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,
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“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!
I have never seen Parks and Rec, but from this trailer it seems as though this show may be pretty funny.
ReplyDeleteI looked up the Grinder on google and I didn't realize not only Fred Savage, but also Mary Elizabeth Ellis is in it. It's like an It's Always Sunny mini-reunion. Sounds like a good show, I kind of want to watch it cuz I've heard it's good.
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