This article doesn’t contain spoilers.
There’s really no other way to put it. The first episode of NBC’s new sitcom ‘1600 Penn‘ was really bad. And not bad as in bada**. Bad as in embarrassingly awful.
But don’t give up on show just yet. Although ‘1600 Penn’s’ producers released a C+ pilot last month that screamed mid-season cancellation, the show’s future episodes, including tonight’s season premiere, are every bit as funny as you’d hoped they’d be.
Like in the pilot of the show, which aired as a special on Dec. 17., the second episode of ‘1600 Penn’ revolves around ‘Book of Morman’ star Josh Gad’s character, Skip Gilchrist, the good-intentioned but immature son of the President of the United States. Whereas only Gad’s character is well defined in the first episode of ‘1600 Penn’ and the audience struggles to keep track of the other characters, including The President (played by Bill Pullman, who also played the President in box office hit Independence Day), and First Lady and step-mom Emily Nash-Gilchrist (Jenna Elfman, Dharma and Greg), First Daughter Becca (played by Martha MacIsaac, Superbad), other first daughter Marigold Gilchrist (Amara Miller) and other first son Xander Gilchrist (Benjamin Stockham), the second episode offers viewers the chance to better get to know the other members of the Gilchrist family.
Gad and his character bring back memories of Steve Carrell in early episodes of another famous NBC comedy – The Office. Because Gad’s character is so irresponsible and, worse, downright weird, he’s tough to stomach in large doses. In the season premiere the focus on other characters helps to limit the amount of time Gad’s character is on screen, and thus makes Skip Gilchrist more likable, and most importantly, more laughable.
And with the first and second episodes, which are full of introductions, out of the way, the show’s third episode allows viewers to just sit back and watch the madness unfold without having to over think how the characters all fit into the plot line.
If you’re expecting ‘1600 Penn’ to be anything like NBC’s other well-known show about the White House, The West Wing, however, this show is still not the show for you, nor will it ever be. Despite the fact that former speechwriter to President Barack Obama, Jon Lovett serves as an executive producer, ‘1600 Penn’ is not about politics.
“There are shows that are doing [political comedy] brilliantly, like ‘Veep,’ and past shows that have done that dramatically, like ‘West Wing.’ This is neither of those shows,” Gad, the show’s co-creator and an executive producer, reinforced to Zap2it last month.
“Obviously, my experiences are going to inform what I do, but this family will have absolutely nothing to do with the president, ” Lovett told the Hollywood Reporter. “The idea is that this is a dysfunctional family, and the first family today is so far from that, it’s ridiculous.”
At an event at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., Wednesday Lovett emphasized that the show is about family.
“Party affiliation doesn’t matter in a family, so it shouldn’t matter for this show,” he said.
That’s not to say that ‘1600 Penn’ in an apolitical show, though, fellow executive producer Jason Winer said. On multiple occasions in future episodes the characters get into sticky political situations. However, Lovett said they tried to be “equal opportunity offenders” when politics do come into play.
It’s not just political junkies who may be disappointed with the comedy. Fans of hit ABC show Modern Family, on which Gad once had a cameo on, may also be let down. Even though one of Modern Family’s directors, Jason Winer, co-created 1600 Penn, the show isn’t a knock off of the highly successful primetime comedy, which won a Golden Globe in 2012 for best comedy or musical and has nominated for the award again in 2013.
It does a “diservice” to both shows to compare them directly, Winer told reporters at the Press Club event, adding that the only way they are similar is that they are about about a family “who really love each other.”
“This is a different show and it has a very different feel to it,” another one of the show’s executive producers, Mike Royce, said.
Quite often a show drastically improves beyond its pilot in later episodes. Such is the case with ‘1600 Penn.’ Give the second episode a chance before you give up on the sitcom entirely. It airs tonight on NBC just after The Office at 9:30/8:30 central.
If you missed the first episode, you can watch it below, courtesy of Hulu.
