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DISCLAIMER: These initial impressions are based on the clips (usually 3-5 minutes) released by the networks to use in their Upfront presentations and for promos. They’re chosen to sell the show, not to accurately represent it. So take the reactions below with a large satchel of salt–we may well feel differently about these shows once we see the full pilots. That being said, it’s also true that these clips are carefully selected to give the best impression possible of a show–if it still doesn’t look great, that may not bode well. Clips are available, among other places, at ABC.com. ABC has not yet scheduled its midseason shows.
APARTMENT 23: Looks to be a sharp, promising young-skewing comedy, written by Nahnatchka Kahn from American Dad. The leads are the terrific Krysten Ritter and Dreama Walker, who’s been playing the untrustworthy girlfriend of Julianna Margulies’ son on The Good Wife. Ritter suckers her apartment roommates to drain them of their money; Walker is the small town girl she underestimates, and their mutual neighbor is James Van Der Beek, playing a Matt-LeBlanc-on-Episodes version of himself. Although ABC hasn’t officially announced the timeslot, a Bill Lawrence interview says it’s going to be paired with Cougar Town on Tuesday nights later in the fall; ratings aside, that could make for a very fun hour of television.
WORK IT: AKA the return of Bosom Buddies. Buddies turned out to be a enormously enjoyable (and surprisingly smart) comedy, and there are plenty of other great cross-dressing movies from Tootsie to Some Like It Hot (and more recently, the underrated Fired Up). On the evidence of its trailer, Work It doesn’t look to be in that class. It’s natural that a pilot for a show like this would be all about easy jokes (women don’t eat hero sandwiches for lunch, they eat sprigs of parsley!), and we’ll just have to hope writers Andrew Reich & Ted Cohen (longtime producers on Friends) add more to the mix.
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