"Pilot"
There's something about this show that reminds me of a glazed doughnut. It's nothing you haven't had before and something you know you should stay away from, but in the end, you choose it anyway, not only because it's comforting, but because as hard as you try not to, you can't help but enjoy it.
Our setup (if the millions of promos that Fox ran didn't give it away first) is this: Chuck Darling and Kelly Carr were the dream team of Pittsburgh's local news scene. Now, 10 years later, Chuck's made it to L.A., where one disastrous on-air blowup regarding a supremely ditzy coworker results in his being bounced back to the minor leagues. Only (in that classic pre-
Seinfeldian sitcom twist) it turns out that Chuck unknowingly, "left a part of [himself] in Pittsburgh," in the form of Gracie Carr. Cue the final credits.
Now, I consider myself to be the kind of cool and with-it gal who loves the kind of hip, ironic, single-camera sitcoms that
no one
actually
watches, but I'm also a child of the '90s and "Must see TV (if you haven't seen it, it's new to you!)." In that respect, I have to allow myself to admit that based on the pilot, this could end up being a really funny show. The strengths of the pilot episode were obviously not in the overall plot - and I really hope that the writers don't string out this reunion plot into a dramatic arc - but in the still-sharp script by veteran writers Steven Levitan and Christopher Lloyd ("I love you like a brother. Actually more - I don't especially care for my brother") and the obvious comedic chops of Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton. Let's face it: No one does the withering glance quite like Patricia Heaton, and no one does pompous quite like Kelsey Grammer.
If this show had to rest on these two heavyweights, we'd probably still have a decent show, but happily, we have some very talented actors in supporting roles. Ty Burrell (who was also very funny on
Out of Practice - another "traditional" sitcom that apparently only I and my father liked) as the long-suffering Gary Crezyzewski captures his character so perfectly, I couldn't help but be reminded of some poor souls I've seen on my own local news. Ayda Field as Montana Diaz Herrera, had me in stitches with her batsh--t insane meteorologist, and the always-brilliant Fred Willard is a wonderful if surprisingly low-key addition to the cast. My one major problem with this bunch? The 26-year-old, very sweaty (with disturbing
Chris Farley mannerisms) news director, Ryan. If there were ever a sitcom cliché that needed excising, unfortunately, it's him.
So let's see where this goes. It could be as spectacular as Chuck claims his and Kelly's daughter is, or it could be the next
Twenty Good Years. In the meantime, here, at the other end of the Keystone State, I have to agree with Chuck: "There was magic in these chairs 10 years ago and I'm sure it'll be there again."
Check out clips from Back to You
in our
Online Video Guide.
