PILOT REVIEW: The Millers

THE MILLERS

Starring: Will Arnett, Margo Martindale, Jayma Mays, JB Smoove, Nelson Franklin, Eve Moon, and Beau Bridges

Created by Greg Garcia
Written by Greg Garcia, Directed by James Burrows

The Millers is a new family comedy but one of the few without teens or children as part of the main cast. In this one, TV reporter Nathan Miller (Will Arnett) is recently divorced. When his parents Carol and Tom (Margo Martindale and Beau Bridges) learn of the divorce, they decide to stop trying to be good role models and separate as well with Carol moving in with Nathan and Tom moving in with Nathan's sister Debbi (Jayma Mayes) and her husband Adam (Nelson Franklin). Also in the main cast is Nathan's friend Ray (JB Smoove).

THE GOOD: There are good people in the cast, particularly Margo Martindale and Will Arnett. Martindale was probably the best part of this pilot as she had glimpses of good comedic timing even as she seemed to be channeling Doris Roberts from Everybody Loves Raymond. I think this is a good premise for a family comedy because aside from Raymond, it doesn't get touched on nearly as much as shows with younger kids or teens as the center of the family.

THE BAD: There were just so many disappointments in this episode. First of all, I'm starting to doubt whether things are ever going to work for Will Arnett in the sitcom world. He has great comedic timing at times but other times he's just off. In this show, he seemed like he didn't want to be a part of it and would rather be playing a ridiculous character like Arrested Development's G.O.B. But he wasn't as disappointing as Beau Bridges, who was downright horrible. He was not believable at all and his comedy attempts were very poor (such as his "whaaat?" or his jumping at the microwave exploding). This was also one of the pilots where I think every important point or moment was already shown in the trailer which makes for a somewhat boring viewing.

BOTTOM LINE: This isn't one of the worst comedy pilots of the new season but I would consider it the most disappointing because it has good people and could be a good show. Unfortunately it chooses to resort to stupid fart jokes and Raymond mimicking (down to Martindale's "look what you did"). Seeming like a weak knock off of another show is never a good start.