Skip to main content

TV Review: "Jennifer Falls"

Image
By

TV Review: "Jennifer Falls



 TV Land's "Jennifer Falls"concluded its ten episode first season on Wednesday, August 13. The series revolves around Jennifer Doyle, a single mother forced to move back home after being fired from her high paying job. When the show premiered back in June, there were some major problems, mainly unnecessary scenes with characters talking directly to the camera, and extra characters without any real purpose. But as the season progressed, those problems became less evident as the ensemble became more clearly defined.



The network's first single camera series, "Jennifer Falls" always had a distinctive tone that set it apart from TV Land's other original sitcoms. The lack of a studio audience works for this series, as the humor isn't laugh-out-loud hilarious, but rather you'll-still-be-chuckling-a-week-later funny. The jokes come from the characters the series has set up, from the controlling Jennifer, to her brother and new boss Wayne, to her wildcard best friend Dina.

 Emmy winner Jaime Pressly stars as Jennifer, and shows a great comedic range, and manages to get the audience to love and hate Jennifer at the same time. The supporting cast is also solid, with standouts being Missi Pyle as Dina and Jessica Walter, as Jennifer's mother.

 The writing is smart, but the majority of the episodes are identifiable and heartwarming. The scenes from the pilot showing Jennifer moving back gave a small town vibe. So when later episodes confirm the series is set in the greater Los Angeles area, that element is lost, which was somewhat disappointing.

 If the series doesn't come back for a second season, the finale worked as a satisfying series finale (complete with a return appearance by the hilarious unemployment office workers from the pilot!). Overall, "Jennifer Falls" is not about accepting defeat, but rather accepting whatever life throws at you, and making the best of it. The series is leaps and bounds better than the cute, but very lazily written "Kirstie", which was recently cancelled by the network. Hopefully, the show will be given a chance to further develop the later episodes' charm. 

 Premiere date: June 4, 2014
TimScale: 65/100


Comments

Post a Comment

Leave a comment!

Popular posts from this blog

New "Beauty and the Beast" Fails to Put New Spin on the Tale as Old as Time: Review

By
Film Review: Beauty and the Beast The new live action version of Beauty and the Beast is not very good. The film's best moments come directly from the 1991 animated version, which I once named the  best animated Disney film of all time . It seems so preoccupied with recapturing what made that movie so great that it forgets to make this one unique or different in any way. At every possible chance director Bill Condon has to establish an interesting visual look for the film, he defers to the animated film and copies its look. What is the point of making a live action version of an animated movie only to make it look like its animated? Beauty and the Beast never answers that question, and the result is an uninspired retread of a classic story.
1 comment
Read more

Aubrey Plaza and Elizabeth Olsen are Excellent in Timely Comedy "Ingrid Goes West": Review

By
Film Review: Ingrid Goes West I was worried based on the trailers and marketing for Ingrid Goes West that it was going to be a cautionary tale about the perils of social media. One of those condescending 'lessons' about how much better the world would be if we still used rotary phones and things like that. You know, stuff like this . Thankfully, Ingrid Goes West is not that, it's not even about social media despite being set in the Instagram Age. Written by Matt Spicer and David Branson Smith and directed by Spicer, the movie is about Ingrid (Aubrey Plaza), who has recently been released from a mental hospital and following the death of her mother decides to reinvent herself in Los Angeles, inspired by the Instagram feed of a seemingly perfect influencer named Taylor Sloane (Elizabeth Olsen). Using clues from her Instagram, Ingrid tracks Taylor down and befriends her. Yes, Instagram plays a large part in the story, but it's one that could be (and has been) told i...
Post a Comment
Read more

"Marnie" is One of Alfred Hitchcock's Most Underrated Films: Review

By
Classic Film Review: "Marnie" (1964) If your list of favorite Alfred Hitchcock films does not include Marnie , you need to rethink your list. The 1964 film, adapted from the novel by Winston Graham, finds the Master of Suspense and his collaborators at the top of their game. Bernard Herrman's score is equal parts grand and hypnotic. Edith Head's costumes inform as much of Marnie's character as the script does. The production design is among the best in any Hitchcock film. It's a suspenseful psychodrama that allows Hitchcock to do what he does best. When it was originally released in July 1964, the film received mixed reviews from critics, ending a hot streak for Hitchcock that included North by Northwest, Pyscho, and The Birds . In the years since its initial release, Marnie has rightly become known as one of the films that best define Hitchcock's style. Tippi Hedren plays the titular Marnie, a thief who takes office jobs only to steal money from ...
2 comments
Read more