PILOT REVIEW: Champions

CHAMPIONS

Starring: Anders Holm, Fortune Feimster, Andy Favreau, JJ Totah, Mouzam Makkar

Created by Charlie Grandy and Mindy Kaling
Written by Charlie Grandy & Mindy Kaling, Directed by Michael Spiller

THE PREMISE
Champions is a new sitcom from Mindy Kaling and Charlie Grandy centered on two brothers, Vince and Matthew (Anders Holm and Andy Favreau) who run a gym in Brooklyn. Their world is upended when Matthew's former girlfriend Priya (Kaling in a recurring role) walks back into Matthew's life with their now teenage and very pretentious son, Michael (JJ Totah). With Michael looking for a place to live so he can attend an elite private school, the theatre loving kid moves in with his jock father and uncle.

THE REVIEW
This was a cliche ridden and pretty unfunny pilot. I just get so tired of sitcoms that have characters who don't seem like real people. A good sitcom can make even an extreme character seem like a real person (think Ted Baxter, Michael Scott, Louie DiPalma, etc). A bad sitcom means none of the characters seem real and that's the case here. I've never been a big fan of Mindy Kaling's brand of humor, even on The Office, and I can see her fingerprints all over this one which jokes that seem a little too forced and a little too "insider" - particularly JJ Totah's pretentious jokes.

Among the cast, I didn't find JJ Totah nearly as appealing as some other reviewers did. I liked him in Back in the Game a few years ago but this came across as complete overacting. Anyone can applaud the fact that there's a young LGBTQ character in a prominent role on a sitcom like this, but that doesn't mean the acting is good. Anders Holm is also pretty unlikable in the main role despite the show very obviously trying to give him some redeeming qualities. And in a supporting role, Fortune Feimster is playing the exact same character she plays in Life in Pieces and other shows.

Ultimately, I just don't care that much about these characters or what happens to them. I feel like a broken record when I see bad sitcom pilots but it's worth repeating. Sitcoms can take some time to gel. They are rarely as strong as drama pilots because sitcoms are rarely plot driven. But even when a sitcom doesn't have it all together yet, you can always tell when the potential is there. I just don't see it here. Sorry, Champions.

WILL I WATCH IT AGAIN?
Probably not.