Trial and Error

Jeff Astrof, a former staff writer for Friends and the producer of The New Adventures of Old Christine is the co-creator of this new sitcom that owes a lot to shows like The Office and Parks and Recreation. This spoof of cable crime dramas introduces to us in "mockumentary" style a young inexperienced lawyer from Manhattan named Josh Segal (Nicholas D'Agosto) who has been sent to a contemporary version of Mayberry in South Carolina to defend a goofy college poet professor (John Lithgow) who has been arrested for murdering his wife. The pilot featured some pretty funny dialogue and in the best tradition of Mel Brooks, makes no apologies for constant breaking of the 4th wall and, needless to say, Lithgow can make even the most lame material worth sitting through. Steven Boyer was very funny as the local hayseed investigator assisting Josh but Sherri Shepherd was kind of annoying as the secretary, they could write her out in ep 2 and I'd be OK with that. Phillip Baker Hall had some very funny moments as the victim's father but the impression I got was that his character is not going to be a regular on the show. D'Agosto displays leading man potential and has already been given two possible romantic interests, one of which (Jayma Mays) is the ADA on the case. As long as the writing stays solid and Lithgow remains center stage, this one has potential. I will watch episode 2.

I knew I could count on Gideon to create a thread for this show.

I started watching because I saw something comparing it to Parks and Recreation, which I really enjoyed, and the comparison so far is spot-on. Very similar style. I didn't laugh a lot at first, but there was obvious potential, and the most recent episode (the fourth) was the funniest yet. I'm pretty curious about how they plan to keep the story going if it ends up lasting more than a couple of seasons, but I imagine they must have something in mind.

Hmmm; is it breaking the fourth wall if the cameras are part of a documentary crew, as is the conceit here?

Agree completely about Lithgow; good in everything he's in, and really well cast here.

You're probably right, but there seemed to be a lot more moments here where people were looking at the cameras at moments where, in true documentary style, they wouldn't be. Know what I mean?

Yeah, I think so. It might be a little overused.

I know this was the conceit on The Office. I know Parks and Rec was shot the same way, but I can't recall if they bothered to even incorporate it into the story. I think they just said "hey, people get that comedies are shot this way sometimes now." Which I can overlook if the show is otherwise good.

In this case the conceit probably matters more, because it's clearly piggybacking on the rise, over the last few years, of these murder documentary phenomena, like The Jinx or Making a Murderer. This one seems to be based more on The Staircase, which is older, and my wife thinks (and I agree), that it'll end up having a similar explanation to the theory currently being advanced in that real-life case...

I've been watching this show mainly for John Lithgow, but I haven't decided yet if I'll stick with it. It's not really my type of show, so I might drop it if it doesn't get better soon.

__________________
.
If I answer a game thread correctly, just skip my turn and continue with the game.
OPEN FLOOR.

The potential is there and Lithgow is the clear highlight for me.

I imagine new seasons would have new characters for the Lawyer to defend?

__________________
"A laugh can be a very powerful thing. Why, sometimes in life, it's the only weapon we have."

Suspect's Reviews

Ep 2 had its moments and I can't really put my finger on what's not working here...Lithgow is solid. but Sherri Shepherd continues to be annoying and I'm not really feelings Jayma Mays as the ADA either. Nicholas D'Agosto is showing real leading man potential but I don't think TPTB really trust him yet. I'm going to give it one more episode.

It didn't blow me away at first, either. If someone's looking for a good cutoff, I'd recommend episode four, which I thought was significantly funnier than the first three. Lots of great comedies start off mediocre, particularly ones like this, that rely a lot on characterization.

Just finished ep 3 which had scattered laughs, mainly courtesy of Lithgow, but I'm still on the fence regarding this one.

Season one wrapped up last night, and...


Really enjoyed it. Very much the spiritual successor to Parks and Recreation. No idea if it'll get renewed, but I think the ratings stabilized well enough that we should get to see more, if I had to guess.

Up to ep 9...this show keeps getting funnier and funnier but I'm having a hard time seeing what potential there is for anything beyond a single season.

They do hint at that in the finale, and it's something you could probably guess. The thing they're hinting at is simultaneously risky, and has a lot of upside:

Just finished ep 11 and I know one thing...if this show does return for a second season, they need to lose Sherri Shepherd...the most annoying television character I have seen in a decade.

Just wrapped the season finale, which had me on the floor...


Nicholas D'Agosto really shows promise as a TV leading man and there is a bit of chemistry between him and Jayma Mays. I'll probably give season 2 a shot when it rolls around.

Season 2 finished not too long ago. No pickup for season 3, which was expected, but it sounds like they're shopping it around. Season 2 was definitely of a comparable quality and great fun. Really hope this manages to catch on somewhere, but if not, it's a lovely little show I'll be recommending to people for a long time.

MURDER BOARD!!!

MURDER BOARD!!!


I had a great laugh every time the lady driver flag boy was running along.

Yeah, it was a great running gag. I think if I go back and watch season 1 it'll turn out it wasn't around then, but it's funny and I'm not going to nitpick their comedic retconning.

For whatever reason I think the "combination to the city" bit is what got me the hardest this season.

Yeah, they did a good job incorporating more aspects of "murder shows" like Serial. Could be interesting to see their take on Paradise Lost next season if anyone were to pick them up, but I doubt it.

Hadn't heard of Paradise Lost, and Googling isn't actually that definitive. What's that?