lauren Ash), who obviously has a crush on Jonah, Jonah gets the job. Trying to embrace his new job, Jonah immediately tries to assist a lady trying to piece together a paper towel roll pyramid which has tumbled over. He then reveals his elitist vibe, and the lady plays along, finishing the conversation with "Don't let the other workers here know how much better than them you are." As Jonah nods, the lady picks up her vest, and Jonah realizes that he was just talking to his new boss, Amy (played by America Ferrera).

For the rest of the episode, the other workers at the store are introduced. Cheyenne (played by Nichole Bloom) is airheaded and pregnant, with a complicated love life. Garrett (played by Colton Dunn), takes pride in his sassy loudspeaker announcements. Dina, Jonah's interviewer, takes the store security and staff manual way too seriously, and is convinced that Jonah has the hots for her. Mateo (played by Nico Santos), spends all of his time trying to outdo Jonah and sabotaging him. Overseeing this circus of workers is the clueless manager Glenn (played by Mark McKinney).

Jonah spends the length of the episode trying to undo his bad first impression on Amy. Along the way, he accidentally prices all high-end electronics at 25 cents, instead of marking them down by 25%. This causes a rampage of shoppers resembling crazy Black Friday stampedes. In the process of attempting to get his boss back on his good side, Jonah falls for Amy, and it's obvious that they're meant to fall in love somewhere down the line.

I thoroughly enjoyed the pilot of this show. All of the characters seem to be very likable, and I'm sure that I will become attached with them if I were to continue watching the show. It's a "feel good" show, filled with funny situations and a budding love story. This show is definitely one that I will continue watching.

Despite the show's potential, it seems as if the odds are stacked against its success. NBC hasn't had much luck with comedy shows, and Superstore seems to be a rehash of NBC's older comedy show Community, which needed time to find its structure and gather an audience that would grow attached to its characters. However, NBC has already trimmed down its first season to 11 episodes, and consistently puts it aside for The Voice. Hopefully the show will be renewed, but in the mean time you should all give it a shot!

Jonah: “Hey, do we have any kind of training? I've just been wandering from one department to the next trying to look like I have purpose."
Garrett: “Hmm.. Here, it works better if you carry a box. You'll learn as you go."

Fuller House: Just Another Unnecessary Sequel?

By now, I'm sure you've all heard the news that Netflix has come out with a sequel to the show Full House, which first premiered nearly thirty years ago. From my previous review of Grandfathered, I'm sure you also know what a big fan of Full House I am. So naturally, I could barely contain my excitement as I eagerly awaited the day when the season would be released. However, I failed to consider the fact that it could be a disappointing attempt to draw out a show.

Fuller House starts out with the classic Full House theme song, and a panning to the Golden Gate Bridge, just how each episode of Full House began. The camera then moves to the outside of the famous Full House house, where the Tanner sisters grew up. In turn, each cast member makes an entrance into the kitchen, to the applause and cheers of the live studio audience. Of course, John Stamos and Lori Loughlin don't look a day older than they did thirty years ago.

The audience now learns about what has happened in the last thirty years to each character. Stephanie, the middle daughter, is now a globetrotting DJ; Kimmy Gibbler the eccentric family frenemy is now an almost-divorced event planner and mom; and Danny, Uncle Jessie, Aunt Becky, and Uncle Joey are planning on moving onto bigger and better things in Vegas and LA. It becomes clear that the show will be focusing on DJ and her three sons, who have moved back in with Danny after the death of her husband. Now that almost a year has passed, they're preparing to be on their own again, and Danny is planning to sell the new family home to DJ.

At this point, the new credits roll, with split-screen recreations of the old casts' iconic poses to a revamped version of the theme song, sung by Carly Rae Jepsen. Throughout the episode, it becomes clear that DJ, Stephanie, and Kimmy are assuming the roles that Danny, Jessie, and Joey had during Full House. DJ is raising her kids as a single parent; Stephanie is a wild child, just like Uncle Jessie; and Kimmy is a comedic relief character, just like Joey.

This pilot mainly focused on catching the audience up on the lives of the characters, and introducing new ones. The “adults" of Full House make their guest appearance to pass the torch on to the next generation.

This episode was very meh for me. It definitely played the nostalgia card, with plenty of nods and winks to the original. The most noteworthy being the infamous “Where's Michelle?" deadpan. However, something just seemed a bit off, and I was kind of disappointed by the episode. However, since the first episode mainly focused on establishing the characters, I will definitely be watching the second episode, to see if the plot gets any better.

“Relax mom, I already know the bad words. Darn, booger, and Donald Trump." -Jackson

The Grinder: Grinding Away the Competition

After being disappointed last week by a show containing a couple of my favorite actors and actresses, I was really hoping that I wouldn't be let down by Rob Lowe's performance in The Grinder. Parks and Recreations is one of my favorite shows, and I would have been devastated if his performance in this new show was subpar. Thankfully, its 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes is well deserved, and the show is pleasantly humorous and well put together.

The show opens with Dean Sanderson Jr. (played by Rob Lowe) and his family gathered around a TV watching the season finale for a show called “The Grinder". What a coincidence, am I right? In this episode, it becomes apparent that Dean Sanderson Jr. is the star, playing a successful lawyer in the dramatic law show. With the show ending, Dean had returned home to his family in Idaho, and seems to be lost, not knowing what to do with himself. The season finale of “The Grinder" ends with Dean's character settling down and having a family which might be foreshadowing for what's to come. We also learn from this first scene that Dean is conceited and caught up in the character that he has played on “The Grinder" for the past nine years. Throughout the episode Dean mouths his lines and even tears up at his own performance.

After the finale concludes, Dean's family is in awe and a few of his family members are even in tears, congratulating Dean on a job well done. However, Dean's younger brother, Stewart (played by Fred Savage), is not impressed. He's even less thrilled when Dean decides to stay in Boise to work at the family's law firm, where he works as an actual lawyer.

We get to see Stewart in action at one of his cases and learn that he has severe stage fright and is a terrible speaker. He always reads from a stack of notecards at a super fast pace, and never makes eye contact with anyone in the courtroom. In an attempt to help Stewart's career, Dean steps in, using the knowledge he's gained from playing a lawyer on his TV show, and taking advantage of his large fan base. Once Dean gets involved, the otherwise unremarkable case between a landlord and his tenants becomes a media circus, and the rest is history.

I will definitely be watching more episodes of this show, and hope that the rest of the season is as good as the pilot episode. The Grinder is a fresh and interesting new twist on the typical comedy sitcom following a family. It also has a unique plotline with charming characters that you can't help but love.

According to the extremely wise Rob Lowe,

Credits to Tumblr

so don't miss out on this great show!

“Albert Krantz is not a menace to society... he's a menace to intelligence, because the man's an idiot." -Dean

P.S. If you guys have any shows you want me to watch next, feel free to leave a comment and let me know!