Interest rate: pleasantly piqued.
Don't get me wrong; I expect nothing special from Back in the Game. If there were a venn diagram of sitcom elements, this show would be dead center, right down to the eccentric, devil-may-care, crazy sidekick (who is conveniently rich).
However, just because a show isn't original doesn't mean it can't be entertaining. No really. How many times do we watch boy meets girl dramas or procedural cop shows and tout to the world that "this one is different"? The story isn't different every time we get excited about 90% of the shows we watch: the characters are.
We find the characters that we can relate to. We find the spin on any age-old story that we can relate to. The more invested we are, the more we find all of the nuanced reasons why this one show distinguishes itself from all others. We all have these shows. If you're not sure which ones are yours, I'm sure your friends have an itemized list and the spamming Facebook posts to prove it.
What makes Back in the Game an original hook? It has taken the cliched inspirational sports movie (you know who you are) and adapted it into a sitcom without losing the emotional core of the show--that rush of human triumph that sweeps us up and inspires tears when a misfit kid is able to score points with a ball. Add a heavy dose of distant father/estranged daughter/emotional baggage issues, and we have ourselves a ballgame.
At least, that's the hope. It could easily become the worst case scenario of Juilet's life if she had married Shawn before they worked out any of their issues. (What, don't you Psych?)
Don't get me wrong; I expect nothing special from Back in the Game. If there were a venn diagram of sitcom elements, this show would be dead center, right down to the eccentric, devil-may-care, crazy sidekick (who is conveniently rich).
However, just because a show isn't original doesn't mean it can't be entertaining. No really. How many times do we watch boy meets girl dramas or procedural cop shows and tout to the world that "this one is different"? The story isn't different every time we get excited about 90% of the shows we watch: the characters are.
We find the characters that we can relate to. We find the spin on any age-old story that we can relate to. The more invested we are, the more we find all of the nuanced reasons why this one show distinguishes itself from all others. We all have these shows. If you're not sure which ones are yours, I'm sure your friends have an itemized list and the spamming Facebook posts to prove it.
What makes Back in the Game an original hook? It has taken the cliched inspirational sports movie (you know who you are) and adapted it into a sitcom without losing the emotional core of the show--that rush of human triumph that sweeps us up and inspires tears when a misfit kid is able to score points with a ball. Add a heavy dose of distant father/estranged daughter/emotional baggage issues, and we have ourselves a ballgame.
At least, that's the hope. It could easily become the worst case scenario of Juilet's life if she had married Shawn before they worked out any of their issues. (What, don't you Psych?)