Channel Surfing: The Crazy Ones - "Pilot"

Robin Williams

Welcome to a new column called Channel Surfing, in which I sporadically look at current TV shows and talk about them. These are not ones that I care to write weekly recaps for and are instead reflections either on the episode, the series, or particular moments. This will hopefully help to share personal opinions as well as discover entertainment on the outer pantheon that I feel is well worth checking out, or in some cases, shows that are weird enough to talk about, but should never be seen.

One of the great debates over the past decade is the legitimacy of Robin Williams as a comedian. Despite turning in occasional gut busters such as World's Greatest Dad, he has been given a bad rap because of work such as RV and Old Dogs, which see the former king of comedy now mugging it up for the camera. However, his recent success has been in the field that gave him his start: television. With appearances on shows such as Louie, he has recaptured some of the magic in guest star roles that see him tow the line between comedic and drama, which I believe that he is an underrated genius at.

That is the appeal and anticipation that goes into his first foray into a starring vehicle. It has been 31 years since Mork and Mindy turned him into the madcap freestyle hero and if there was any better gimmick, I haven't heard it. Williams' return to TV seems like a point of rejuvination, especially as his movie work hasn't had a great string of classics akin to even a decade ago. On TV, he was king and able to place random one liners into the script without it feeling like a detour in quality.

Teaming up with creator David E. Kelly and Sarah Michelle Gellar, the story follows him at an advertising agency.Over the course of the first episode, Simon (Williams) and daughter Sydney (Gellar) work with Zach (James Wolk) to land an account with McDonalds. Their shoe-in is through the help of Kelly Clarkson singing a jingle, which becomes increasingly erotic. Everything in between involves throwing pitches of ideas through fast paced jokes.

The issue with the Crazy Ones is that it doesn't feel... crazy. The show continually suggests that it is going to be unexpected and off the wall, but the conflict has no hurdles and the episode ends before anything substantial begins. They land the deal and had some fun. Still, many questions that pilots are supposed to answer weren't. What is the father/daughter chemistry like? How does this agency function? Is this an outright comedy, or just a loopy drama? There's a lot of gray area on all of this that could leave the viewer underwhelmed and ripped off.

In terms of comedy, it isn't very funny. It isn't unfunny in manners similar to Dads, but more that the jokes come in spurts. The premise itself is played rather serious and while the presence of Kelly Clarkson insists humor, her motives felt more important. Williams is still capable of being funny, and he has moments of joy here and there. However, the chemistry between him and Gellar and Wolk seem to be bittersweet and based around convincing us that they have a deep kindred love for each other. No real comedy prevails.

As a drama, it also kind of fails largely because it doesn't achieve that in the half hour format. The conflict isn't big enough for a dramatic arch, yet it almost feels like the show was created to convince you that these week-to-week client landings were going to be hard. In a way, by focusing on business, it just feels too impersonal.

On the bright side, this isn't CBS' traditional three camera sitcom. It helps the show to feel more modern, but also makes it feel awkwardly quiet. Williams' jokes work, but some fall flat because of their lack of laughing to accompany it. He was always great at working off of a crowd and the subject here isn't broad enough to make his rants feel prominent to the story. It is especially jarring as neither Gellar nor Wolk are capable of keeping up with his stream of consciousness.

The Crazy Ones is at very least disappointing. Watching "Pilot," there is never a sense of what the show is actually about. We get that these people exist in this world, but as their first conflict lacks a strong struggle, there is not a sense that this is a story worth investing in. It almost feels like a lazier House of Lies. Even if Williams trumps anything from that show, at least it had plenty of established content by the end of its first 30 minutes.

Probably the most problematic of all is that as an advertising agency story, it does wear its sponsors almost too prominently. The whole first episode feels like a promotion largely for McDonalds because it is. It may be based around trying to write a jingle, but the amount of love given to the fast food chain through positive comments by every character is unnerving. Right off the bat, the show doesn't feel like it is about these characters largely because they feel consumed by the corporation and thus lack identities. They even seem star struck by Kelly Clarkson, which almost makes this feel like the show's main intention was to play commercials in the form a sitcom.

I really want the Crazy Ones to be fun, but there is very little to really grasp onto. The characters are too involved in consumerism. The relationship derails the comedy. The drama isn't thick enough to justify its existence. Williams is funny, but only in spurts. I am sure that this could just be a bad pilot and that the show could work itself out, but it would have to do quite a bit to get there. 

For starters, I feel like it could be good if it just gave us reason to care. I feel like the show is hinting at a deeper analysis of the company's history. It will probably explain why this father/daughter combo is relevant. It may even explain why the show is called the Crazy Ones when it is in fact a very tame and uninspired group of people. The premise seems unfortunate if it wants to improve long term, but maybe this is an example of the master being too ahead of his class. Gellar has potential to bounce back, but she will always be in Williams' shadow.

In the end, the Crazy Ones is more of a mystery after its first episode than a promising show. It doesn't provide enough answers to actually care. It will probably just live on through the benefit of Williams' star power and the potential of this rejuvenating him as a comedic performer in forms of media other than stand-up. Even then, I feel that this is too much based in gimmicks to promote stuff to actually have fleshed out characters. I could be wrong and mislead by the whole project, but it is my impression. While it debuted better than the Michael J. Fox Show, I still feel like the NBC show is both better and aware of where it wants to go. Maybe it is that it plays the lead's strengths instead of just selling stuff, but it would explain a lot of why the Crazy Ones may end up dropping off sooner than NBC's show.