PILOT REVIEW: God Friended Me

GOD FRIENDED ME

Starring: Brandon Michael Hall, Violett Beane, Suraj Sharma, Javica Leslie, and Joe Morton

Created by Steven Lilien and Bryan Winbrandt
Written by Steven Lilien & Bryan Winbrandt, Directed by Marcos Siega

IN SHORT: Not as bad or lame as the title sounds

THE PREMISE:
Miles Finer (Brandon Michael Hall) is an atheist and podcaster who is on a mission to prove that God doesn't exist until one day he receives a "friend request" from God. Once he accepts, he starts getting suggestions to friend people he doesn't know but finds out they are oddly connected and he needs to get to know them for a reason. This includes Cara Bloom (Violett Beane), a writer at a magazine. Meanwhile, Miles is also estranged from his Reverend father, Arthur (Joe Morton). Rounding out the main cast is Miles' friend and computer guy, Rakesh (Suraj Sharma) and his sister, Ali (Javica Leslie).

THE REVIEW:
This is an interesting show and I'm not quite sure what to make of it, but I'm definitely intrigued. It feels a little bit like an updated version of the feel-good CBS dramas of the 90s like Touched by an Angel and Early Edition. It's a little hard to get past the silliness of the premise and to actually take it seriously as a drama but if you forget the title and the advertising that was mostly showing the God friend request, then it actually can be seen as a compelling character drama.

Brandon Michael Hall is strong here in the lead role. I like him in this a lot more than I did in the short-lived The Mayor from last season. He is funny and believable. Violett Beane is interesting too and I'm interested to know more of what her role is going to look like in future episodes. While Joe Morton was fine, it was very difficult for this Scandal viewer to see Morton in a role other than the long-winded Papa Pope and I found myself conflating the characters a little bit, even though he's seemingly a much more moral person in this show.

I'm very curious to see what this show looks like going forward and if it's going to be more about a "case of the week" or if it's going to be a relationship/character drama or a significant commentary on faith and belief. If I had my wish, it would be more about the characters and less about how God, the social media friend, is going to send a new task for Miles to do every week. Or if they do that, hopefully the stories are much more rooted in realism than the slightly silly gimmick they used to title the show and get the stories going.

BOTTOM LINE:
Of the new shows I have watched so far this season, this is probably the one I'm most intrigued by besides Manifest. It's charming and uplifting and I think it has the capability to tell some powerful stories. I hope it does.