Funnyman Rainn Wilson is back! Returning to TV with a brand new police procedural from Hart Hanson (creator of Bones), Rainn Wilson continues to show his versatile acting ability with such wide ranging choice of roles. Joining Rainn Wilson on Backstrom are the likes of Dennis Haysbert, relative newcomer Genevieve Angelson, Kristoffer Polaha, Beatrice Rosen, Page Kennedy, and Thomas Dekker. With such an excellent cast and crew, the only question on my mind before watching the pilot was, "What can go wrong?". Unfortunately, it turns out quite a lot can go wrong and does... To simplify the problems I had with the pilot, I'm going to break it down into 3 different cleverly titled sections.
Unlikable Character Is Unlikable
Backstrom's attitude in the pilot is basically equivalent to a Detective Dr. House. Unlike Hugh Laurie's iconic character however, Backstrom is not only unlikable, but he is unfunny. Nearly all of his jokes fall flat and he resorts to the second lowest form of humor possible (number one is fart jokes): racist jokes. Fans of 24 (also starring Dennis Haysbert) will recall how consistently Jack Bauer screamed dammit. Anyone who watches Backstrom is going to recall how consistently racist Everett Backstrom acts. One of the real strengths of the aforementioned House was its ability to make you like an unlikable character through humor. The writers did a great job at making a character you're not supposed to like, but that is honestly all the credit I can give them so far.
Chemistry is... I'm Still Looking For It Actually
The cast and crew of Backstrom certainly did not take Walter White's chemistry class because if Backstrom is missing one thing, it's chemistry. In the first episode, the cast was unable to work off of each other to make an enjoyable drama/comedy because they have absolutely zero chemistry. Watching Backstrom was literally like picking up the script from any other procedural, removing the characters that make the procedural enjoyable, and replacing them with people you can't even begin to care about.
You Just Don't Care
As I write this review and look at the notes I took during the episode, I am trying to find a silver lining in Backstrom. The only possible use for this show would be for extremely dedicated fans of The Office or Rainn Wilson and that is truly a sad singular use for a new show. It's sad because the people behind this show are clearly very capable actors and writers. Backstrom simply did not click at all! I didn't care about the characters, I didn't care about the case, and, most importantly, I did not enjoy Backstrom (the character or the show)!
Rating: 4/10
Backstrom premieres on January 22 on Fox. Be sure to come back here to SpoilerTV to let everyone else know what you thought of the episode. Let us know if you agreed or disagreed!
Oh mannnn I was actually looking forward to this, so it's really that bad? Damn that sucks.
ReplyDeleteThat's too bad, hopefully it improves. I'm actually not that surprised that it isn't very good based off the promos, but the racism as humor thing is kind of shocking and horrifying in this day and age.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I would like nothing more than to hear that the show improves, but so far I just don't see it happening. On the racism front, I don't want to mislead you. I don't believe any of it was meant to insult the audience or any race, but the way it was used in the jokes just came across as a)low brow, b)not funny, and c) mildly insulting.
ReplyDeleteWell, my opinion was that it was unoriginal and the main character was fairly unlikable. Others are bound to have other opinions though so I would invite you to try the first episode if you were looking forward to it just so you can judge it for yourself. :)
ReplyDeleteAww man, I was hoping this would be good since I love Rainn Wilson. I guess I'll still give it a shot.
ReplyDeleteYou may be right but I'm still giving it a look for myself.
ReplyDeleteYup, I'll still give it a try but if it doesn't have the smoothness that House had then I probably won't like it.
ReplyDeletenot boding well, but I'll still give it a sample... hopefully it'll improve a lot in the follow on eps...
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with Brandon here, the show was borderline unwatchable.
ReplyDeleteI know. I was sad too. Like you said though, give it a shot for yourself and see what you think. I look forward to hearing your thoughts.
ReplyDeleteI know exactly where you're coming from. We critics do not hold the only true opinion after all! Haha. Be sure to let us know what you think.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely, give it a shot. It would have an awful lot of improving to do, but I would be very pleased to see it happen!
ReplyDeleteThis won't even get half of Empire's ratings, let alone a 4+ demo. The advertising is horrible. I'm counting down the days until Bones come back.
ReplyDeleteOh, well I'm glad that the show didn't end up actually promoting racism, but it's still a shame that a show created by the same person who made Bones is so terrible.
ReplyDeleteEven the promo didn't interest me and I was expecting it to be good until I saw the trailer.
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