111 replies to this topic

[jw7579]

Premieres with a special preview on December 17th at 9:30 after The Voice and airs in it's regular slot starting January 10th after The Office.

Review from the Hollywood Reporter

I'm guessing the older son Skip (played by Josh Gab from The Book of Mormom) is supposed to be a Billy Carter/Roger Clinton "embarrassing relative of the President" type.

Edited by jw7579, Dec 14, 2012 @ 1:33 PM.

[Scrb]

Been seeing the commercials but that review made me set it to record.

Though maybe Tim Goodman could compare it to Veep as well, though that show isn't so family-centric.

[Bruinsfan]

I found the dude so repulsive in Love and Other Drugs that this is an automatic no-watch for me.

[Utica]

NBC was probably gambling that Mitt Romney was going to defeat Obama in the November election when they jumped on board this new show. Oops! A Caucasian First Family now justs look out of touch, and I'm not going to watch "1600 Penn" either.

[buck1]

The cast is what is going to make me watch it. Pullman, elfman, and Gad I think will make this show pretty decent. If the writing is above average, I'll be a weekly watcher.

[kariyaki]

Well, I hope subsequent episodes rounds out the ensemble a bit more, that was waaaay too much Skip.

[CGRealms]

Yeah, Skip is definitely the worst part. They need to tone him down dramatically. On the other hand, I was very glad they recast the oldest daughter with Martha MacIsaac. She was terrific, bringing some of the same underdog quality that Gad brings (in a way that Brittany Snow just couldn't) while being a lot more palatable than Skip. Amara Miller was amazing in The Descendants, so I hope we'll get more of her in future episodes.

[Kaoteek]

Meh. So far, not convinced. Skip does grate, and as much as i like Elfman & Pullman, I can't say I enjoyed that pilot. Too broad, too over the top, too messy, and too much Skip. I hope the critics are right, and it does get better in the next episodes, cos I didn't laugh much.

(somewhat unrelated, but I miss That's My Bush)

[braggtastic]

Given that Skip (Josh Gad) is an executive producer and writer on the show, I think he's going to be the main focus. I thought it was funny. How recently did the president marry his current wife? Is the youngest boy also her stepson?

[kariyaki]

Given that Skip (Josh Gad) is an executive producer and writer on the show, I think he's going to be the main focus.

Yeah, but if there is a majority of reviewers and focus groups saying there's too much Skip, the network will be giving him notes. So I'm crossing my fingers for some network interference on this front.

My favorite characters were the First Lady and the oldest daughter. And I thought that press secretary was hilarious.

[themadman]

Josh Gad is so annoying that I couldn't bear to watch this past 10 minutes. Really bad. And since it's set in the White House, I found it impossible to suspend my disbelief.

[Shimmergloom]

I agree, Tea Leoni and the oldest daughter(only ever seen her in Superbad before this, although she was apparently in other things I have seen, but I must not have recognized her) were the best parts. And Bill Pullman saved us from the aliens, so I can understand why he got a 2nd term.

All in all, it could have been a lot worse and wasn't half bad.

[Featherhat]

I think Skip is the most annoying new character on TV this season. He really, really needs to be turned down a little, a 25 year old acting like a literal 6 year old is not funny IMO. I liked most of the other characters including the press secretary and oldest daughter and Jenna Elfman was surprisingly funny as the "Trophy wife" First Lady.

NBC was probably gambling that Mitt Romney was going to defeat Obama in the November election when they jumped on board this new show. Oops! A Caucasian First Family now justs look out of touch, and I'm not going to watch "1600 Penn" either.

I don't think it's because of Romney or out of touch since there probably will be middle age white men in the White House again. (Just as I'm sure there will be future Latino Presidents, women Presidents, Asian Presidents, other black Presidents etc). If it was anything it was probably the idea of casting Bill Pullman as President again since he did it so memorably. That or wanting a "sterotypical" looking First Family that is actually completely and utterly bonkers.

[brothertonbanks]

Given that Skip (Josh Gad) is an executive producer and writer on the show, I think he's going to be the main focus.

That's too bad. I liked everything else in the show other than him. I didn't mind him in the beginning at the college, but he was just in the episode too much. It would be good if they have Jany Leno at the end of each show, but I doubt they're budgeted for that. I hope the network gives him one note, You're Annoying, Not Funny! If not, they can impeach this show and remove it from television.

[MrSquick]

what dreck...right from the start with a Animal House/Revenge of the Nerds attack on the cool guy frat -- will 'Skip starts a fire' be a running gag? (x2 in this episode) will Skip saves the day be the oh so predictable outcome of every show? could a guy smart enough to be marry Jenna Elfman be duped into not losing a staged tennis match? the kids as a group looked spooky ... while the temptation was to bail on this attempt by (E)Gad! to channel John Belushi/Jonah Hill/Jack Black/Chris Farley/ etc etc ~ I can see a time where this show will be the answer to a trivia question... stop, please just stop

Episode 2 - Skip drives the presidential limo over the financial cliff, 'sorry, Dad'

Episode 3 - Skip, doing Community Service penance, accidentally white washes the MLK Jr Memorial, prompting a new Million Man March!! 'Sorry Dad'

Episode 4 - Skip sent to Afghanistan, inadvertently wanders into Iran and ends up in hot tub with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ....


-- it just writes itself, it's just that this ship doesn't right itself

[redshirtx]

Apart from most things Skip (but amazingly not all, IMO--the tennis match and teleprompter scenes worked fairly well) I thought this was a passable sitcom pilot. I admittedly enjoyed the more political/Presidential humor a bit more than the family humor, thank you Miguel Sandoval and Bill Pullman for that (though the younger kids, Xander and Marigold, crushing on the same girl was a nice touch), and IMO Andre Holland might have been the best thing about it...but it at least has potential. Which brings us back to Skip, however, since he's a bit too manchild-y for my taste. And Josh Gad's uncanny resemblance to a younger John C. Reilly doesn't help his case.

Honestly, though, I'm going to be surprised if this show makes it to 22 episodes (or 18, I guess, being a midseason project)...let alone beyond that.

Edited by redshirtx, Dec 18, 2012 @ 2:48 PM.

[jw7579]

Less than seven million viewers (6.8 to be exact) despite having The Voice as a lead-in.

Ratings

[meatball77]

The Skip stuff seemed like it belonged on the Disney channel, not on NBC. I liked the rest of it though.

[ChromaKelly]

I haven't seen the show, just the countless promos. I nearly thought this was a gag show Jack Donaghy greenlit when he was trying to sink NBC on 30 Rock. This is a real show? Wow.

[Darth Lechon]

It seems that the President's first wife passed away some time prior to the pilot. If they don't use a picture of Mary McDonnell, I'm going to be SOOO disappointed. Likewise, someone better make a crack about how the President is tough on immigration because he's experienced in fighting aliens...

[Cyrax]

Horrible beyond words. I can't even give it two more chances like I gave Go On. I don't get NBC's "sitcom brand" at all now, with both 30 Rock and The Office are on their way out, they are in trouble. They can't live off Whitney's, 1600 Penn's and Up All Night's.

[JoeSpacely]

I suppose this could have potential, but I really was not impressed with the premiere.

The White House setting does the show no favors. Bill Pullman could be anything else - CEO, Army general, Governor of a state, head of a major TV network - and I would be a little more likely to buy into the concept. Something about the "high concept" of him being President puts a spotlight on the lame dinner theater that the show is. None of the attempted wackiness works, mainly due to the setting. If, somehow, Jack Donaghy had a family like this, who kept showing up at NBC and ruining his chances at success, I would totally buy in.

But the same way that the overarching drama felt out of place on "Studio 60" (imagine someone chastising Jimmy Fallon about a brother in Afghanistan), the cartoonish nature of the plotlines here were woefully underwhelming.

[vera charles]

Wow, I watched the pilot and it was really awful. Not funny, at all. Who greenlights this garbage? Whoever it was, I hope he got fired.

[Dejana]

I initially only saw the last scene with the family having pizza, so I read the recap from the NBC site to catch up. Wow, Skip is annoying even in print (and after watching the whole episode, OMG, somebody make it stop). Considering that the show features POTUS, a "trophy wife" First Lady, a pregnant First Daughter and the younger brother and sister having a crush on the same girl, Skip and his "wacky" antics should be way down the list of characters to focus on. With Josh Gad being a co-creator I suppose Skip's role will continue to be prominent, which is unfortunate. He also looks too old to be playing even a seven-year college student.

Is the pregnant daughter supposed to be older or younger than Skip? I thought they were going to try to have her be in high school but she mentioned starting a degree so I suppose she's at least college aged. In that case I have no problem buying the pregnancy angle. Sure, there was Bristol, but her mother was just a governor, and she wasn't a presidential kid living in the White House. Maybe my impression is wrong, but I imagine the 17-and-under First Daughters especially being very...insulated from opportunities to have sex with guys in the first place.

[sheetmoss]

The Skip character reminded me of a very, very, poor man's version of the Bluto(John Belushi)character from Animal House.

Edited by sheetmoss, Dec 23, 2012 @ 5:26 PM.

[Sighandeyeroll]

Okay it can't be a coincidence that Martha MacIsaac who played Becca in Superbad, is playing another "Becca" on this show. I still love the scene in that movie where she's so drunk and overly sexual that it scares Michael Cera off: Becca: "Evan I'm so wet!" Evan: "Oh yeah, they said that would happen in health class."

Edited by Sighandeyeroll, Jan 2, 2013 @ 2:57 AM.

[2MuchTV]

I never intended to watch this show and only wound up doing so because I didn't have anything to change the channel to after The Office. I wish I'd stuck by my original intention. Just horrifying. I know there are some actors with talent doing their best (Jenna Elfman came off the best). I know there's some decent writing. But that scene where Skip spills everything in front of the press was so awful I never want to watch this show again. The actor is utterly charmless (and yes, I saw him in the Book of Mormon and found him unbearable there too). The character isn't funny or or likeable or sympathetic or bearable in any way. Just...awful. He ruins the whole thing. So now I have another half hour on NBC to avoid.

(And that promo for "Rock Center?" Like people are going to be clamoring for more of Josh Gad after that episode? Please.)

[CGRealms]

I thought the second episode was a lot better than the first, and that's almost entirely due to Skip being less prominent in the mix. I thought he was easily the worst part of the show when I watched the pilot, and the second episode merely confirmed that.

[Dejana]

I kept seeing the ads that mention the great "reviews" but they actually only quoted one critic praising Jenna Elfman.

Edited by Dejana, Jan 10, 2013 @ 10:27 PM.

[kariyaki]

That was a lot better. There didn't seem to be "less Skip" because he was still pretty prominent but it was certainly "less annoying Skip." I can live with that.