Round Two: Perfect Couples

Perfect Couples: Season 1, Episode 2 “Pilot” (D)

So I guess this is technically the series pilot since the episode that aired back in December was merely what the producers thought was the strongest installment they’d produced. I would argue that this one is one small degree better, but that’s only a small degree. What surprised me in a very positive way was the performance of Christine Woods as Julia. She didn’t have much to do in the first broadcast episode, and I suppose it’s more the fault of the “Flash Forward” writers that she was no good on that show. But here she seems game to go with the flow in the show’s ridiculous situations but not lose sight of portraying an organic, decently believable character. The same cannot be said for best buds Hayes MacArthur and David Walton, who ham it up like no one’s business. That’s where the show fails to rise far above its pilot potential, insisting on devolving into preposterous scenarios for no other reason other than to say, “Look at me! I’m the comedy you don’t know anything about that airs with the other great ones on Thursday nights on NBC!” I’m less annoyed with Kyle Bornheimer as Dave than I thought I would be, and it’s not Mary Elizabeth Ellis’ fault that she has to break out in song for no reason at all. The impossibly utopian relationship between MacArthur’s Rex and Olivia Munn’s Leigh continues to be a clear gimmick that in no way works and is sure to only get worse over time.