"The Crazy Ones" Might be CBS

Recently, I, along with a hundred or so Ithaca Park School students, attended a presentation run by a couple of marketing representatives from CBS. The main focus of the meeting was to promote their upcoming original comedy, "The Crazy Ones", created by David E. Kelley. The test screening of the pilot episode was, of course, the main draw for most attendees, myself included. Unfortunately, despite the promise of Robin Williams, the seasoned actor proved, at least to me, the only winning attribute in the entire show.

First of all, the story seemed rather underdeveloped and rushed. For example, at the beginning of the episode the characters were worried that they were all about to get fired. Maybe I just didn't pay close enough attention but I honestly could not for the life of me tell you way this was the case. Furthermore, in order to conclude the main conflict, all a character had to do was a sing a song loudly and poorly in a restaurant. Like what.

Furthermore, the quality of production in "The Crazy Ones", was CRAZY low. Ok, I exaggerate. However, the production value definitely should have transcended that which we were presented with on Thursday. The 30 Rock-esque shots of office buildings within takes seemed awkward and poorly timed. Now only that, but the physical focus issues the show seemed to possess distracted me throughout it's entirety. Don't get me wrong, I love shallow depth of field more than the next guy. The problem was, it seemed a little bit like the camera men all must have had focus ADHD. First one person would be in focus, and then the next person down the line, and then the coffee mug, followed by a shot of a character speaking where the camera man seemed to be trying to get him/her during their speech.

Of course this is only my opinion. My friend Meghan, whom sat next to me throughout the entire performance, raved about how hilarious it was. Other people seemed to enjoy it as well. This review is rather harsh because although I often was distracted by technical things, the average viewer will not be. The average viewer will see the show for its hilarious quotes, situations, and characters. Therefore, although I certainly will not be following the show closely when it airs, I can't say it won't survive. In fact, it may even be a hit! I certainly can't anticipate which shows audiences will latch on to nowadays. Hell, if The Neighbors, can make it past one season, anything is possible.