Pilot Thoughts: Back in the Game

Haven't heard much about Back in the Game, but I decided to check out the pilot based on my slightly positive reaction to its trailer a few months back and the show is pleasant enough. The problem for me is that there seems to be a bunch of "pleasant enough" shows popping up this season and as much as I want to watch everything, I just can't so it'll be interesting to see how many of these new shows I'm still watching in a few weeks.

With that said, I will give this show a shot mostly because Lenora Crichlow, who was amazing on Being Human, plays the supporting friend character and is a riot in all of her scenes. Plus her character's obviously gay son is one of the reasons why the early trailer gave me positive vibes so I'm hoping this family gets a sufficient amount of air time. As for the rest of the show, it's pretty much Bad News Bears for TV. Recently divorced and single mom Terry Gannon (Maggie Lawson) is forced to live with her father Terry "The Cannon" Gannon, Sr. (James Caan). Her son tries out for the Little League, mostly to impress a girl, but probably also to follow in the footsteps of his mom and grandfather. He doesn't make it and in the quest to find a new adventure, Terry decides to coach a separate team consisting of her son and all of the other rejected kids. Saying this show has plenty of heart is kind of obvious since it's about a bunch of misfit kids playing America's favorite past-time. Seems like the focus of the show will be in the contentious father-daughter relationship, which could be good, but the show will do better once it develops the ensemble more, especially the rest of the kids. While they do that, I'll just be hear laughing at everything Chrichlow says. B-