FALL TV REVIEW: Accidentally On Purpose

Name of Show: Accidentally On Purpose
Network: CBS
Day: Monday
Time: 8:30pm EST/7:30pm CST
Genre: Comedy
Length: 30 minutes
Episode Watched: Pilot

Setting: San Francisco (yet, the signs for commercial real estate in the establishing shot have NYC area codes. . .hmmmmm. . .)
Characters (in order of mention/appearance):
Olivia - Blonde scottish chick
James - (Grant Show) Jenna's boyfriend (ex-boyfriend?), big-wig at the paper
Billie -(Jenna Elfman) - film critic at the San Francisco Telegraph
Abby - Jenna Elfman's sister, flighty, married, red head
Zack - wants to open his own restaurant, baby daddy

Stereotypes:
- Grumpy Old Man
- Sassy non-White Woman
- Funny fat guy
- Hot blonde wife of funny fat guy
X 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
X Cougar
- Brainy brunette
- Precocious kid acting way too mature for their age
X Hot blonde

Basic premise: Billie gets pregnant with a guy she met at a bar. . .and now gets to deal with the consequences!

Pilot plot:

Billie works as a film critic at the San Francisco Telegraph and had just broken up with some big wig there, when he took her to Paris and didn't propose (but he did have marzipan! not even chocolate! boo! She and her Scottish (. . .?) friend Olivia are at a company party when the ex (James) shows up with Kate Moss (who is above doing a cameo on a pilot. . .or they didn't have the budget to book her).

She bolts the party and gets drinks nearby with her girlfriends. A group of 20-somethings asks her to settle a bet (which, in my cyncial way, I think is a setup to a joke about cougars. . .but it's not!) and she ends up dancing with the cutest one, Zach. . .right next to the bar.

They're hitting it off, and then he hits all of us over the head with his, oft-used, I'm guessing, pickup line: "I'm running out of charming, I think I have more back in my apartment. . .and some ravioli" ick. And she goes!!! Hope she likes the smell of herpes in the morning.

We see Zach's apartment, which is college chic, complete with a futon that Billie spends the night on. She wakes up, leaves post-it on his head (Sex and the City reference. . yawn) and leaves. . .only to walk into the losers from last night. She distracts them with a Grand Theft Auto reference and then promptly meets the girls for brunch.

She has another rendezvous with Zach. . .which we're led to believe happens a lot. . .which leads to the girls helping her with a pregnancy test. . .and it's positive. uh oh!

Her friends suggest that perhaps part of her got pregnant on purpose and wanted a baby, so she decides to keep it. . .then laments misusing her boytoy (aww sad). She figures that she has to tell him about the baby, which she decides to do in an alley behind the restaurant where he works. klassy. He decides to be involved because dad walked out on him, he was a sad boy, blah blah blah. She gives him an out, but he insists . . .and even offers to drive her to the doctor. Why is this character so nice? How long will it last? When can we hear more cheesy pickup lines?

Zach picks up Billie in a 16-passenger van, and mentions that he was just crashing at David's and now sleeps in the van. "Hmmm. . ." I think, "I'll bet she offers to let him stay with her." And after a scene where he compares a sonogram to "robot porn", I was right.

He shows up at the apartment with a friend in tow, asking what things in the apartment are called (seriously, he's probably 23. . .has it been that long since he lived in a house?). Charmingly, the friend says "Damn, I gotta knock me up a cougar." And there it is. Cougar reference #1 for the series.

Billie assures her friends that she's just helping him out, and the boytoy/cougar thing is ending because she's setting boundaries. . .until he's naked in her bed.

Act 1 Break Pickle: Billie wants to keep Zach at arm's length. . .and he wants to do it all the time.

Pickle solved! She sets her boundaries and kicks him out of bed. phew!

Back at work, she rehashes with Olivia who lets her know she's made lots of bad decisions. Thanks 'Liv!
James approaches her about living together, but doesn't get the concept (this show does not like men so much). Zach shows up with lunch and mentions the baby. James loses it! Zach and James have a multi-generational fight and James accuses Billie of using a pregnancy as a desperate cry for help. Throw around some Facebook references to remind us that this show takes place in 2009, and fight is over.

Billie returns home to Zach's lovely friends. They've made themselves at home. . .except for using the shower. . .they clearly haven't done that. She goes to put away groceries and the fridge door broke off. She goes nuts and yells at Zach and they both agree that he needs to go pack up his stuff. She storms to get there first and finds that he turned his room into a nursery. . .awwww. They make up. . .without a lot of chemistry. . .and she lets the friends stay to hang out.

She's laying in bed talking to him through the wall, he's sleeping on the floor, comments on how romantic it is and she informs him that she's not sleeping with him. Oh Zach. . .always trying. We conclude with talk of breakfast and an "I love you" that was more related to the food than the man.

Reaction:
Cute show - and a rather modern concept. I'm not sure where there is to go beyond her getting annoyed with how he lives, dealing with the fact they're in different places in their lives, dealing with James' lingering feelings, and of course, dealing with the baby. Not bad though!


Competing against in my DVR schedule (remember, only two slots!): Dancing with the Stars
Added to schedule?: No
Renewed for a 2nd season prediction: Well, Gary Unmarried got renewed on this network. . .so probably

Hey look! It's ______Dharma____ from ____that show I never watched!___

I'm so quirky!