The American adaptation of The Office is, in its own way, the most consistently interesting show on stateside television. It’s a network microcosm show, one that reflects the nature and fate of the network that carries it. The Sopranos was that show for HBO, from the way it served as the flagship of a new era of bold, original programming, to the way it exhibited sometimes too much ambition for its own good, to the way its controversial ending signaled a period of instability and bad decisions for the network. The Office, too, shows us what’s happening at NBC. It led the charge in the heady, late-period days of the network’s Thursday night comedy domination, only to echo NBC’s steady decline in overall quality and viewership despite ever-rarer moments of brilliance (Kings, anyone?). I may be getting ahead of myself here, but I can’t help but see a little kismet in the fact that The Office just trotted out its first promising plotline in ages in the very same week NBC crawled out of the ratings sewer it has called home for years now. Between The Voice and Smash (the latter of which actually has a lot going for it), NBC pulled off one of its best weeks in recent memory, hinting at a potential revival if it can continue to do right by its creative resources.

And then we get “Special Project”, the first episode of The Office that has had any punch at all since the drawn-out departure of Steve Carell. The episode has Sabre corporate calling down on Dwight from on high to assemble a team and come to Florida for three weeks to develop and establish a brick-and-mortar store. Through a fairly amusing process of elimination, he ends up with Jim, Stanley, Erin, Ryan and new girl Cathy. Now, the show is going to spend a few episodes lingering in Tallahassee to see what happens with a change of scenery and essentially a change of premise, only checking in on the Scranton folks from time to time as a through-line.

I’m cautiously optimistic about this development and not just in theory. The “Florida Cast” is a mix of reliable leads and fun, if under-serviced, supporting players. There’s a combination of comedy and drama in the offing, especially with Erin’s new quest for self-determination, and The Office has always been at its best when the laughs are seasoned with pathos. If this experiment is a success, that’d be just grand. If it falls flat, that’s worth exploring, too. Either way, I’m going to do a write-up for each week of the expedition to talk about whether The Office (and potentially NBC with it) is emerging from its rut or if the whole thing is just an extended field trip episode. I hope you’ll be watching and reading along with me, as well as adding your own thoughts to the discussion.

The River–Tuesdays, 9:00pm, ABC

I love horror, fantasy, and science fiction movies. I’m mixed (at best) on horror, fantasy, and science fiction movies made in the “found footage” style popularized by The Blair Witch Project, which has been recycled for better ([REC], and its US remake Quarantine, Cloverfield) and for worse (The Devil Inside) far too much on our screens. And outside of a few shows (the current incarnation of Doctor Who, the original runs of The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, and Kolchak: The Night Stalker, bits and pieces, so to speak, of The Walking Dead, and a handful of others) I’m not real keen on horror, fantasy, and science fiction on TV.

Which meant The River, a horror show that brings the found footage gimmick into our living rooms, had two strikes against it going into Tuesday’s two-episode premiere. And any program hyped and hyped (and hyped some more) as as the “next TV phenomenon” automatically prepares me for a letdown, particularly when it arrives hot on the heels of Monday’s “next TV phenomenon,” Smash, both of which are executive-produced by Steven Spielberg–whose Terra Nova, fall’s “next TV phenomenon,” was a complete non-starter with me (and it takes a lot to make me not want to watch a dinosaur show.) Color me skeptical.

Spielberg is only along for the ride on The River, though. The captain of this ship is producer Oren Peli, whose Paranormal Activity film series is a genuine phenomenon (which, like all the rest, owes a certain debt to 1980′s notorious Cannibal Holocaust, repaid ever so slightly here). I fast-forwarded through two of them; video cameras trained on bedrooms for an hour-and-a-half, with a “boo” moment at the very end just before you lapse into a coma from the wooden acting and non-existent production values, aren’t my bag. Still, such things are proven to scare the easily susceptible into tizzies, and The River splashes these across a broader canvas. We’re in the Amazon, on the lookout for beloved explorer Dr. Emmet Cole (Bruce Greenwood), who became lost in uncharted territory in his never-ending pursuit of “magic.” His son, Lincoln (Joe Anderson, a co-star of the similar horror flick The Ruins), never felt much magic from dad, and has made peace with Cole resting in peace. Not so mom Tess (Leslie Hope, 24), who based on a beacon signal from Cole’s boat, the Magus, gets a reluctant Lincoln to join her on a search mission that will be funded–and, natch, filmed at all moments–by the explorer’s former producer, Clark (Paul Blackthorne, The Dresden Files, if you recall that Sci-Fi Channel shortfaller). Joining the hunt are Lena (Eloise Mumford), whose father also vanished with Cole, Emilio (Daniel Zacapa), Cole’s staunch mechanic, AJ (Shaun Parkes), a determined photographer (an important job on a show like this), and Kurt, a cool-as-ice security expert. (He’s played by Thomas Kretschmann, the Teutonic actor you get when Jürgen Prochnow and Christoph Waltz are unavailable.)

Most important, I’d say, in the grand scheme is young Jahel (Paulina Gaitan), who seems to be in touch with the unquiet spirits that are soon found to be haunting the river. Every “reality horror” needs to put a kid in ambiguous jeopardy, and by Episode 2 Jahel was spitting dragonflies. Some viewers who had signed on for a look-see, however, missed that spectacle–no surprise, as long before that the two hours had established a not particularly interesting rhythm, of lots of shakycam slinking around abandoned cabins and leafy jungles, with ominous music playing and the characters screaming “What the hell is that?” and so on seconds before the Hyundai and credit card commercials rolled.

Advertisements are real thrill killers for shows like The River, and I give the uneven Walking Dead credit for keeping us off balance from episode to episode; we’re never quite sure where in the hour the “walkers” will show up. Some find the waiting dull–but it keeps us on our toes, whereas the barrage of would-be scares during The River has us crying uncle by the end of the hour. Tuesday’s director, Jaume Collet-Serra, of the bigscreen thrillers Orphan and Unknown, is a servant of horror, not a master, and it might be that only a real magus could energize this format. You’d think, at least, that as one of the producers he’d have tried to straighten out the British Anderson’s marble-mouthed American accent, which was as distracting as the “soul traps” and other diversions on our way to what Cole (played unflappably by Greenwood, who is obliged to act to no one in particular in video segments) calls “the source.”

On your way, I should say. One-quarter down The River and color me gone. The good news is that there are only six episodes left, a minimal order that should keep the show focused on “the source” (unlike the attention-deficit chills of An American Horror Story, which like every Ryan Murphy show jumped the shark every 20 minutes or so) or from succumbing to subplot sprawl (like The X-Files, a good show detoured into banality). Explorers, take heart–maybe, just maybe, some actual magic will be found in all that footage.

Smash — Mondays, 10:00 PM, NBC

For what seems like a year, NBC has been tirelessly promoting its new musical-drama Smash; I think I’ve seen promos for this show a total of eleventy billion times since Christmas. The pilot has been available online for a while via outlets like Hulu and has even aired on airplanes. So, yeah, NBC really, really wants you to watch this damn show, which finally had its premiere Monday night. By then, though, I think everyone probably felt like they’d already seen it, even if they hadn’t.

Smash stars Debra Messing as Julia, a lyricist with a penchant for scarves (she even wears them with her damn pajamas), who is supposed to be taking a break from writing musicals so she and her husband Frank (Brian d’Arcy James) can adopt a baby. However, she and her writing partner, Tom (Christian Borle) are inspired by an idea Tom’s new assistant Ellis (Jaime Cepero) has about a Marilyn Monroe-based musical. Despite the fact a Marilyn musical has been tried before, and failed, they decide to get to work on developing the show straight away, much to Julia’s husband’s chagrin. Soon, they have the support of producer Eileen (Anjelica Houston) and have brought in Derek (Jack Davenport), an egotistical, womanizing director to helm the show.

Then the casting process begins. Julia and Tom have their hearts set on Ivy Lynn (Megan Hilty), an actress who has been appearing in another of their shows, to play Marilyn. However, Derek insists that they do a casting call, wanting someone with huge star power to play the lead. So, they start auditioning other actresses, including fresh-faced Karen (Katharine McPhee), who has been struggling to catch her big break and hopes that this may be the big show that will change her life. Both Karen and Ivy get call backs for the part, thus kicking off the series’ central rivalry.

When I first heard about this show, I thought the premise sounded interesting and it had potential to be a lot of fun. I mean, it’s a grown-up show about musical theater (sorry, kids, but Glee makes me want to vomit unicorns) that features some actual Broadway vets (Hilty, Borle, d’Arcy James, composers Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman) — it should be amazing. And maybe it will be — based on the pilot alone, I’m not so sure.

For the most part, I think Smash shows promise, but the pilot seemed kind of rushed. I realize that showing every tiny detail of what it takes to get a new Broadway show off the ground wouldn’t be that entertaining, but those tiny details are what I find interesting. This is an hour-long television drama and not a behind-the-scenes documentary, though, so some parts of the process have to be cut so that we can get to know the characters. But based on the amount of time that was spent getting to know the characters, I walked away from the first episode thinking that this show is going to be largely about McPhee’s character and, frankly, I just don’t like her enough to want to watch a show in which she features so prominently. But that’s just me — if you love her, then you will probably love this show.

Though McPhee is my biggest problem with the show, there are some things I enjoyed and that will likely get me to tune in for at least a few more episodes. First, Messing’s character, which I’ve taken to calling Scarves Mahoney. She has the potential to be the quirkiest, most crazypants character of the whole show and I kind of want to see if she morphs into some kind of Diane Keaton/Colleen Dewhurst hybrid by the end of the season. Also, Anjelica Huston. I adore her and her character seems like the kind of woman who would be fun to gossip with over martinis. And I hope that at some point, Karen’s father, played by Dylan Baker, is revealed to be, like, a collector of Broadway actresses’ hair or something — I don’t think I’m ready to accept Baker playing a normal person and not a creepy weirdo.

Even though the pilot was ridiculously overhyped and couldn’t possibly live up to the expectations NBC seems to have placed upon it, I do think it could turn out to be, if nothing else, some campy good fun. And because of that, I’ll give it a chance. Let’s see what you’ve got, Scarves – I mean, Smash.

Simply put, she’s stunning. There was no trickery in the record booth when came to making 21. This woman can SING! She nails every note and phrase with the ease and polish of a someone who has been around a hell of a lot longer than six years. What I especially loved is that there is nothing robotic about her performance. Like the greatest singers, she makes each audience member, whether they’re seated in the small auditorium of this concert, or sitting at home watching on television, feel as if she’s speaking directly to them. That is the sign of a true artist. Additionally, Adele has a wonderful rapport with the crowd that is loose and funny, as if she’s just another friend telling stories in a bedroom, kitchen, basement or pub. That looseness only adds to her appeal.

My one small criticism of the program, which also includes snippets of an interview with Adele, is the editing of the concert. I understand that in this age of live television that audiences are accustomed to multiple cuts and swooping dolly shots every five seconds or so- call it the American Idol effect. However, with a singer as mesmerizing as Adele, and with the intensely personal songs she’s performing, I would have loved more static, single takes of just her. When you have someone this wonderful on stage, it gets distracting every time the camera cuts away. Nevertheless, you shouldn’t let my problem with the post production prevent you from watching this episode of Live from the Artists Den. This episode shows how special Adele is and why she’s connected with millions of people. Plus, her cover of “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” is stunning.

The only truly important parts of a story are perspective and delivery. Everything else is window dressing. That’s why you should stick with Luck, HBO’s latest log on its decade-plus bonfire of sterling original programming. Yes, stick with it even if the series premiere left you feeling lost for all the byzantine horse race jargon, stacked cast, jumbled motivations and slow pacing. All the trappings of the high stakes horse track business and the shady dealings behind the scenes… all just window dressing.

The reasons to stay are legion. The cast is chief among them. Dustin Hoffman headlines as “Ace” Bernstein, a gaming industry businessman who starts off the pilot just getting out of a three-year stretch in prison for an as-yet-to-be-named crime. His interactions with old friends and associates suggest it has something to do with, what else, fixing the odds. Ace isn’t front and center for the pilot, though. He skirts the margins, never even existing outside a two-shot despite projecting an unnerving mix of deep isolation and seething rage. He finally explodes during a meeting with another crooked casino type who accuses him of turning informant because Ace insists on keeping a tape recorder handy as a crutch for his failing memory. There’s no doubt that bodies are going to start piling up as the season progresses, just as there’s no doubt Ace will be responsible for his fair share of them.

Ace’s new, semi-criminal enterprise, which includes an uncharacteristically sheepish Dennis Farina as Ace’s driver-turned-legitimate-front for operations, involves buying up an old, tattered horse race track and using some legal loopholes to open a full casino inside. There are, naturally, competing interests and potential villains in the offing, but all that drama is waiting in the wings without poking around in the pilot.

The majority of Luck‘s debut is about setting the mood. Most of the hour takes place at the sun-drenched race track where Ace’s old crew still run their stable of thoroughbreds. We’ve got John Ortiz as the gruff, aphorism-challenged stablemaster Escalante, Richard Kind as an extremely high-strung jockey agent, Tom Payne and Kerry Condon as a pair of young jockeys with fun accents (Cajun and Irish, respectively), and a fine collection of familiar faces (Kevin Dunn, Ian Hart, Ritchie Coster and Jason Gedrick) playing a group of slovenly gamblers who win it big in the premiere despite acting like the desperate addicts they are. Nick Nolte is also poking around the edges as a horse enthusiast with an epic case of the frownies and a head full of unpleasant knowledge about the crooked business of the track game.

It doesn’t matter, at least for now, that the numbers, systems and character histories are all so intentionally opaque. Luck is part mood piece and part slow burn. All the pieces seem fit to come together gradually over the course of several seasons (even if creator David Milch has a history of not getting the chance to tease things out on HBO). In the meantime, it’s best to ignore the steep learning curve and trust that the excellent atmosphere will carry us through to comprehension by osmosis. It’s a good sign that a subplot concerning the bowel movements of a horse was a riveting as that could possibly be. Again, it’s all in the delivery. Hell, I have no idea what happened in most of the premiere and it’s still more accessible than John From Cincinnati, so that’s a start.

Alcatraz – Mondays, 9:00 PM, FOX

J.J. Abrams brings us another mystery series about an island, this one being Alcatraz, the federal prison that closed its doors in 1963. The two hour premiere on Monday night (actually the first two episodes) showed potential of being another water cooler series like Lost. Unlike that show, Alcatraz has its feet planted in one genre: procedural dramas. Despite the overall mystery that will stretch throughout the season, right now it seems like each week seems is going to follow the pattern of Criminal Minds or CSI: cops chasing down bad guys before they commit their next crime. Granted, the criminals being hunted are convicts from Alcatraz who disappeared in ’63, but the methods being used for tracking these criminals are the same. We’ll see how long Abrams and company stick to this format before they decide to shake things up (see Alias and Fringe).

The mystery of the show should intrigue viewers to return, at least for now. The set up: In 1963, 302 convicts from Alcatraz vanished into thin air just before they were to be transferred off the rock. Now they’re reappearing in the 21st Century, unaffected by father time. What happened to these men? Where did they go? How is it that none of them have aged? Finally, who is responsible?

Investigating these reappearances are a small group made up of San Francisco detective, a comic store owner/PHD expert on Alcatraz, a mysterious federal agent, and a doctor/scientist of some sort. As San Fran Detective Madsen, Sarah Jones is quite good. Spunky and tough, Madsen isn’t just another pretty face playing cops and robbers. Sam Neill, he of the ominous tilted head stare, plays Emerson Hauser, an FBI agent responsible for tracking down the “63ers,” as they’re dubbed. Hauser is running the show and brings Madsen into the fold. We soon learn that he has an ulterior motive in wanting the young detective involved. Madsen recruits Dr. Diego Soto, an expert in all things Alcatraz (he’s the PHD). Jorge Garcia plays Soto and he might as well be playing Hurley from Lost because the part sure is written the same. Finally, Parminda Nagra (ER) completes the special task force as Lucy Banerjee, Hauser’s assistant/technician. She appears to have some medical experience; that has been completely explained just yet.

It’s going to be difficult for Alcatraz to avoid the Lost comparisons, and I’m not just speaking about the Hurley, er, Soto character. Michael Giacchino’s score, while evoking the great music of Bernard Hermann, still has some of the same qualities of his work on Lost.  Also, each episode if Alcatraz is structured so that the story is told in the present and in a flashback. The transition between the two isn’t an airplane sound like in Lost. Instead, it was the clanging of a jail cell closing. As a fan of Lost, I felt that the way they cut back and forth started to get a little predictable.

The pilot episode was considerably tighter than the second hour. Hour two’s plot felt rushed, as did the producer’s attempt to make us care for the characters. In the second episode, Nagra’s Banerjee gets shot and put into a coma. I found it difficult to care since her character had little to do and we hardly got to know her before she was shot. Since this is a mid-season show, the producers are working with a shorter number of episodes than a typical season. Perhaps if they’d had more time to establish the character this event would have had a greater impact.

For now, finding out what happened to the 63′s and whose behind it all holds my interest enough to keep me watching, possibly for the rest of this year. However, if it becomes just another routine cop show, with clues to the mystery sprinkled throughout just to appease people, I doubt I’ll return for a second season, if it gets one.

Set at the dawn of America’s grand experiment to outlaw alcohol, Boardwalk Empire follows the rise in organized crime in America, in particular Atlantic City, the coastal town that was a hot bed for rum runners, crooked politicians and gangsters. At the center of the action is Nucky Thompson, Atlantic City’s corrupt city treasurer. As expertly played by Steve Buscemi, Nucky has his hand in everything. If someone’s being paid off or needs protecting, Nucky gets a cut. As the demand for alcohol grows and government agents begin to hammer down on bootleggers, Nucky inches closer and closer to becoming a godfather-like figure in Atlantic City. With the entire series resting on his shoulders, Buscemi shows us why he’s one of the most treasured actors of our generation. The actor has an uncanny talent to make us be scared of, despise and then care about Nucky all in the same moment. And he doesn’t have to say anything. It’s those eyes, man. They’re so expressive and lure us in with each scene he commands.

With Buscemi as their lead, the producers surrounded him with a group of strong, albeit mostly unknown actors. Each of them are able to play the gray areas required when playing a role in a crime series. Everyone has an agenda and by season’s end, the pieces are in place to keep Boardwalk Empire running for many seasons. Considering that Nucky is based on the real life Enoch “Nucky” Johnson, who ran Atlantic City until his incarceration in 1941, this show could run for a decade! The most intriguing characters throughout the first season are as follows: Jimmy Darmody, played with quiet rage by Michael Pitt. Jimmy was an Ivy League student who felt a sense a duty and went of to fight in World War I. Over there, he discovered a dark side of himself. Now that he’s back, he has no desire to study books, but instead has an insatiable need to feed that dark side of his psyche. He hooks up with a young hood named Al Capone and becomes involved with organized crime.

Kelly Macdonald plays Margaret Schroeder, an Irish immigrant who eventually becomes Nucky’s mistress. When we meet Margaret she’s pregnant, married to an abusive alcoholic and trying to manage raising her other two children. When Nucky discovers her dire situation he takes an interst in her. He feels a need to save her, even though she didn’t ask, and this leads to some extrodinary scenes late in the season between Margaret and Nucky. Finally, there is Michael Shannon as fundamentalist government agent, Nelson Van Alden. Shannon has a long list of roles of characters on the verge of coming unhinged. Van Alden is one of his finest. This man wants nothing more than to serve his country and his God. But he has desires and secrets, just like everyone else, which may be his undoing.

Along with Al Capone (played by English actor, Stephen Graham), Boardwalk Empire also introduces other real life figures Arnold Rothstein (A Serious Man’s Michael Stuhlbarg) and Lucky Luciano (Vincent Piazza). Rounding out this wonderful cast are Gretchen Mol, Dabney Coleman, Michael Kenneth Williams (way underused in this particular season) and Jack Huston. The latter gives one of the most fascinating performances in season one. He portrays a war vet who has lost part of his face and wears tin mask the scars. Using only one eye to express his emotions and speaking with an affect, Huston is mesmerizing.

As you would expect from Terrence Winter and the top notch writer and directors he has brought to the show, the technical aspects of Boardwalk Empire are across the board superior. As the bonus features show, the boardwalk that was built for the show is a 300 foot functioning set. When you see the characters enter buiolding, such as the lobby of a hotel, the cameras can actually enter that building so that filming can continue. The boardwalk is a stunning piece of craftsmanship. Since Scorssese is such a stickler for historical accurancy, you know that the music, dialogue and costumes are up to snuff. The master director helmed the first episode, creating the look and style of Boardwalk Empire. The other directors of the series seem to revel in the chance to emulate Scorsese, both in the way they move the cameras and edit the show. Each episode is like a mini movie, television at its finest.

It strikes me funny that HBO waited until after the conclusion of Boardwalk Empire‘s second season to finally release season one on home video. The bonus features, while all informative and well produced, are nothing extraordinary in the realm of Blu-ray bonus features. That shouldn’t stop fans of the show who’ve seen both seasons (I’ve only seen the first) from getting this box set. There is so much substance to this Boardwalk Empire that it’s worth a second and third look. For those of you who have yet to step foot in 1920′s Atlantic City, you’re in for a treat.

Napoleon Dynamite is back, but this time he’s got his own TV Series. How does it hold up against the beloved cult film? Brian Boone is here tell you, my friends. Read on!

Napoleon Dynamite- Sundays, 8:30 PM, FOX

The 2004 Napoleon Dynamite was a refreshingly original movie, a confident mix of bizarre even otherworldly characters in a dreary small town running around for an hour and a half doing nothing in particular. It was a series of deliberately chosen, almost arbitrary quirks, catchphrases, and episodic moments, but in the end, so warm and warmly hilarious. It would have and should have made a great TV series.

It didn’t. The whole thing is wildly wrong in its tone, approach, and faithfulness to the mild but beloved cultural phenomenon of eight years ago.

The original, live-action movie already was a cartoon, as it was both familiar and surreal (and infinitely quotable). The cartoon completely abandons the movie’s quiet, random tone for crass and formulaic plots, sitcomy jokes, and insult humor. Oh, and none of the characters make any sense vs. their movie counterparts. All of the main characters (the actors of which reprise their roles here) suddenly are sharp, smart, and aware of their surroundings, not deluded, barely awake, or vaguely depressed. In what universe of Napoleon Dynamite does Napoleon actually have kung fu moves, instead of being great in his own head, before fighting his brother in an underground cage fight? And Napoleon corrects somebody’s grammar, which seems impossible for someone who seemed mildly mentally ill in the movie.

It’s also impossible to tell when in the Nappy D timeline this takes place. For example, Kip isn’t yet married to LaFawnduh, which happens in the movie, and yet Napoleon is friends with Pedro, who he meets in the movie. The series, then, takes place sometime after the beginning of the movie, but before the early-middle of the movie.

The influence of primetime cartoons is felt far stronger than that of the movie’s creative force and co-producers Jared and Jarusha Hess. With all the funny background gags, insult humor, rapid-fire actions, and lack of sympathy for its characters, the show is less similar to the Napoleon Dynamite movie than it is to The Critic. That’s not a good thing.

Maybe I’m just bummed out that the creative team – the Hess duo in particular—had to go back to the well because their post Napoleon ventures, the equally bizarro and inventive comedies Nacho Libre and Gentlemen Broncos—were not well-received. Don’t watch the Napoleon series—go rent Gentleman Broncos instead.

Today, Ted Asregadoo reviews the latest supernatural series to come from BBC America. How does it stack up with he network’s other hit shows like Life on Mars and Being Human? Don’t ask me! Let Ted tell you. 

The Fades on BBC America had the unfortunate luck of premiering after the epic 49’ers/Saints game that had more surprises than anything that was on TV that day. Quite a lot to top, but The Fades did manage to keep me interested in the characters, even if the plot was, at times, predictable.

Part of BBC America’s “Supernatural Saturday” line up, The Fades has a kind of “been there-done that” premise, but peppers the major story arc with a nicely written geeky teen awkwardness that balances the overly dramatic premise.  The story has a kind of Harry Potterish quality to it, sans going to Hogwarts and playing with magic wands.  After a fractured and scattered set up, the story locks in by centering on Paul (Iain de Caestecker) who’s struggling with a number of psychological issues.  For example, he’s plagued by apocalyptic dreams, he wets the bed, has trouble talking to girls, is struggling with the divorce of his parents, and after a series of events, sees strange looking people no one else can see.  That’s quite a lot for a teenage boy to shoulder.  Fortunately for Paul, he has a loyal (and equally geeky) friend in Mac (Daniel Kaluuya) — who provides both comic relief and genuine support for Paul.

The major story arc centers on the dead who have not “ascended” to their final resting place.  There isn’t any rhyme or reason why some ascend and others are left on earth to wander in a kind of purgatory of loneliness.  But we do find out that those who do not ascend from this earthly boundary to the great unknown become quite angry at their plight – and blame humans for it.  Only a select few can see these dead folks – who are called “Fades” – and, yes, Paul is one of them.  But that’s not even half of it.  Seems there’s a Fade who is able to take corporeal form and is able to kill humans.  The more this Fade kills humans, the stronger he gets and the closer he is to wiping all of humanity off the face of the earth – which is foreshadowed in Paul’s dreams.

What can Paul do to stop this Fade – and others like him? Not much at this point since he is just learning about Fades and his special powers.  What Paul mostly wants in the pilot is to get with Jay – a girl with whom he has a deep crush, but cannot bring himself to talk to without sounding “mental.”  Couple that with the fact that Jay (Sophie Wu) is friends with Paul’s twin sister, Anna (Lily Loveless), makes for some good soap opera moments because Anna really hates Paul and can’t quite understand why they are related.  There are other elements to the story that involve Paul’s history teacher, his estranged (and recently killed) wife who had the same gift as Paul, and Paul’s mentor who is trying to help him harness his powers to save humanity.

Overall, the pilot episode of The Fades was compelling. Add to that the fact that the creators of the series decided to layer in an “awkward teen” sub plot which helped to elevate the show beyond a hodgepodge of fantasy/horror plot retreads to a show that has real promise if it remains true to a number of elements – the most important of which is the focus on British suburban teens.

On its face, CBS’s new sitcom ¡Rob! doesn’t have a terrible premise. Executed properly, it could actually be pretty endearing. It’s the story of an American man who unwittingly marries into a big, Mexican family and gives it his all to fit in for the sake of the woman he loves. Sure, that in itself is a minefield of potential schlock, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be terrible. And for the record, ¡Rob! isn’t terrible. It’s not good, either, but not in a way that’s especially offensive or grating.

All the reasons ¡Rob! should be awful don’t really come into play in the pilot. It may seem like a strange and unwarranted thing to give star Rob Schneider a vehicle, especially after years of risible feature films that come off like bad cartoons made flesh. Schneider isn’t playing the part of the hack here, though. Rather, he’s nestling into the role so many comedians have before him. He’s the awkward schlub who somehow managed to bag a gorgeous, infinitely forgiving woman, resulting in a lifetime of being baffled at his own strange luck. The only real difference between ¡Rob! and recent classics of the form like Everybody Loves Raymond and King of Queens is the lack of a strong supporting cast. A lot of this show’s performers fall somewhere on the “meh” spectrum, which may speak more to the lack of prominent roles for Latino actors in American TV than the casting of ¡Rob! in particular, but that doesn’t change the fact that there’s little to like about the requisite wacky uncle character or the disapproving mom.

The one exception is, predictably, Cheech Marin as Fernando, Rob’s new father-in-law. Marin brings his old penchant for schtick into a role as old as the institution of marriage itself: The tired, quietly snarky in-law who secretly just wants everybody to get along. The performance isn’t exactly revelatory, but he hits all the right notes without being a ham.

As for the elephant that has been camped out in the room ever since ¡Rob! was but a glimmer in the eyes of Rob Schneider and Lew Morton– Yes, ¡Rob! is far from enlightened when it comes to the topic of race. I think it’s misplaced criticism to attack the show for being reductive and inaccurate about Mexican people, if only because the weak family sitcoms that CBS keeps producing are reductive and inaccurate about everything. If a genre created by white, suburban, upper-middle to plain ol’ upper class Americans for the express consumption of white, suburban, upper-middle to plain ol’ upper class Americans can’t depict something genuine and affecting about white, suburban, upper-middle to plain ol’ upper class Americans, what hope is there for their attempt at a show about Mexicans?

So, no, ¡Rob! is not funny, endearing or even all that interesting. It’s also not so bad that it’s ironically or academically fascinating. It’s just another lame sitcom on the network that specializes and makes bank in lame sitcoms.