Pilot Review: Rob

Rob (CBS)
Premiered January 12 at 8:30pm

It’s usually better to have an actual concept in mind rather than just a star looking for a good vehicle to use his comedic talents. That’s not always true, however, especially in this case, where Rob Schneider, used best in cameo roles in Adam Sandler films, is cast as Rob, a man who has just gotten married, unaware that his wife comes with a large Mexican-American family. The premise is trite and has been done to death, and, interestingly, the show actually sidelines its protagonist, not allowing him to be terribly funny and letting supporting players like Cheech Marin, who does deliver a few decent jokes, and Lupe Ontiveros, take the brunt of the comic spotlight. The show’s efforts to reverse stereotypes, done by having Rob’s mother-in-law devalue his landscape architecture business to gardening and having his father-in-law come out severely against illegal immigration, are ineffective and highly irritating. Additionally, this show goes to absurd lengths to showcase its title character having pratfalls and mishaps that ultimately get him into trouble, and it’s almost more worthwhile to watch to judge how preposterous and over-the-top it will be rather than to actually follow the paper-thin plot. Lines like “Don’t tell them your height” elicit a bit of a chuckle, but if that’s the best this show can do, then I’m seriously worried. Rob Schneider was not born to be a great TV star, and more than a few things indicate to me this isn’t going to be the show that changes that.

How will it work as a series? I’m shocked that someone conceived of this as a weekly series since it seems to me that all the jokes have already been made. Now that Rob is married, he’s permanently tied to this family, and it’s going to your conventional multigenerational family sitcom with a sour and almost altogether unfunny twist.
How long will it last? I can’t imagine long, especially given that it’s on Thursday nights, where the much funnier “How To Be a Gentleman” died a quick death, rather than Monday nights, where random shows live for years. The pilot performed well, but I'd expect a steep decline, and I don't think this show will make it past February.

Pilot grade: F