USA Not Likely to Be BENCHED For New Sitcom

Article first published as TV Review: 'Benched' - 'Pilot' on Blogcritics.

USA’s newest comedy, premiering this week, is called Benched. A smart lawyer named Nina (Eliza Coupe, Happy Endings, Scrubs) suffers a breakdown after being dumped by her fiance, Trent (Carter MacIntyre, Undercovers, Drop Dead Diva), and being passed over for promotion at her company. Her explosion is spectacular, and leaves her lucky to find employment in the crummy public defender’s office. Here, though, she might just find a sense of purpose amid the downtrodden misfits.

Benched doesn’t have much that one could call fresh and original. The Jerry Maguire-opening and tale of a person who finds deeper meaning than money is nothing new. There are quite a few other shows like it on television, both dramas and comedies, and so it seems like USA is just repeating a common structure. But there’s something charming and breezy about Benched that makes for good entertainment, even if it’s not exactly high quality.

One thing Benched has going for it is the quirky supportive cast. Like Brooklyn Nine-Nine, our lead is surrounded by a number of cartoonish players who give the proceedings a hyper reality. Sheryl (Maria Bamford, Adventure Time) looks to be very near the edge, even as she’s flighty enough to not let much in her day bother her. Oscar Nuñez plays Carlos, a role that, at first glance, seems quite similar to his part in The Office, non-showy, but still funny. Micah (Jolene Purdy, Under the Dome) keeps Nina going, the intern who tells the hard truths. Phil (Jay Harrington, Better Off Ted), a compulsive gambler, serves as a love interest and cautionary tale for Nina. And Trent is still around, often facing Nina in court. Because of these various personalities, I like the show.

Coupe is a great leading lady. She has proven her worth as part of an ensemble, and as much as I enjoy seeing her do that, she can also carry a program as the protagonist on her own. The second fiddle here is Harrington, who has been desperately missed on television, a few years having passed since his last starring role, and together the pair have terrific chemistry. It’s a no-brainer match, one audiences are sure to eat up. I did.

In the first episode, a lot of time is spent establishing the premise. We have to see Nina get to where she’s going to be. Still, it seems like there is time for her to start to find her footing, giving viewers an idea of what Benched will be on a regular basis. Nina spends time in the court room, sparring with Trent, Judge Nelson (Fred Melamed, Silk Stalkings), and a grumpy bailiff (Cedric Yarbrough, Reno 911!). While the case isn’t all that important, just watching the cast interact is good enough, and will probably be the best part of any installment.

Benched is genuinely humorous, well-crafted by creators Michaela Watkins (last see on-screen in Trophy Wife) and Damon Jones (Tammy). Even if they didn’t come up with many ideas of their own (maybe they were instructed not to by the network?), they show great talent in putting the various pieces together to make them work. Not every effort in this vein is nearly as good as Benched is. It takes some people who know what they’re doing to pull it off, and given the small writing resumes of the creators, this is a fine first big effort to be proud off.

Benched is far from perfect, and it has a lot of work to do if it wants to become anyone’s favorite show. Yet, there are some excellent ingredients here, well stirred, so it’s worth checking out. Given how funny those involved can be, it is likely there will be payoff if you start watching and stick with it.

Benched premieres Tuesday at 10:30 p.m. ET on USA.

CBS "Heads" Back UNDER THE DOME

Article originally written for Seat42F.

CBS’s Stephen King series, UNDER THE DOME, returned last night with a season premiere penned by the horror master himself. “Heads Will Roll” picks up right where season one ended, with Barbie’s (Mike Vogel) head in a noose and the dome glowing with a bright, white light. From there, the episode introduces several new characters, says goodbye to a couple of main players, and forces Big Jim (Dean Norris) to take a long, hard look at himself. It’s a pretty solid hour.

Big Jim is the villain of the piece, of course, but it seems like “Heads Will Roll” sets him on the road to redemption. As a magnetic force renders most of the citizens unconscious, Jim is plagued by hallucinations of Dodee (Jolene Purdy), whom he killed, and Linda (Natalie Martinez), the first casualty of the premiere. It’s like his own version of A Christmas Carol, and confronted with his failings, Big Jim decides he should end himself, which he almost goes through with until Julia (Rachelle Lefevre) stops him.

Can Big Jim eventually be one of the good guys? The dynamics of UNDER THE DOME are often flimsy, changing on a whim. After all, how many times has Angie (Britt Robertson) seemingly forgiven Junior (Alexander Koch) after he kidnaps her? However, the situation is tense and stress levels are high, which does make it easier to overlook misdeeds. Big Jim has made quite a few blunders in the eyes of our heroes, but most of the townsfolk don’t hate him, so if he works to be the leader they want, which he seems serious about when he gives now-homeless Norrie (Mackenzie Lintz) and Carolyn (Aisha Hinds) a key to his house, we could end up liking him.

With arcs like this, UNDER THE DOME strives to be a serious character piece, meaty drama with layered players. The problem is, it’s just not. It takes shortcuts and allows inconsistencies that hurt the overall impression. For instance, moments before Julia saves Big Jim, she’s ready and willing to be the tool that kills him. How can she shift so suddenly? The writers definitely seemed more concerned with the actions of those on screen than the motivations behind them. And even the actions, such as the dome magnetically pulling metal to it, aren’t the most consistently thought out, with items flying willy-nilly, rather than in a logical pattern, making it more dangerous, but less believable.

Which is not to say UNDER THE DOME is a bad show. I find it quite enjoyable, and there are some genuine surprises, such as Linda being squashed and Angie getting hacked to pieces. I am curious as to what is going on, and I’m engaged with who might die next. It’s just more in the genre of summer popcorn than serious drama.

The deaths do seem a bit arbitrary, which makes it hard to predict who might go next. Angie is one of the four kids who communication with the dome, so she doesn’t seem expendable, but’s she taken out, nonetheless. Plus, she runs the diner after the owner is previously killed, so that leaves a crucial gap in the town. Linda is the last real law enforcement officer left, again, making her seem safe, but she’s replaced by Phil (Nicholas Strong) by the end of the episode, Big Jim’s lackey, for now. The show does not worry about preserving a structure, and is willing to create more conflict by removing those that don’t seem replaceable, bold moves.

To help keep the population up, we are introduced to Sam Verdreaux (Eddie Cahill, CSI: NY), who initially makes a pretty boring corner of a love triangle with Julie and Barbie, but gets more interesting when we learn he’s Junior’s uncle and acts shifty. There’s also Rebecca Pine (Karla Crome), a science teacher, who might finally give us insight on the (uneven) mechanics of the dome, and Melanie Cross (Grace Victoria Cox), a crazy girl. This new blood should keep the story humming along nicely.

More interesting is the reveal of Junior’s mother, Pauline (Sherry Stringfield), outside of the dome. We haven’t really seen how the rest of the world is reacting to the events in Chester’s Mill, and she not only potentially provides a window to the larger universe, but also has strange connections to the dome itself. I, like many viewers, had assumed she was dead. To learn she’s elsewhere only deepens the mystery.

Overall, “Heads Will Roll” is one of the better installments of UNDER THE DOME, with everything from action to self-reflection, to a cameo by King himself. Season two is off to a good start.

UNDER THE DOME airs Mondays at 10 p.m. ET on CBS.

CBS Going UNDER THE DOME

Article first published as UNDER THE DOME Review on Seat42F.

Grade: 86%

CBS, perhaps in an attempt to combat the lame, reality and re-run heavy summer fare on the basic networks, has a new offering premiering this week. Titled UNDER THE DOME, this thirteen episode series, based on the Stephen King novel of the same name, follows the residents of Chester’s Mill Maine when a transparent, sound-proof, impenetrable dome suddenly crashes down over their town.

UNDER THE DOME feels a lot like other summer programs in the past that haven’t lasted, such as the one where a handful of people were trapped in a town and were watched on cameras, or other Stephen King TV dramatizations, or even a little bit like cult-favorite Jericho. It has the sort-of post-apocalyptic, yet still small-scale and personal, feeling of a drama about people on the edge.

The cast, whom we are mostly introduced to in the first eight minutes, before the dome appears, are a broad spectrum of individuals, almost as if there was a checklist that had to be satisfied when putting together the ensemble. None of them are particularly original characters, even though there are some very good actors playing them, as they are without exception archetypes that have been seen on a variety of other shows.

Among those featured are: Barbie (Mike Vogel, Bates Motel, Pan Am), an ex-Army officer who comes to town and kills someone, then is trapped before he can escape; Big Jim (Dean Norris, Breaking Bad), the crooked councilman who wants to use the disaster to manipulate the town into his own personal kingdom; Angie (Britt Robertson, Life Unexpected), a waitress who dates a too-clingy boy; Junior (Alexander Koch), Big Jim’s mentally unbalanced son who has designs on Angie; Julia (Rachelle Lefevre, What About Brian), a journalist with a missing husband; Dodee (Jolene Purdy, Gigantic), a mouthy radio engineer; Duke (Jeff Fahey, Lost), the ineffective patsy cop; and Linda (Natalia Martinez, Detroit 1-8-7), a deputy whose fireman boyfriend is outside the dome.

Believe it or not, that is not a complete roster of the characters featured in the “Pilot.” UNDER THE DOME presents a sprawling cast with few connections between one another thus far, but surely more will be revealed as things unfold, as we’ve been taught it common for small towns. Unlike a series like Lost, these people aren’t banding together, but instead following their own motivations and activities.

As such, there isn’t a clear, cohesive story in episode one. Everyone has their own implications of the occurrence to deal with, and as no one even really knows what’s going on yet, there has been no concentrated effort to solve the mystery or find a way out of the disaster. A couple people have sort of started down that road, but have barely begun to investigate.

Which isn’t to say there aren’t some intriguing set-ups. A couple of theories are put forth, at least one character reveals to viewers that he actually does know what is happening, one on the roster above is dead by the end of the first hour, there are some clues that indicate a larger conspiracy, strange seizures appear other-worldly, and various family connections pop when one is not expecting.

There are also a few missteps in UNDER THE DOME. I feel like the dome actually coming down is unnecessarily brutal. A cow is split in half and slides down the wall, leaving a bloody streak. A plane smashes into the dome, and among the debris raining down is a severed limb. A truck rams the barrier and becomes almost as flat as a pancake. None of these are executed in impressive fashion, given the low special effects budget and broadcast network restrictions, so they aren’t particularly amazing. Instead, they come off as cheap gags designed to entice the viewer, but failing to do so because of their cheesy execution. It would be better if we got more dialogue scenes and less of these “shockers.”

If the focus stays on the characters, rather than gross gimmicks, UNDER THE DOME should provide satisfying summer entertainment, probably the best of the Big Four networks’ programming. There is some real talent present that can be better utilized than we’ve seen so far. But it’s not regular season-quality, and it does feel like an amateur effort compared to other projects. King may be able to write fantastic novels, but they seldom translate into groundbreaking shows or movies, and this one is not on the level of The Shining or the few other notable exceptions to that rule.

UNDER THE DOME premieres Monday, June 24th at 10 p.m. ET on CBS.