TEST RUN REVIEW: Charles in Charge

Just a reminder that I'll be blogging/reviewing actual pilots once they start after Labor Day. These are just test runs with familiar shows. . .enjoy!

Name of Show: Charles in Charge
Network: CBS (ok. . .Hulu)
Day: Wednesday
Time: 8pm EST
Genre: Sitcom
Length: 30 minutes
Year: 1984
Who was born on that day: Ashlee Simpson

Characters (in order of mention/appearance):
Gwendolyn Pierce: hot girl, played by fake Cindy from A Very Brady Christmas
Charles: College student, just trying to be a guy, nanny
Lila Pembroke: 8th grader, brainy, desperately wants to be popular
Buddy Landbeck: Charles' sidekicky friend, nicknamed "Goon"
Alexander Morgan: 8th grader who is cool but bad at math
Stan Pembroke: Dad, cheeseball, 35 years old
Jill Pembroke: Journalist, too young to have kids that age
Douglas Pembroke: Middle kid, nerdy, wears Yoda mask at dinner, future PETA member
Jason Pembroke: youngest kid, too precocious for his own good, mouthy kid but ya love him!
Delivery guy: fakes embarassing stereotype of a chinese-american but oh! he's just as assimilated as the rest of us!


Stereotypes:
-Grumpy Old Man
-Sassy non-White Woman
-Funny fat guy
-Hot blonde wife of funny fat guy
-Quirky, far too self-aware early 20's guy/girl
-Emo Teen
-Guy you've seen in that one movie who always has a sarcastic comment
X Fallen star taking what work they can get (Willie Aames!)
X Relatable guy/girl, soon to be tabloid fodder
X High-strung guy/girl whose buttons everyone enjoys pushing
-Cougar
X Brainy brunette
X Precocious kid acting way too mature for their age
X Hot blonde

Basic premise:
The Pembrokes hired a college kid (Charles) and put him in "charge" of their family, which is comprised of a 13 year old girl, a nerdy middle son, and a precocious younger son. Charles must balance the desires of an early 20-something with the responsibilities of being a manny.

Pilot plot:
Charles scores a date with the hottest girl at Unnamed College! He and his buddy Buddy (wow. . .nice telegraphing there, writers) talk about where he can take the hottie Gwendolyn Pierce when we find out that Mrs. Pembroke has to work and Charles is gonna have to stay home with the kids! Meanwhile, little miss Lila has scored a hottie of her own: Alexander Morgan (oh honey, with a name like Alexander, you may be in for a shock in a few years. . .). Since she's super brainy, he wants her to tutor him in math. She thinks this is her "in" into the popular crowd (if that were true, I would have been Prom Queen). Dad isn't too keen on his only daughter having a boy over (after all, he is 35 and apparently thinks he's sterile now . . .?) and beckons Charles to break his legs if he tries anything (personally, I think his time is better spent watching Douglas and Ahlexahhhhnder. . .but hey. . .this was the 80s, I guess prime time wasn't ready for that). Gwendolyn arrives and shock! She's blonde! She and Charles get cozy while Jason hides in a closet (again, thought that would be Alexander. . .), and Charles remembers that he needs to make sure Lila and Alexander aren't getting freaky (but not really. . .let's be honest).

Act 1 Break Pickle: Trying to get some from Gwendolyn but is morally bound to watch the kids.

We come back and Alexander just really wants to learn math and not makeout with Lila (who will soon start spelling woman with a y and doing performances of the Vagina Monologues). Gwendolyn, meanwhile is upset that Charles kissed her because she's just seen as a piece of meat and nobody likes her mind. I really fail to relate to her at all. Jason has been put to work spying on Lila (so that Charles doesn't have to) and Douglas is off trying on different alien outfits and playing Atari or something (I smell some Judy from Family Matters potential). Charles overhears something suspicious from Lila's room, but it turns out it's just Alexander asking her to knock if off so they can study math. The nerve! Then, they all agree to get ice cream (how most of my days end too). Mr. and Mrs. Pembroke come back, delighted to see all the kids leave and hope they all get double-scoops. . .if you know what I mean. eeeeewwwwww.

Well-placed Hulu ad: Birth Control!

Reaction: As much as I want to relive middle school and watch Scott Baio cope with growing up, I've already seen his reality show, so no need to watch this. It clearly was a vehicle to get a popular character from Happy Days into his own show, as well as show a modern family with two working parents and how they manage. If it was premiering this year, it would have two laid-off parents trying to figure out how to pay for their kids' clothes, with grandpa living there because no one can afford a nursing home.

Competing against in my DVR schedule (remember, only two slots!): Nothing, since it's on Hulu

Added to schedule?: Let's just say that if i saw a rerun on the guide, I wouldn't watch it. If it was 1984 and I was 14, I would.

Renewed for a 2nd season prediction: A good chance! And then syndication!

Hey! It's _Chachi________ from _Happy Days________ !

Back to School

In preparation for my Fall TV Pilot Blog-o-thon, I thought I'd share the format with you. The goal is for my loyal readers (all 2 of you), to have something useful when deciding what new shows to check out. After all, crappy shows do not deserve a coveted space on your DVR schedule.

Also, to warm up (and because it's fun!), I'll be using the format to analyze pilots of old and existing TV shows (need some excuse to dust off those old DVDs!). If you have a link to a pilot of an old show that's posted online that you want me to check out, feel free to post it in the comments.

And now. . .the moment you've been waiting for. . .the 2009 Fall TV Pilot Evaluation Form.

Name of Show:
Network:
Day:
Time:
Genre:
Length:

Characters:

Stereotypes:
-Grumpy Old Man
-Sassy non-White Woman
-Funny fat guy
-Hot blonde wife of funny fat guy
-Quirky, far too self-aware early 20's guy/girl
-Emo Teen
-Guy you've seen in that one movie who always has a sarcastic comment
-Fallen star taking what work they can get
-Relatable guy/girl, soon to be tabloid fodder
-High-strung guy/girl whose buttons everyone enjoys pushing
-Cougar
(what would you add to this list?)


Basic premise:

Pilot plot:

Reaction:

Competing against in my DVR schedule (remember, only two slots!):

Added to schedule?:

Renewed for a 2nd season prediction:

Hey! It's _________ from _________ !

So. . .what else do you want to see? What will help you decide if it's worth watching?

Thanks! Can't wait! It's gonna be a busy September!

Doggin' It

As part of my commitment to P90X, I have to do a workout 6 days a week. With a show on Thursday night, I've opted to have that day as my off day. So, when I have plans on Friday night, I have to get up at 5:30 to do my workout. Anybody who knows me (and don't worry blog voyeurs, you will soon. . .) knows that I am NOT a morning person. I don't even speak words for about the first half hour after I wake up. Anyway, after the show, I went to my bf's to get walked the rest of they way home and left my blackberry (read: alarm clock) at his place. So, I had to setup a comforter and sleeping bag on my floor, set my cable box to turn on at 5:23, and slept. . .poorly. The wakeup was rough. . .as was the core workout.

I did maybe 3/4 of the workout and was like "Is this worth it if I'm not at 100%?" (really, I just wanted an excuse to crawl into my comfy bed). No worries, I completed it. Tony's little comments were especially annoying when I have to wake up early to hear them. Here are some highlights:

"Tip of the day, engage. I don't mean get out and get engaged. . ." Oh, really? I thought this was a life advice video. awk-ward

"Hey banana boy!" (um. . .ew.)

"Look at that! It's Goooorrrrrrrgeous! (said like a wolf howl)

Thank goodness it's Dunkin Donuts coffee day. . .which is probably not on the P90X diet plan. Luckily I'm not following that.

Feeling Old

While Tony Horton was yelling at me to deepen my stretch during today's Yoga X workout, I was thinking about how when I had to do this stuff 10 years ago, my body actually responded. Now, it's like "Ow! Hip hurts! hip HURTS! Stop it! Oh. . .you're gonna pay for this tomorrow. . .you don't even know. . ." WTF? Since when do my hips hurt? And when did I get to the age where my body doesn't respond like it used to? And why is there no pilates x? I effing hate yoga. Especially when you put your legs over your head and then wrap your arms around so it looks like all your body parts are disembodied from one another. I have time to evaluate it like that, you see, because there was no way in hell my body was doing that, so I sat on my pink mat and observed. And because it's a home workout I didn't feel like the creepy girl in yoga class.

In other news, I love reruns and I love HGTV. . .but I never thought they'd meet:


Oh cable system, nice try luring me in.

Motivation

I'm sitting on my floor and my body is t-i-r-e-d. I've in Week 2 of P90x and I've worked out every day (with thursday as my rest) included getting up at 5:30am to do the dreaded Core workout the morning after a show and before I had two client meetings. Let's just say I slept very well that night.

My theory was that I would somewhat watch what I eat, but wouldn't go nuts. After all, if I wasn't working out at all before, just adding the heavy sweat-inducing, heart pumping, muscle fatiguing workouts into my life would clearly melt the pounds away, right? Notsomuch. Gained 1/2 a pound. I blame Aunt Flo, honestly. . .and hopefully this week will be more promising. We shall see!

Also, I know nobody wants to think about this right now, but we're about a month away from the Fall TV premieres and I'll be doing my usual watching the pilot (or 2nd ep. . .depending) and blogging about it. Join me, won't you?

Right now I'm enjoying my three days a week of mind goo: Big Brother. Yeah, the people are total troglodytes, but I enjoy it. We all have our vices.

Downgraded Sims 3 style

In the Sims 3 game (which I'm completely obsessed with and play too much!), you can make friends and it goes from Acquaintance --> Friend --> Good Friend --> Best Friend. Just like in real life, you build the relationship by calling your friends, visiting them, hanging out with them in town. Well, if you don't talk to them for a while, the relationship is then downgraded and it says "John Doe is no longer a friend. You should try calling them once in a while to maintain the relationship."

Amazingly, I've experienced the same thing with some of my friends. Some were formerly really close friends and I see what they're doing via facebook and I'm like "wow, 1) that's an activity I would have enjoyed, which they know. and 2) I had no idea they were up to xyz." At this point, they definitely feel more like acquaintances than friends. The thing is, I have friends who I barely see or talk to, but when I do, we're able to pick right up where we left off and we genuinely care for each other.

For example, I hung out with my RA staff from college. . .many of whom I haven't seen in years and it was just like it was back in our heyday. . .joking, supporting, having a great time. And then there's Marla, my bff from high school who I can say the same joke I said 13 years ago, and she still laughs at it like it was the first time she's heard it.

It makes me wonder if the bonds with the downgraded friends were that strong to begin with, and if they can so quickly fluctuate between friend and acquaintance, if it's worth putting in the effort to keep it at "friend" status. Maybe the upgrading/downgrading is just a way for us to filter and keep only those in our lives who are truly glad to be our friend. . .and us theirs. . .no matter the distance or frequency, and not waste effort on those who are only your friend when it's convenient. . .

who would have thought this computer game where i run little fake peoples' lives would actually teach me something about my own life?