PILOT REVIEW: Perfect Harmony

PERFECT HARMONY

Starring: Bradley Whitford, Anna Camp, Rizwan Manji, Tymberlee Hill, Will Greenberg, Geno Segers, Spencer Allport

Created by Lesley Wake Webster
Written by Lesley Wake Webster, Directed by Jason Winer

The first TV sitcom ever about a church choir, Perfect Harmony, is an interesting entry into the sitcom world. I will admit I'm taking this from a podcast I listened to recently but I think it's a very apt description. There was a season's worth of plot in the pilot episode. It almost felt like a movie (specifically, the movie Pitch Perfect. Hi Anna Camp!)

Bradley Whitford makes his return to NBC as Arthur Cochran, a former music professor and now a widower about to commit suicide when he hears a terrible church choir and needs to go fix them before he can end his life. I don't think it's a spoiler to say that Cochran obviously doesn't kill himself and you can probably imagine if he ends up enjoying becoming a part of this new community or not. The episode ends with a church choir competition that certainly seems like it could have waited until episode four or five but inexplicably happens in the pilot.

I like Bradley Whitford a lot of the time in general and I like him a lot of the time in this episode, but every once in awhile, he just has a delivery that seems a little tired so many years after he perfected it as Josh Lyman in The West Wing. I see a little bit of that here and there, but I still think it's a good role for him as long as they keep him likable. This is a good vehicle for Anna Camp too, who can be quite funny when in the right situation. The rest of the cast is filled with quirky characters that right now seem a little bit too much about their quirks than actual people but hopefully the show can flush that out if they don't try to do so much plot in future episodes.

One thing that needs to stop immediately is the recurring joke of Rizwan Manji's Jax not knowing titles to famous movies and TV shows. That's an example of something that is funny in the writer's room if you're just bouncing things around, but absolutely does not work when spoken by a character on a show. It was embarrassingly bad and makes this season's other bad recurring joke (Bob's sock business in Bob Hearts Abishola) seem like comedic genius. That needs to stop now. It might seem like a little thing but if that's indicative of the writing here, then I'm more pessimistic about the show than I was about the rest of the episode.

WILL I WATCH IT AGAIN?
Yes. But there best not be any of those dumb jokes I just mentioned.