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: Marry Me, NBC in the U.S. on Tuesdays at 9/8c and Global TV in Canada on Fridays at 8/7c
The Pedigree: The show was created and written by David Caspe (Happy Endings), who executive produces with Seth Gordon (The Goldbergs) and Jamie Tarses (Men at Work). Gordon directed the pilot.
The Cast & How You Know Them: Marry Me stars Casey Wilson (Happy Endings), Ken Marino (Veronica Mars), Sarah Wright (Parks and Recreation), John Gemberling (Broad City), Tymberlee Hill (Grey’s Anatomy), and Tim Meadows (Saturday Night Live).
The Premise: Annie and Jake have been together for six years, and Annie is anxious to get married, but accidentally messes up Jake’s perfect proposal plans.
A Taste:
What Works: Ken Marino is always a delight, and while I don’t like the kind of character Casey Wilson is playing, I think she’s generally successful at what she’s trying to do. There are some good one-liners and some nice moments with the main characters’ respective parents. Honestly, this is the kind of show for which I can recognize that a lot of people will like it — the leads, the tone, the type of humor — but it’s not for me.
What Doesn’t: I found the whole tone of the show to be extremely unpleasant. A lot of the pilot revolves around people being mean to and about each other, and while I know some viewers enjoy that flavor of comedy, I just don’t. It also relies a lot on extremely old-fashioned gender stereotypes, and seems to believe that the main character having gay dads in itself works as a joke. The whole set-up of “mild guy badgered into marriage by crazy, domineering woman” just feels lazy and tired.
Our Favorite Line: “I just don’t want to be in this moment for one more second.”
You Might Like This if you like relationship comedies with a bit of a mean edge. And Happy Endings fans should definitely give this a shot.
If You’re Interested: In Canada, Marry Me premieres on Global TV on Friday, October 17th at 8/7c – and in the U.S., it’s rerunning in that time slot on NBC (this week only). You can also watch the pilot on the NBC site or Hulu.
(Photo courtesy of NBC.)