CBS’ new comedy ‘The Millers’ (which airs after ‘The Big Bang Theory’) is gaining less than favorable reviews. Personally, I saw it, and having read the critics reviews before hand, I wasn’t hoping for anything special. Although to be honest, based from the trailer, I was expecting Margo Martindale to shine and shine she did.
Before we dwell on to my review, here’s a little introduction about the show. ‘The Millers’ is a comedy series created by the great Greg Garcia. You may know him from the other shows that he has created like ‘My Name is Earl’ and ‘Raising Hope’. Based from his track record, the expectations were high for his newest venture.
The cast is also superb as it stars Will Arnett, Beau Bridges, and Margo Martindale. Another aspect of the show that got people excited is the excellent cast. Will Arnett has proven himself countless times that he is a very capable comedic actor with his role as “Gob Bluth” on ‘Arrested Development’ and his guest appearances on ’30 Rock’ as the highly competitive “Devon Banks”. Beau Bridges’ has a very colorful acting career being involved in different genres of TV shows and movies like ‘The Fabulous Baker Boys’, ‘Heart like a Wheel’, ‘The Landlord’ and so much more. Margo Martindale as we all know is one of the greatest living actresses of our generation. Aside from her Emmy winning role in ‘Justified’, she was also recently nominated for another Emmy in the Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Category. Her movie career is also proof of her acting chops as she has been involved in movies like ‘Lorenzo’s Oil’, ‘Win Win’, ‘Dead Man Walking’ and other great flicks.
‘The Millers’ has a trusty show creator and an excellent cast, so why is it being panned by reviewers?
It’s because of very high expectations. It’s not only the critics, IMDB has a 5.3 out of 10 stars rating for the show. It means that even the people who saw it didn’t like it very much. I guess people were just expecting better writing and acting, or they expected it to somehow be different from the stampede of comedies present and past. I honestly can say that the whole show’s structure is derivative of typical sitcoms. You have a dysfunctional family, an African American best friend for the lead guy, and *gasp* fart jokes.
Will Arnett was not able to fully show his comedic range with such a stiff character, he really excels on roles where he could act crazy and weird. Beau Bridges’ character was stupid; literally, he was playing a dumb character who didn’t know how to operate TV remotes and microwave ovens. While Margo Martindale also had a plain character, an over controlling mother who liked to squeeze her way in to other people’s businesses. Thank God for her comedic timing as it saved the show from total devastation.
If you ask me would I still watch the 2nd episode, yes I will. I still have high hopes for the show that sooner or later they’ll find their stride. Even great past comedy shows needed some time to find their groove, I just wish that ‘The Millers’ find theirs fast.
