Welcome to Pilot Perception, our feature in which we break down the first episode of each new show in order to help you decide whether it’s worth your time.
The Show: Me, Myself & I, CBS in the U.S. and CTV in Canada, Mondays at 9:30/8:30c
The Pedigree: Me, Myself & I was created and written by Dan Kopelman (Malcolm in the Middle), who executive produces with Aaron Kaplan (Life in Pieces) and Dana Honor. Randall Einhorn (The Office) directed the pilot.
The Cast & How You Know Them: The show stars Jack Dylan Grazer (It), Bobby Moynihan (Saturday Night Live), and John Larroquette as main character Alex at three points in his life.
The Premise: This comedy follows one man through pivotal points of his life as a 14-year-old in 1991, a 40-year-old in the present day, and a 65-year-old in 2042.
A Taste:
What Works: I liked that it didn’t take the easiest route with some of the character dynamics – I expected the stepfamily to be terrible but they weren’t, and sort of figured older Alex would be estranged from his daughter and need to fix that, but no, they seem fine. The early nineties soundtrack was right on.
What Doesn’t: I just didn’t think this held together as a show, or did enough to make us care about the character. The connections between the different sections are somehow both way too heavy-handed and too tenuous to make it feel like there’s any kind of narrative cohesion. It’s hard to grasp the three Alexes as the same character, obviously overdone mannerisms aside. The future didn’t seem at all futuristic, except for everyone being unbelievably successful. It wasn’t funny and the writing was generally pretty painful.
Our Favorite Line: “I’ve never really been into the whole having a ton of friends thing.” “Who doesn’t want to have a ton of friends?” “Me? As explicitly expressed in my last sentence?”
You Might Like This if you like high-concept family comedies, I guess. There was also a hint of How I Met Your Mother in the “let me explain how I got to this specific end point” concept.
If You’re Interested: Catch the pilot on the CBS or CTV site or on demand, then set your DVR for Monday at 9:30/8:30c.
(Photo courtesy of CBS.)