I'm willing to give this new FOX comedy a
chance, but right now it just seems like half Arrested Development (wacky
group of people, on air text to explain things, use of handheld cameras), half...well, every other sitcom that's been
on the air since 1982 (group of friends, they hang out somewhere, the hero of the show likes the cute girl who only
sees him as a friend, etc). And maybe just a dash of The Office (just a dash
though).But here's my prediction: it won't last the season.
Bret Harrison does a solid job as Sam, the young airline exec who likes the girl, and any show that has both Philip Baker Hall and Mimi Rogers in it is going to be worth watching. But it's just not funny enough, and doesn't stand out enough.
Is it a bad show? No, not at all. And it's certainly better than 90% of the other sitcoms that seem to pop up every few months. But it's pretty forgettable, and it's no Arrested Development. It's not even That 70s Show or George Lopez. I mean, can you imagine tuning into this show in a year or two, with interest in what the characters are up to? Of course not. This show won't last that long, and the writing/feel of the show doesn't warrant it. The setup of the show is put together too quick and a lot of the comedy seems forced, like they're shouting "WE'RE NOT LIKE THE OTHER SITCOMS, WE'RE QUIRKY!" And if the writing was good enough to back that up, that would be one thing. But the show isn't as clever as you would hope (and the older brother character and the girl that Sam likes? Annoying.)
But like I said, I'll give it another shot in the coming weeks and see where they go with it.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-15-2006 @ 10:30PM
Aric McKeown said...
Agreed on all points. With Arrested Development, the first show was a hook. With The Loop, my thoughts were, "Meh, it was alright. I'd give it a second chance."
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3-15-2006 @ 11:30PM
Brent said...
Why do these shows always have the same plot of a guy having a close female friend that is not available? It is annoying and makes me long for X-Files, where they never went down that road. Arrested Development didn't do it until the last episode. Shame on them.
It won't last.
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3-16-2006 @ 12:31AM
Walt said...
I walked out halfway through the episode.
I didn't see any Arrested Development in the show.
I saw part Friends and part How I Met Your Mother.
Oh, yeah, and a bit of Nina Van Horn as played by Tom Cruise's first ex-wife.
Oh, and the "older brother" was miscast in this one.
In a pass/fail system, this one is a fail.
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3-16-2006 @ 1:37AM
CherrySlurpees said...
I'll watch the show again, if only because it had my favorite interaction of the week:
Sam: Marco!
Brother: Polo!
HA!
Agreed that the storylines seem over-played, but it made me laugh once and I'm going to give it a chance to make me laugh again. Not a difficult thing to do, admittedly.
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3-16-2006 @ 3:02AM
Erik said...
First part was great, then it went downhill from there. The shaved head and hat was hysterical. The tampoline was funny too.
I'm giving the show one more chance (which is tonight btw).
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3-16-2006 @ 7:24AM
Chris W said...
I hate about 80% of the sitcoms on TV right now... Well, I'm not very good at math, so I should just say I hate most of them. I actually liked The Loop, though. It does seem to be "inspired" by a bunch of other shows. For example, Sam's boss is soooo Bob Kelso from Scrubs (with a gay son and everything). I see the AD-likeness, too, but I don't think that's a problem. What I like about this show is that it takes stylistic notes from some decent shows. The whole airline angle might be a bit much for them to handle later on, especially if the social life gets more complicated. But we'll see. I'm definitely giving this show a chance.
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3-16-2006 @ 8:09AM
Elliott said...
I guess I was really looking forward to the show because I thought I would be able to relate. I'm also the first of my friends from college to hold a "real" job (and by real, I mean sitting in a cubicle and reading TV Squad).
But as everyone else has said, it's just ok. It's better than that other Fox show where the kid moves back in with his parents (and by better I mean Bret Harrison DOES look like a retarded squirrel).
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3-16-2006 @ 10:16AM
SamMalone said...
I'll give this show a chance. The pilot was all over the place, trying to introduce so many new characters, hopefully it'll settle down a bit. I agree that the unavailable love interest is a tired bit, if it remains a plot theme, it will dominate too much and any resolution will destroy the show.
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3-16-2006 @ 10:45AM
Tammy said...
I refuse to watch a sitcom on Fox since the canceled Arrested Development.
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3-16-2006 @ 11:29AM
Jason said...
I'm just shocked this finally made it to air. I watched the pilot for this...oh... I don't even remember how long ago now. When the pilots for Supernatural and Night Stalker and Invasion were all floating around before THEY went to air... And I was in no way impressed. I can't imagine the show being able to go very far. Which hurts me to say, since it does have Philip Baker Hall, but hey, having Joe Pantoliano didn't make Dr. Vegas worth watching even once...
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