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?"