Pilot Review: Carpoolers

Carpoolers (ABC)
Premiered October 2 at 8:30pm

Consider me officially surprised. This show was practically doomed from the start giving its thin premise and admittedly lame battle cry of "let's carpool!" I was not impressed at the very start, but the runtime of this episode has to be the quickest my opinion of a show ever changed. Despite some wacky character backgrounds, the carpoolers all prove to be generally likeable and function quite well as a team. Jerry O'Connell in particular is a ton of fun as the carefree but divorce-suffering Laird. Seeing Fred Goss is a new role just makes me miss "Sons & Daughters" even more. All I can say is that this show really grew on me, and by the end of it I really liked the characters and even laughed a few times. I hate that it is coupled with "Cavemen" because I may accidently glimpse a moment of that atrocity.

How will it work as a series? Same kind of thing each week, which may get old quickly. Or it could be genuinely funny.
How long will it last? Pairing it with "Caveman" is not a good thing. I fear that this show will follow in the lamentable footsteps of ABC's recent promising comedies, like "Crumbs", "Sons & Daughters", "The Knights of Prosperity", and "In Case of Emergency". I think it will be pulled well before it reaches thirteen episodes.

Pilot grade: B-