Ben & Kate, The Mindy Project, The New Normal — A legitimate take, by Bunky Bunk (The Unique Edition)

Sorry, I've been a little busy over the last week, so it's taken me a while to find time to write these reviews, but here they are. Thanks to everyone who read and/or commented my Revolution review, I can't reply to you all but I read everything and I agree with most of you, which is a good thing because many said that you agree with me. Let's hope it gets better.

Now, I'm reviewing three fall comedies : The Mindy Project (Tuesdays 9:30pm on FOX), The New Normal (Tuesdays 9:30pm on NBC) and Ben & Kate (Tuesdays 8:30pm on FOX).

To give you an idea of my taste in comedy, my favorite US comedy series are, of the top of my head : Curb your Enthusiasm, Arrested Development, Community, Seinfeld, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Parks and Recreation, Bored to Death, Eastbound & Down, Party Down, Episodes, Raising Hope, Better Off Ted, The League, Futurama, Archer, American Dad, The Office (seasons 2-5), 30 Rock, Friends, Modern Family. All of them are between 9.15/10 and 10/10.

That being said, let's start with…

— The Mindy Project (FOX) : 2.91/10.

I bet this show will be a big hit, but I dislike almost everything in that pilot (those two facts might be connected).



The stakes could not be higher.

The poster alone could have led me to this conclusion : there's Mindy between two guys. Gosh darnit, there seems to be a love triangle at play ! I should have stopped at that but since I'm a bit of a masochist, I watched it.

Two of the reasons I liked this pilot won't be here in the rest of the show : Bill Hader and Ed Helms (who I like when he's not singing or acting like a complete moron). Mindy Kaling must be a real nice person in real life to get them to appear here.

I like Mindy's character in small doses in The Office but a show revolving around her love life and her work at an hospital will just be impossible for me to watch on a weekly basis without wanting to tear my eyes out, to put it mildly.



Dear God, why was did I accept to do her a favor ?

I seriously doubt things can change (it would have to become a totally different show), so it's a pass for me, no matter how good the writing is, and it didn't strike me as particularly good here, although I noted a few moments that made me sort of smile : - So, more white patients. - Don't write that (but yes). ; and then there's a scene where Mindy says "He gets women, just ask his wife… oh, I'm sorry, ex-wife !" : I literally thought she was gonna say "Oh, I'm sorry, your wife is dead !" :D. Comparing this to Arrested Development is an insult, I know, but at that moment I thought of that (I probably imagined happy thoughts in order to start enjoying this pilot, which I ultimately failed to do).


Mindy, why are you doing this to me ? Why am I friends with you ?

So basically, it's just not a show for me. It's not like FOX was counting on me anyway, as I'm not a 18-49 woman (or a woman at all), I don't have a Nielsen box, I don't live in the US… yeah, they really didn't count on me. Still, I'm definitely out.

— The New Normal (NBC) : 4.58/10.

Not as bad as I expected it to be, but it's going to be a pass as well, although I keep my ears open in case it gets really good reviews throughout the season.

We all know Ryan Murphy's trademark : excess, with chunks of brilliance spread into a swamp of bad taste and clumsy writing. I haven't seen Nip/Tuck, 5-6 episodes into season 2 I couldn't take Glee anymore, and I will continue watching American Horror Story this fall but my expectations are extremely low considering the laziness/tackiness of season 1 (and since you're giving new roles to returning cast members, why not ask Taissa Farmiga and Denis O'Hare to come back ?).

Anyway, about The New Normal, one thing that bothered me is the representation of gay people (yes, that is the core of the show, so that's a big problem). One dresses casually and watches football on the couch, the other is a little more, say, sophisticated, and goes shopping. Ryan, that's really an eye-opening insight you're giving us there. The scene with the baby in the store ("oh, I must have that !") or the baby clothes thing… really ?



Ryan Murphy, tearing down clichés one by one.

The creator of the show is gay so you'd think he'd know how to avoid stereotypes, instead he just dives in head first. Why would he write Andrew Rannell's character like that ? That's weird, especially given how he seems to want to give lessons to people with this preachy title, some scenes (the scene at the playground, the one with the two lesbians in the street who waved and smiled at the surrogate) and all those dialogues ("abnormal is the new normal", "this is 2012")… please, you're not revolutionizing anything in any way with this show.



Becoming Sue Sylvester 2.0 requires some shortcuts.

Ellen Barkin as the racist grandma was the best part of the pilot. They go for cheap laughs, but those are laughs nonetheless (well, let's not push it, those were just smiles for me). The line about the crippled guy looking like Flipper was amusing, but overall I couldn't help but feel sad how they're so desperately trying to have her being Sue Sylvester 2.0.

Also, I come to realize I'm kind of annoyed with the constant impact of technology in any given situation anywhere, when you hear that the 5-year old is "live streaming" the fight on Twitter for instance. Isn't this thing over by now ? The impact of Twitter (which can be useful…0.23% of the time), and seeing it invading TV shows (also, I bet when NBC will start airing the season, there will be "#newnormal" written at the bottom of the screen) is depressing. And while I'm at it, the use of the webcam of the Macbook (shown a few times) is to film their reactions? Haven't they heard of cameras? It's more efficient for filming and it's also more handy, but I guess showing Apple on screen must be giving them some dough. Damn you, ever invading technology. And no, I'm not an angry old man ^^.



If you want your own PSA, contact Ryan Murphy at subtlemessages@lgbtmail.com or go to www.emmys.com.

The writing could have been more nuanced but I didn't think the actors were bad. Still, that wasn't enough to make me want to come back for more.

— Ben & Kate (FOX) : 5.69/10.

Well, it was alright. I guess it's the other new comedy I will watch this fall, alongside Go On.

I knew it was going to be a decent pilot from the get-go given how they inserted the title card, perhaps mocking the very 'simple' title of the series :

Kate : Ben !
Ben : Oh, hey Kate !
Kate : What the--
[Title card : BEN AND KATE]

I don't know if brutally interrupting a scene (only to pick up right after) is going to be a regular thing in the coming episodes (it's not uncommon to start showing a full opening sequence at episode 2) but that surprised me, it worked quite well here.



FOX is lying to you, this is actually a TV adaptation of the Splinter Cell video game series.

I didn't laugh out loud a single time (but I rarely do, except perhaps during the 20 comedies mentioned above). However, I genuinely smiled several times, and that's something. I'm into jokes like Ben saying he'll try to be discrete and then he's randomly passing by the room with a drum set, or when he has to hurry somewhere but he has this enormous difficulty to do a U-turn (that kind of very long joke is usually a hit or miss and I like that they try that), or also this detailed tale of the very elaborate scheme he has planned in order to get his ex-girlfriend at her wedding.

So I did like a few moments including Ben, but my favorite character has to be BJ. As the kidz say on the social medias : Lucy Punch <3 <3 <3. She's pretty pretty (do people say that, btw?), and she has this evident comedic delivery. One of my favorite moments of the pilot was the fanny pack / BJ scene ("I am well aware of what that means" … [silence]). Already seen it in the trailer but it was still kind of funny. She didn't have much to do that wasn't shown in the trailer, but I have the feeling that maybe Ben & Kate will become one of those shows where a supporting character steals the show (like Barney in HIMYM or Roger in American Dad).



Lucy Punch is a lady with punch (this joke was brought to you by CBS & Friends).

And finally I thought there was a nice chemistry between Nate Faxon and Dakota Johnson, which is kind of essential given the title of the show. When they argue about the use of the expression "I'm a grower, not a shower", that was pretty great.

However, the last few minutes, with the emotional / bittersweet ending under the table and in the pool, that was not good, I hate that. It reminded me of Scrubs and Cougar Town, which I love for their wit and their smart, fast paced jokes as much as I hate them for their pseudo 'dramatic' moments (where they act like the characters learn form their mistakes and 'evolve') in the last 5 minutes of 99% of their episodes (damn you, Bill Lawrence, for always apologizing to the viewers, that's what it feels like to me : "sorry, but at the 17th minute my characters stop being wacky and must have an epiphany").



In the light of this scene, PETA is already trying to have the show cancelled.

With Community producers Neil Goldman and Garrett Donovan on board as showrunners, I assume it will get funnier, although I don't imagine it has the potential to come close to its 8pm slot buddy Raising Hope, which is, as you know, the second or third best comedy on network TV.

- Go On (NBC) : 6.16/10.
- Ben & Kate (FOX) : 5.69/10.
- The New Normal (NBC) : 4.58/10.
- Revolution (NBC) : 4.14/10.
- Animal Practice (NBC) : 3.03/10.
- The Mindy Project (FOX) : 2.91/10.

As you can see, so far, Go On is the best pilot of the 2012/2013 season (btw, episode 1.02 is just as great, I'm definitely in for the season)… but my review of Last Resort is coming up soon and let's just say it was pretty awesome. To be continued...