As in capital punishment, execution is everything in a sitcom TV show. The premise is darkly possibly funny. One of the producers from Modern Family was connected to this show. With an exec producer from Friends and the best male star of Friends, what could go wrong?
This is the "what were they thinking" part of the review. I think it's best to compare this to another successful sitcom like "Modern Family." The Levitan / Lloyd creation had an ensemble cast like Friends and somewhat like they tried to do here. What happened? It was not the weak plots... Friends had plenty of "I can't believe they wasted an episode on this premise" episodes. And it was not the directors... or was it?
Time and again, comparing the quick tempo perky high energy of Friends and Modern Family to this production leaves me wondering how the directors and producers could allow them to produce a half sitcom and a half soap opera. The drama and serious moments of the show were played with too much pathos... that way. THAT is the problem.
In Friends and in Modern Family, it did not matter what the subject was or the premise of the episode, it was always played funny. The actors never bogged down even in the serious moments. Matthew Perry showed them how it was done. The rest of the cast... did not. There was no chemistry. The performances of the female actresses was weak and forced. The assembly of a politically correct array of demographics perhaps contributed to the genuine lack of energy and chemistry between the actors. Everybody tries... but producers have to pick actors for the parts.
In the shows Friends and Modern Family, you could not imagine other people playing the roles... they made it their own roles and their own characters came to life, different from the rest of the cast but still belonging. In GO ON, it seemed as if half the cast is just reading lines, and they really did not do justice to some genuinely funny material. Granted, the lines were not Woody Allen quality, but then again they should not have become General Hospital.
I am surprised Silveri and others did not pick up on the weak spots, coming from such powerhouses as Friends and Holland being a future producer of Modern Family. Perhaps it was the budget. It is always sad when high potential is not executed properly. Matthew Perry is very talented and skilled at comedy. I think they should have aimed at a cast around him which had the same energy and charisma as the Friends cast. All I have to say for now. I am going to go off into a corner and sulk.
This is the "what were they thinking" part of the review. I think it's best to compare this to another successful sitcom like "Modern Family." The Levitan / Lloyd creation had an ensemble cast like Friends and somewhat like they tried to do here. What happened? It was not the weak plots... Friends had plenty of "I can't believe they wasted an episode on this premise" episodes. And it was not the directors... or was it?
Time and again, comparing the quick tempo perky high energy of Friends and Modern Family to this production leaves me wondering how the directors and producers could allow them to produce a half sitcom and a half soap opera. The drama and serious moments of the show were played with too much pathos... that way. THAT is the problem.
In Friends and in Modern Family, it did not matter what the subject was or the premise of the episode, it was always played funny. The actors never bogged down even in the serious moments. Matthew Perry showed them how it was done. The rest of the cast... did not. There was no chemistry. The performances of the female actresses was weak and forced. The assembly of a politically correct array of demographics perhaps contributed to the genuine lack of energy and chemistry between the actors. Everybody tries... but producers have to pick actors for the parts.
In the shows Friends and Modern Family, you could not imagine other people playing the roles... they made it their own roles and their own characters came to life, different from the rest of the cast but still belonging. In GO ON, it seemed as if half the cast is just reading lines, and they really did not do justice to some genuinely funny material. Granted, the lines were not Woody Allen quality, but then again they should not have become General Hospital.
I am surprised Silveri and others did not pick up on the weak spots, coming from such powerhouses as Friends and Holland being a future producer of Modern Family. Perhaps it was the budget. It is always sad when high potential is not executed properly. Matthew Perry is very talented and skilled at comedy. I think they should have aimed at a cast around him which had the same energy and charisma as the Friends cast. All I have to say for now. I am going to go off into a corner and sulk.