NBC's latest comedy offering is Go On, starring former Friend and NBC favorite, Matthew Perry. The show's pilot aired during the Olympics and I knew this was my kind of comedy. Now four episodes into the season, I'm sticking with it. Here's why.
Matthew Perry plays Ryan King, a successful radio sportscaster who is trying to cope after the recent death of his wife. He decides to throw himself back into work, but his boss and best friend Steven (the always entertaining John Cho) insists that Ryan attend a support group at a local community center. Ryan joins the group with great reluctance, but after a bumpy start he realizes that he does need these people to help him process his grief.
The group consists of the usual motley crew of weirdos that make up such comic situations. The leader is a woman named Lauren (Laura Benanti) whose previous experience is limited to running Weight Watchers sessions. She will inevitably be Ryan's future love interest, but for now she's preoccupied with getting him to express his feelings and acknowledge that everything is not okay. The other members of the group include: Anne (Julie White) who is angrily dealing with the death of her life partner; Owen (Tyler James Williams, all grown-up from Everybody Hates Chris) whose brother is in a coma after a skiing accident; Yolanda (Suzy Nakamura), an uptight woman whose parents are divorcing; George (Bill Cobbs) who is blind, elderly, and generally frustrated with life; Sonia (Sarah Baker) who is grieving over the death of her cat; Fausta (Tonita Castro), a Hispanic woman whose father and brother have both died; Danny, a seemingly upbeat man who is dealing with the fact that his wife had a baby with another man while he was in the army; and Mr. K (Brett Gelman), who is just bizarre and is grieving over something that no one knows about.
If those character sketches seem a trifle stereotypical or vague, that's because the show is only 4 episodes in. All sitcoms struggle in the beginning because 22 minutes cannot suffice to flesh out every character at once. For now, Matthew Perry is very much the star and the group are supporting players, but if the writers are smart, that dynamic will have to change. Already we're starting to get storylines where Ryan hangs out with individual group members, which gives us a glimpse into their lives and what makes them tick. Once the supporting cast have stories that only tangentially involve Perry, we'll have a true ensemble comedy in the celebrated NBC tradition of shows like The Office, Parks & Recreation, or even Friends. In fact, Go On is compared most often to Community, a beloved NBC show that is seemingly on its last legs. It will be interesting to see what Go On does to ensure that it keeps that dark but funny sensibility of Community while still maintaining some kind of broad appeal to garner favorable ratings. So far, Matthew Perry seems to be the big draw, but the show will have to evolve in order to keep its audience interested.
Go On's comedy is varied and wonderful. There are sarcastic one-liners, darkly funny ruminations on grief, stereotypical sitcom gags, and slapstick humor. It is funny and sad and Ryan King is both sympathetic and aggravating. The writing sometimes seems a little safe, probably because pushing the envelope isn't really rewarded at NBC. But like I said before, I'm sticking with it. Great comedies are notorious for starting out slow - that's true of almost every current Thursday-night comedy. But if Go On sticks to its guns and invests in its characters, it has the makings of a true comedy classic.
Matthew Perry plays Ryan King, a successful radio sportscaster who is trying to cope after the recent death of his wife. He decides to throw himself back into work, but his boss and best friend Steven (the always entertaining John Cho) insists that Ryan attend a support group at a local community center. Ryan joins the group with great reluctance, but after a bumpy start he realizes that he does need these people to help him process his grief.
The group consists of the usual motley crew of weirdos that make up such comic situations. The leader is a woman named Lauren (Laura Benanti) whose previous experience is limited to running Weight Watchers sessions. She will inevitably be Ryan's future love interest, but for now she's preoccupied with getting him to express his feelings and acknowledge that everything is not okay. The other members of the group include: Anne (Julie White) who is angrily dealing with the death of her life partner; Owen (Tyler James Williams, all grown-up from Everybody Hates Chris) whose brother is in a coma after a skiing accident; Yolanda (Suzy Nakamura), an uptight woman whose parents are divorcing; George (Bill Cobbs) who is blind, elderly, and generally frustrated with life; Sonia (Sarah Baker) who is grieving over the death of her cat; Fausta (Tonita Castro), a Hispanic woman whose father and brother have both died; Danny, a seemingly upbeat man who is dealing with the fact that his wife had a baby with another man while he was in the army; and Mr. K (Brett Gelman), who is just bizarre and is grieving over something that no one knows about.
If those character sketches seem a trifle stereotypical or vague, that's because the show is only 4 episodes in. All sitcoms struggle in the beginning because 22 minutes cannot suffice to flesh out every character at once. For now, Matthew Perry is very much the star and the group are supporting players, but if the writers are smart, that dynamic will have to change. Already we're starting to get storylines where Ryan hangs out with individual group members, which gives us a glimpse into their lives and what makes them tick. Once the supporting cast have stories that only tangentially involve Perry, we'll have a true ensemble comedy in the celebrated NBC tradition of shows like The Office, Parks & Recreation, or even Friends. In fact, Go On is compared most often to Community, a beloved NBC show that is seemingly on its last legs. It will be interesting to see what Go On does to ensure that it keeps that dark but funny sensibility of Community while still maintaining some kind of broad appeal to garner favorable ratings. So far, Matthew Perry seems to be the big draw, but the show will have to evolve in order to keep its audience interested.
Go On's comedy is varied and wonderful. There are sarcastic one-liners, darkly funny ruminations on grief, stereotypical sitcom gags, and slapstick humor. It is funny and sad and Ryan King is both sympathetic and aggravating. The writing sometimes seems a little safe, probably because pushing the envelope isn't really rewarded at NBC. But like I said before, I'm sticking with it. Great comedies are notorious for starting out slow - that's true of almost every current Thursday-night comedy. But if Go On sticks to its guns and invests in its characters, it has the makings of a true comedy classic.
in my country gave the first chapter and is very good
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great review of Go On, Shloka. I just got finished with Tuesdays episode; I work nights at DISH, so I rely on my Hopper DVR and the Primetime Anytime feature to record my network shows. I think that the humor feels a bit forced at times, but I kind of expect that from new shows; as time goes on, I am sure they writers will refine and hone the shows sense of style. I hope Go On gets that chance to grow because this is one of the few new shows from this season that has managed to catch my interest.
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