Skip to main content

PILOT REVIEW: Manhattan Love Story

MANHATTAN LOVE STORY

Starring: Analeigh Tipton, Jake McDorman, Nicolas Wright, Jade Catta-Preta, Chloe Wepper, and Kurt Fuller

Created by Jeff Lowell
Written by Jeff Lowell, Directed by Michael Fresco

THE PREMISE: Manhattan Love Story is a new romantic comedy that gives viewers the inner monologues and thoughts of its two leads. Dana (Analeigh Tipton) is new to the Big Apple, looking for a career and armed with a bucket list. She lives with college friend Amy (Jade Catta-Preta) and Amy's husband, David (Nicolas Wright). In the pilot, she is set up with David's co-worker Peter (Jake McDorman) and sparks may fly despite a rocky first date. Rounding out the main cast is David and Peter's boss (and the requisite father-figure) William (Kurt Fuller).

THE GOOD: Well, this show tries to be a bit of a love letter to NYC and it mostly succeeds in that. The show has a very cute approach but it does make the city look appealing in an idealistic, love-struck kind of way. I guess that's a good thing? I actually think the actors are pretty competent but they're given so little to work with.

THE BAD: We may have found the worst new sitcom of the season (though I haven't seen some other supposed stinkers yet, so we'll see). The problem is that the whole thing that sets this show apart - hearing the inner thoughts of the two leads - is the worst part about the show. It's all sorts of wrong. Not only is it gimmicky, it doesn't allow for subtext at all, diminishing the actors. No one wants to hear inner thoughts throughout the show. I find it annoying when a show uses it for one scene. Aside from the fact that it is cheap, it also isn't funny. It's incredibly awkward as evidenced by the painful dinner scene between Dana and Peter. The show also reduced men and women down to pretty lame stereotypes. I'm not a liberal progressive blogger, yet I found it surprising how simplistic the show chose to make these two characters we're supposed to fall in love with. The final little problem was the overuse of the social media mistakes by Dana. It was tolerable at first and got old fast (just like the voices). Lazy, bad writing.

BOTTOM LINE: Considering how much I disliked Selfie, it's hard to believe that I think even less of this show, but I do. I read how the producers wanted to make each episode like a mini Woody Allen film. Well if we had that, we'd be OK but we don't. A cute little premise and decent actors are destroyed by gimmicky concepts and horrible writing. I have a feeling this Love Story is going to be a pretty short one.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

EPISODE GUIDES: Rhoda Season Five

On Thursdays, I go through classic series with a critical look at each season. Today I am looking at Season Five (the final season) of  Rhoda ! RHODA: SEASON FIVE 1978 13 episodes Rhoda' s final season was a truncated one as the show was cancelled in December 1978 after only 13 episodes had been produced (and only nine had aired). This feels like a continuation from season four in many ways except with the ill-advised split between Ida and Martin (more on that below). While  Rhoda  has an occasional good moment and even a couple decent episodes, it is a show that seems so wildly different from season one and not in a good way.  Rhoda  could never figure out what it fully wanted to be and only made it four and a half seasons as a result. Starring Valerie Harper as Rhoda Morgenstern  (13 episodes) Julie Kavner as Brenda Morgenstern  (13 episodes) Ray Buktenica as Benny Goodwin  (11 episodes) Kenneth McMillan as Jack Doyle  (9 episodes) Nancy Wa...

SCHEDULES OF THE PAST: 1995-1996 Thursdays

On Tuesdays, I take a look at schedules from yesteryear. Here's a look at Thursdays in the 1995-96 season! ABC 8:00 8:30 9:00 10:00 Sep Charlie Grace The Monroes Various Programs Oct Murder One Nov Various Programs Dec Various Programs Thursday Night Movie Jan Feb World’s Funniest Videos Before They Were Stars! Mar Apr May NBC was the powerhouse on Thursday nights but ABC still gave it the old college try in the Fall of 1995 with a trio of new dramas that they hoped would help them cut into the Peacock's dominance. Headlining their night was Murder One , a high profile new show from Steven Bochco that received much of the network's attention before the season started. The series focused on one murder case for an entire season, whi...

DECADE IN REVIEW: The Best Comedies of the 2010s

During the month of December, I will be looking back at the decade that was the 2010s on TV. I will be sharing my favorite sitcoms, dramas, the best episodes, the best performances and the worst shows of the decade. To be eligible for this list, a show had to air the majority of its episodes in the 2010s. However, for the rankings and determination, all episodes were taken into account, including ones that may have aired before 2010. I will also preface that there are comedies that have aired this decade that I haven't watched yet so this is the best of what I have watched. To be fair, that preface is more true for dramas. There's not a ton of unwatched comedies sitting in my Netflix or Amazon watchlist. So here are my Top 10 comedies of the 2010s! Close Calls:  Master of None (Netflix) - An inconsistent but occasionally fascinating commentary on many life issues done so with innovative storytelling. The Good Place (NBC) - A show that aims high with a fascinating premis...