Pilot Review: Best. Worst. Weekend. Ever.

Best. Worst. Weekend. Ever. (Netflix)
Premiered October 19

When I browse through the lengthy list of new programs debuting every Friday on Netflix, I’m always initially at a loss to which shows are foreign-language imports, animated series, kid-friendly shows, or something that might actually be right up my alley. Usually, some research helps me to determine whether I should watch, but in some cases, it’s just not clear. Part of what intrigued me about this one is that I miss “Powerless,” the clever show about those in the background without superpowers in a city filled with heroes and villains that got cancelled by NBC after just nine episodes. This is no replacement, to be sure, but it does offer another opportunity to get into the minds of those who are completely obsessed by comic books. I did try “Future Man” on Hulu, which takes things another step to actually have its video game-playing protagonist serve as the unwitting salvation of the future, and this show, despite its comic book panels and its characters dressing up in costumes, is pretty standard in its portrayal of geeky high school kids just wanting to be teenagers, with no imaginary powers to help them through their younger years. The structure of three friends is also familiar, with Treece now approached by the soccer girls as she might become cool, Argo finally finding his crowd with those who will be continuing on to his program, and Ned as the “idea guy” who doesn’t actually do much other than somehow make things happen. I think this “coming-of-age comedy” is probably better suited to teens - it wasn’t terrible, but it’s not something I need to be watching.

How will it work as a series? Predictably, things got very out of hand with the “literary event” that didn’t even feature a guest appearance by their revered author (though he was probably there and no one recognized him), and now Argo is trapped in the sights of a bear while Ned has to clean up the mess back at his house. It seems to me that the comic book storylines on this show won’t be nearly as outrageous as the actual storylines.
How long will it last? It’s another show that’s billed as a limited series, and Netflix has so many that it’s impossible to know what it’s going to decide to keep. Without any ratings data - or any real reviews - it’s hard to tell what its fate is going to be, though I suspect that just one series is what we’ll get here.

Pilot grade: C+