PILOT REVIEW: Outmatched

OUTMATCHED

Starring: Jason Biggs, Maggie Lawson, Tisha Campbell, Ashley Boettcher, Connor Kalopsis, Jack Stanton, Oakley Bull

Created by Ion Zimmet
Written by Ion Zimmet, Directed by Jonathan Judge

I looked at the date on my computer as I was writing this review to make sure it was still 2020. Because FOX's new Outmatched looks and feels like it could have premiered in 1998. For starters, the premise is pretty silly. Two average-intelligence parents (Jason Biggs and Maggie Lawson) are surrounded by three genius children (Ashley Boettcher, Charlie Kalopsis & Jack Stanton) and one average kid (Oakley Bull). If, for some reason, you find that premise complicated, have no fear! They basically reiterated throughout the entire pilot.

That was the single most annoying thing about the pilot. It was truly a one joke show. The entire episode from start to finish was about the kids being smarter than the parents. I mean, literally. There have been some other sitcoms that are premise based to start (The Neighborhood being about a white family moving into a black neighborhood for example) but I can't think of another show that didn't even make an attempt to try any different directions.

That problem made it hard to imagine what a future episode might look for. I just knew at some point in the episode, we would get a line like we got from Jason Biggs where he basically told the kids that they were acting pretty dumb for being so smart. So, will this be a rinse and repeat in future episodes? Will we spend most of the episode with the parents being utterly perplexed b everything happening only for the parents (or the little sister) to get the last laugh and make the so-called geniuses see the error in their ways? Nothing in the pilot made me think it can expand beyond that in the way a show like The Neighborhood ultimately has.

This is a shame because Outmatched squanders two good leads in Jason Biggs and Maggie Lawson. Both of them are likable performers and are ever so close to elevating the material from time to time. In a show with better writing, I think they could have an easy chemistry and some good moments. I think Biggs especially has the ability to be quite funny, but he wasn't given material to be funny in this show (and still managed to get one good moment when he dumped one of his kids on the couch). Oh well, maybe next time.

WILL I WATCH IT AGAIN?
There's a morbid curiosity to see if it can ever get past its initial premise so maybe I'll check it out in like five episodes. But is it making it on my DVR list? Nope