Back to Sitcoms

Perhaps I should start off by saying that I never really enjoyed either Everybody Loves Raymond or Frasier. Perhaps I should start off by saying that I never really enjoyed sitcoms. Perhaps I should start off by saying that when I read about the new show Back to You I rolled my eyes. I think that covers my ass adequately.

Well I write a blog on comedy and Back to You is one of the most anticipated comedies hitting this new season, maybe I'd be amiss if I didn't blog about it at least once. So I made myself catch the tail end of the premier. I wasn't all that impressed. But you know to be fair perhaps I should watch the entire show before I pan it outright yeah? So I found myself a download.

When I checked out the credits I was sort of excited to see Christopher Lloyd was a co-creator. Doc Brown knows a thing or two about funny. Unfortunately there are multiple Christopher Lloyds in this universe and this is the bloke behind Frasier and Wings. Alas.

So onto the show! The pilot actually starts with a youtube clip of Grammer's character blooping on live TV. I think a few other comedies (and reality) have hit this joke first, but keep trying guys. The show centers around the production of the daily news and the team of characters doesn't really provide the audience with anything they haven't seen before. In fact the characters are strangely reminiscent of folks from Bruce Almighty and The Anchorman. The one character that wasn't immediately recognizable was the news director but that's quickly rectified with a brief monologue. He's an internet geek promoted to TV news director and is 26. Him and the sports announcer provide the closest approximation to humour (ie I laughed at each of them once).

But the real point, I guess, of the show is the chemistry between our two leads, however, the scenes featuring Grammer and Heaton were some of the most awkwardly acted scenes I've seen on television recently. I don't know if it's a lack of chemistry or just poor acting, but their scenes come off like some low quality local theatre. Both of these cats are sitcom stars, what's the deal? Mysteriously, the show also attempts to pull on the old heart strings with the revelation of Grammer as the father to Heaton's 10 year old daughter. The last scene is Grammer sipping some sort of bourbon or whiskey and calling Heaton to tell her the child is magnificent. This was the third time I laughed at the show.

Back to You isn't original in any regard. Unfortunately it isn't really funny in any regard either. The young geeky news manager and sports dude don't provide consistent laughs and the actual main characters/main thrust of the show are actually painful to watch. Hell though, I bet this show will be a hit and I'll have another reason to loathe Fox.

The Office returns this week.