Pilot Review: Back to You

Back to You (Fox)
Premiered September 19 at 8pm

The previews for this show made it look really bad, and they were more than indicative of the quality of the show. For starters, this is one of those cases that a laugh track just makes it seem worse. The humor is so cheap that the laugh track is even played when the fat guy runs across the screen (don't forget the bullimia jokes!). The plot is so void and the characters are lame caricatures. Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton are both far too overbearing and loud, and them playing off each other hardly works. They discuss their chemistry for nearly half the episode, yet there is really nothing there except for a ton of yelling. Ty Burrell complains the whole time, and even Fred Willard is stuck in an unfunny role. The direction is so basic that characters walk back and forth across the screen only to be in the right spot to make an unclever quip at a certain point. The latter half of the premire takes a dramatic turn that is far less enthralling and surprising than all the characters seem to think. I can hardly take another minute of this show.

How will it work as a series? It should be the same exact thing over and over, and if audiences can take that, more episodes will just keep being made.
How long will it last? "'Til Death" somehow made it to a second season, and this has arguably "hotter" stars, so I am afraid it will last a horribly long time. Please, not a second season.

Pilot grade: F