Take Three: Trial and Error

Trial and Error: Season 1, Episodes 5 and 6 “Right-Hand Man” and “Secrets and Lies” (B+)

I’m really starting to like this show, and I was very pleased to find out that it won’t be ending next week after episodes but instead airing at least twelve, with the possibility of a second season still out there, though I’m not sure that the ratings will compel NBC to renew it. This show really does serve as a stylistic successor to “30 Rock,” presenting a world in which a local news channel can conduct lie detector tests on air, a cannon is fired at 5am and 5pm every day since the town doesn’t know which hour the act of cowardice they’re trying to commemorate occurred, and cannons are the third leading cause of death in the official town documents, followed by Larry Henderson! I enjoyed the identification of Larry as “town murderer” and the description of his “walking/murdering stick,” and seeing him object while on the stand during his own trial prep was quite entertaining. It’s not a good sign that Summer is switching sides since her father lied to her his whole life about being her father, and the developments that might point to one of two other possible suspects were far more promising. Of course, Dwayne and Anne are convinced that it has to be a ghost ticket or a one-armed man, and their enthusiasm for chanting “Murder Board!” which was later shared by Josh is fun. Summer’s Carol Anne impression is extremely impressive, and it’s hard to read exactly what’s going on being the ambitious prosecutor and the befuddled Northeasterner. I enjoyed these episodes as a showcase of Dwayne as a good guy who just wanted to be Josh’s right-hand man, and it seems that he’s achieved that after proving his worth just as Josh’s old friend from his firm took advantage of his absence for professional gain.