PILOT REVIEW: A Million Little Things

A MILLION LITTLE THINGS

Starring: David Guintoli, Romany Malco, Allison Miller, Christina Moses, Christina Ochoa, Grace Park, James Roday, Stephanie Szostak, Tristan Byon, Lizzy Greene

Created by DJ Nash
Written by DJ Nash, Directed by James Griffiths

IN SHORT: I'm stealing this from somewhere else I read it because it's just so perfect... "Thirtysomething Reasons Why"

THE PREMISE:
As we are told at the beginning and during the episode, friendship is about "a million little things." This drama, clearly inspired by the success of This is Us, is centered on a group of Boston friends who met when they were stuck in an elevator together. They are rocked by the suicide of one of their own (Jon) while also dealing with their own problems. Eddie (David Guintoli) is unhappy in his marriage to Katherine (Grace Park). Gary (James Roday) has beat cancer and is seeing a therapist and fellow cancer survivor, Maggie (Allison Miller). Rome (Romany Malco) was on the verge of committing suicide himself. Rounding out the main cast is Jon's widow, Deilah (Stephanie Szostak) and daughter Sophie (Lizzy Greene) as well as his assistant, Ashley (Christina Ochoa) and Rome's wife, Regina (Christina Moses).

THE REVIEW:
Well, this is not This is Us. I'm generally a fan of character dramas and heartwarming dramas. And there were things I liked here. But there were also times that I was on the verge of laughing out loud at how emotionally manipulative this show was and how hard it was trying. Shows like This is Us and Friday Night Lights and Parenthood can also be emotionally manipulative, but they're so rooted in truth and strong character development and right now, A Million Little Things doesn't have either of those things.

But it has every other trope in the book. Cancer? Check. Suicide? Check. Depression? Check. Marital Troubles? Check. Feels like pregnancy should be on this list, I'm sure it will be at some point soon. Now, most other relationship dramas do hit those tropes at some point, but they earn them. A Million Little Things wants it all now. I'm fine with the suicide story that drives the initial plot forward, but I think they could have saved at least some of these other issues until we got to know the characters more. I want to care about a cancer storyline or marital trouble but it's awfully hard to when I don't know these characters yet. It's almost like becoming friends with someone who has a ton of baggage. It seems a little daunting to even think about being friends with the group at A Million Little Things.

The performances were decent when they weren't tearfully hugging each other. I wish there had been more humor in the pilot. I thought all the main guys in the show were solid and had good camaraderie with each other. That gives me the most hope going forward. The women in the show weren't as strongly developed, especially Grace Park, who I think was a very interesting character who had very little to do in the pilot. The multitude of twists at the end were all pretty predictable, but did give the show a starting point to move forward.

BOTTOM LINE:
Despite this generally negative review, I have hope for A Million Little Things. I didn't love Parenthood the first time I saw it either. I'm inclined to like shows like this so I'm hoping I can one day look back and laugh at this review because it turned into a really great show. For that to happen, the show needs to worry more about their characters and less about the problems the characters have.