Spring TV Roundup, Week three

The glut of new shows is slowing to a trickle. It's late in the broadcast season, and we're a little early for the mad rush of summer. Instead, we're left with a few entries to ponder. In these posts, I review the first and second episodes of new shows. Don't see a new show below, check previous weeks.

Tuesday Nights:
Your Family or Mine, Tuesdays at 10 p.m. on TBS (Premiered April 7)
About: TBS uses the tagline "Very Funny" in its marketing, but it's struggled to launch new sitcoms and keep them on the air. "Your Family or Mine" feels like the kind of show that could work and find a niche on TBS, but it also feels like a bit of a retro sitcom built around a premise that's kind of a gamble. The central couple — played by Kyle Howard and Kat Foster — are the everyman couple trapped between two eccentric families. In the pilot we meet Howard's family, and all the awkward drama that comes with that. The second episode showcased Foster's family, and all the awkward drama that comes with that. The formula seems to be bouncing back-and-forth between the families, showing that interactions with in-laws is crazy! Hilarity ensues, accept when it doesn't. There are some good actors in the supporting cast — his parents are played by Richard Dreyfuss and JoBeth Williams and hers are played by Ed Begley, Jr., and Cynthia Stevenson. But the show feels unsettled. After two episodes, other than a collection of most people's worst nightmares, what are we to take from this show? How can it build when the character interactions shift from week-to-week? Will we get an episode that has everyone in it? There have been some funny moments in the two episodes — the pilot was better than the second episode — but there's not enough consistency to make a good show, and that's a problem.
Pilot Grade: C
Second Episode: C-

Thursday Nights:
The Comedians, Thursdays at 10 p.m. on FX (Premiered April 9)
About: I love Billy Crystal and I think Josh Gad is funny. There are probably a lot of projects that would be good with them in the lead roles. "The Comedians" on FX isn't one of them. It's a faux reality show in which Crystal and Gad play obnoxious versions of themselves trying to stage a variety show on FX. The whole thing could be amusing and meta, but it's not. It could be a showcase of their talents as comedians, but it's not. It could be worth watching, but its not. Both episodes have been beyond painful as they try to make this concept — and the outlandish characters they've given themselves — work. But it doesn't work. It's not funny, but rather cringe-inducing. Somewhere there's a version of this concept that works — which is probably what sold Crystal and Gad in the first place. Unfortunately that version didn't make it on the air.
Pilot Grade: D
Second Episode: D-

Friday Nights:
The Messengers, Fridays at 9 p.m. on the CW (Premiered April 17)
About: This has been a banner year for the CW in terms of launching new shows. Both its new fall series — "Jane The Virgin" and "The Flash" — did well and got picked up for a second season. It's first new offering of the spring, "iZombie," is also holding up well in the ratings. But its most recent series, "The Messengers," is a different story. Getting a premier in the graveyard of Friday nights in mid-April isn't a hopeful sign to begin with, then there's the nebulous premise. This is an apocalyptic tale, of sorts. At least, that's what I gathered from reading the plot synopsis online. I didn't, however, gather that from the pilot. What looks like a meteor hits the earth and five people pass out/die. Except they don't. Then when they come back, they seem a bit different — because they're angels. Then there's the guy that came in the meteor who seemed weird — and is apparently Lucifer — and I'm still not sure what's going on here. These five people are all having various kinds of personal problems — broken marriages, mortal danger, rough times at work — and they're spread throughout the country. Supposedly they'll all come together for a higher purpose, but none of that is outlined in the pilot. And there's precious little in the way of character development, either. Which is why it got dumped on Friday nights in mid-April, and why the pilot was seen by very few people. This feels like a weird premise that has been executed in a painfully slow fashion. Could it improve? Yes. Will it? Doesn't seem likely.
Pilot Grade: D

Saturday Nights:
Tatau, Saturdays at 10 p.m. on BBC America (Premiered April 18)
About: Saturday night seems like an odd time to launch a new show, but that's long been a premier night of content for BBC America. "Tatau," their latest offering, gets the advantage of airing after "Orphan Black," their best and buzziest drama. Unfortunately, "Tatau" squanders that lead-in quickly. The show is about a pair of Brits who are trying to escape their troubles at home in an island paradise. But after a night of drinking a special concoction that causes you to trip, one of the friends thinks he sees a dead woman. After spending most of the pilot being convinced the woman he saw — who is real — is very much alive, he comes to the conclusion the special drink gave him the power to see the future. And a series is born. But the pilot was confusing, boring, and not helped by the performances. The supernatural tack on at the end — and the references to "The Wicker Man" throughout the hour — promise a much better show than what was actually delivered. There could be the bones of something interesting here, but it certainly wasn't in the pilot, which was unwatchable.
Pilot Grade: F