- Title: The Crazy Ones – Pilot
- IMDB: link
The Pilot episode of The Crazy Ones is a trainwreck. At times an amusing trainwreck to be sure, but the over-improvisational style of David E. Kelley‘s latest leaves something to be desired. For the first time since Ally McBeal, Kelley goes all-in on zany with this tale of a crazy father (Robin Williams) and daughter (Sarah Michelle Gellar) advertising firm attempting to save their biggest account with the help of a pop star who doesn’t sing jingles.
Kelley staffs the firm with familiar faces. Along with Williams and Gellar we also get James Wolk (from Mad Men and Political Animals) as the firm’s charmer, Hamish Linklater (The Newsroom‘s Jerry Dantana), and Amanda Setton (The Mindy Project, Gossip Girl) as the firm’s bubble-headed sex kitten. The Pilot also throws in Kelly Clarkson playing herself as the firm’s only chance to save their contract with McDonalds.
Kelley, who is known for being a pretty good television writer, turns over the reigns to his cast in the Pilot allowing far more improvisation than is necessarily good for the show. Some of the resulting insanity is funny, but much of it also falls flat. The result is a kind of hypnotic trainwreck you find drawn into without really enjoying. I’m glad to see the writer deciding to try his hand at comedy again, but this one may be too crazy for me.
