Summer TV Roundup, Week 13

We're in the Dog Days of summer, and a lot of what's come out lately is sitcoms. Those are always a dicey proposition. So it goes with this summer. In these weekly posts I review the pilot and second episode of new shows. (Given the wealth of channels, I'm sticking with scripted fare on cable outlets). If you don't see a new show below, check previous weeks.

Monday Nights:
Significant Mother, Mondays at 9:30 p.m. on the CW (Premiered August 3)
About: The CW isn't great for comedies. In fact, during the regular season, they don't have any half-hour options. But during the past few summers, they've tried some different options. Last summer, they aired the worst sitcoms I'd seen, and two of my picks for the worst shows of the year. Earlier this summer they offered a retread British show about awful dates. It was an awful watch. Now comes "Significant Mother." This is a sitcom about a young restaurant owner in Portland whose world is thrown into chaos when his best friend and roommate starts dating his mother. That's a terrible premise for a 90-minute movie, let alone a weekly series. So that's rough. I find the idea creepy and I think the fact the main character is given a hard time for not being on board with his mother dating his roommate is ridiculous. That being said, this is the best of the half-hour sitcoms that the CW has offered. That being said, this isn't a good show. I was put off and mildly bored by both episodes. There's a reason this has been buried on Monday nights in August.
Pilot Grade: D
Second Episode: D

Wednesday Nights:
Mr. Robinson, Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on NBC (Premiered August 5)
About: Craig Robinson has an affable screen personality and was a star in the background of "The Office." So in some ways it makes sense that he'd get his own sitcom, "Mr. Robinson," which debuted on Wednesday. It airs back-to-back episodes for the next three weeks (and only has a six episode debut season). In it Robinson stars as a musician who's part of a struggling band and takes a job teaching music at his old school in order to re-kindle his relationship with the one that got away, fellow teacher Victoria (Megan Good). That seems like a harmless, potentially amusing set up. And it is. But this sitcom sort of feels like a throwback to something that would have been on TGIF in the 1990s. It's mildly amusing but completely toothless. That's an admirable accomplishment, but it feels a bit like a misfire in 2015, where the TV landscape has changed so dramatically. Robinson remains a likable screen presence, but there's nothing compelling about this show.
Pilot Grade: C
Second Episode: C

Streaming Series:
Difficult People, Now Streaming on Hulu (Debuted August 5)
About: Building a show around a caustic lead is a tricky balance. You have to like them enough to stick with it while they're being awful. "Difficult People" is a new sitcom about two incredibly caustic leads who spew their hate on the world. In order to keep tuning back in, you have to be somewhat drawn to these characters and their stories. That means there has to be something that makes them sympathetic or interesting. "House" wouldn't have worked if he was a terrible doctor. It only worked because he was a terrible human being, mostly, but an incredible doctor, mostly. In "Difficult People" they are awful human beings who don't seem to offer anything to the world. That's a HUGE problem. The first two episodes are incredibly tough to watch, and leave me with no desire to see what happens to these people next. Indeed, the people in this show are difficult. And my guess is most of us get enough of that in our real life so we don't need to see it on TV.
Pilot Grade: D
Second Episode: D-