'Grandfathered,' 'The Grinder' form Fox's handsome men hour
Everybodys a Critic panel gives Rob Lowes sitcom the edge over John Stamos, but our reviewers not so sure.
* GRANDFATHERED. 8 tonight, Fox 29.
* THE GRINDER. 8:30 tonight, Fox 29.
MAYBE IT SEEMS silly to worry about flow, in the age of I'll-catch-it-on-Hulu, but some shows just belong together.
Tonight, with the premieres of "Grandfathered" and "The Grinder," Fox brings us an hour of handsome, slightly delusional middle-age men teaching, and maybe learning from, their younger male relatives.
In the case of John Stamos' restaurateur character, Jimmy, in "Grandfathered," that younger male is Gerald (Josh Peck, "Drake & Josh"), the son he didn't know he had.
Gerald, raised by his single mother, Sara (Paget Brewster, "Criminal Minds"), is now a single father. Hopelessly in love with Vanessa (Christina Milian), the mother of his young daughter, Edie (played by twins Layla and Emelia Golfieri), he's hoping for the kind of advice only a man still playing the field at 50 can offer about getting out of the friend zone.
A family show for those whose definition of family remains flexible, "Grandfathered" is Stamos at his handsome-but-vulnerable best. Its pilot, a snappy half-hour sprinkled with celebrity cameos and one-liners, isn't groundbreaking television, but it sets the table for a multigenerational rom-com that might (almost) make up for the fact that I now have to remember to watch new episodes of "The Mindy Project" on Hulu every Tuesday.
Having grown up in a series of places in which what Philadelphia calls a hoagie was instead called a hero, a sub or a grinder, I'm not sure I'd have named Rob Lowe and Fred Savage's new comedy after a sandwich.
Or, for that matter, a hookup app.
Lowe plays Dean, an actor who, after spending several years as a TV lawyer known as "The Grinder" (really), returns home to Idaho, where his actual-lawyer younger brother, Stewart (Savage), has been practicing law with their father (William Devane).
Dean, who seems to have hogged the confidence gene passed on by Devane's character, is convinced his years of spouting legal jargon on camera qualify him to go to court. Stewart, who's more than qualified but struggles with public speaking, is, not surprisingly, unconvinced.
The pilot has some fun moments, but again, it's not exactly groundbreaking. What's not clear is where it can possibly go from here. Will Dean just recycle old TV plots to win in court every week? Will any of his confidence rub off on Stewart? And is any of this even legal?
Until I've seen more, I'm a little concerned Lowe's character on "The Grinder" might be one sandwich short of a picnic.
Readers weigh in
Our Everybody's a Critic panel - a dozen Daily News readers who volunteered to help me do my job this fall - gave a slight edge to "The Grinder" over "Grandfathered."
"Grandfathered" averaged a 6 on a scale of 1 to 10, with individual scores ranging from 2 all the way to 10.
"The show was interesting from start to finish," wrote David E. Jones, of South Philadelphia.
"Interesting, and funny," agreed David G. Beck, of Willow Grove.
"John Stamos seems a bit tense and maybe that's the character, but it's more uncomfortable than likable," wrote Kirsten Winering, of Roxborough.
"The Grinder" averaged a 7, with individual scores ranging from 3 to 10.
"Lowe [is] funny and at his best. Hey, if I want a lawyer, I definitely want that guy," wrote Michael Hickson, of Wynnefield.
"Much better than 'Grandfathered' - stronger cast, less predictable plotting," wrote Judy Weightman, of East Falls.
"Has Hollywood given up on making quality programming, or are they just running pretty faces by us again?" asked Stephanie Stith, of Germantown.
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