Windfall (2006) User Reviews

love it

[TChontese · 7/10 · 21 June 2006]

this is great. i love watching shows with a sort of characters to focus on. an assortment of characters always leaves room for death and additional characters. things could get very interesting. from one writer to another, good job. i love the way all of the characters are linked by the common thread, money. i saw great writing and that was only in one episode. i don't watch much TV. this show will become 1 of the 4 network TV shows that i watch. please choose a time slot and stick with it. if i have to search for a show i usually end up missing it. after i do without my weekly dosage of a particular show, i usually learn how to do without.i missed it last week. hopefully it won't happen again.

Pretty Good Show

[allison1591 · 7/10 · 9 June 2006]

This was a pretty good show. It starts out with eighteen people at a party when the lottery is at an all-time high (386 million dollars). One person from this party gets tickets for the whole party and some kid at the convenience store. The next day they find out they won the lotto, instantly turning the eighteen party goers, the kid at the store, and one mystery woman into multimillionaires. As the show goes on, we find out about different affairs the people are having, an ex-con is thrown in there, and a teenager gets a Russian wife. Good stuff. It was a fun show, even thought it was highly improbable that they would win. I usually don't watch a lot of dramas (I'm more of a crime show person) this looks good and it'll help me get through a long CSI-less summer.

potential sleeper ...

[w112th · 6/10 · 9 June 2006]

based on the just seen pilot this show has a great deal of potential : especially for interesting plot & story lines

hoping that the writers decide to take risks [ i.e. avoid clichés and attempting to please middle-America ]

hoping the network execs choose a time slot & leave it there [ rather than moving it all over the place ]

thus far the dialogue is sometimes stilted / unrealistic / dumb -- yet some of the actors are really attractive [ which alone earns interest points ]

the current actors appear to be capable / competent so with good direction & writing, the show really has ostensibly unlimited potential -- given that it's handled judiciously / correctly / inventively

planning to dvr & hope for the best ...

Winning the lottery has never been so depressing

[liquidcelluloid-1 · 26 September 2006]

Network: NBC; Genre: Drama; Content Rating: TV-PG (for some language and suggested sex); Perspective: Contemporary (star range: 1 - 4);

Seasons Reviewed: Complete Series (1 season)

At a Lottery Party, a group of 20 friends of all different ages and ethnicities - including Lana Parrilla ("Third Watch"), Jason Gedrick ("Boomtown"), Sarah Wynter ("24" hottie with the angry eyes) and Luke Perry - each put a dollar into a pot and, overnight, the numbers hit and they all become millionaires. At first it is great. Who wouldn't want to be a father able to give his kid a carnival in the backyard for his birthday or be able to hop on a first class jet and take an afternoon shopping spree in Paris.

But this is a dysfunctional group and there are a few problems from the outset all of which get heightened by the fame and fortune that comes from the lottery. The most compelling story involves Jon Foster ("Life As We Know It"), as a high schooler who cooks up a scheme to emancipate from his ruthless father by marrying a Russian mail-order bride. D.J. Cotrona ("Skin", not "Wonderfalls" but they look alike) plays an ex-con, unable to claim the money on his own for fear of being caught by the feds and tracked down by an old nemesis. He enlists a lawyer, Zoe (Sarah Morris) for help claiming it.

Created Laurie McCarthy and Gwendolyn Parker, "Windfall" has such a potentially fun concept it can instantly appeal to everyone. Who hasn't at one time stated that all their problems could be solved by winning the lottery? But soon what began as a fun and entertaining wish fulfillment series takes a sharp left turn into full-on soap opera mode. And not fun sudsy soap stuff, but dark, tiring, endlessly melodramatic stuff.

While every other story slowly looses steam the more complicate and convoluted it becomes, it is single-handedly with the Sean/Zoe storyline where the show jumps the shark. The unexpected turn it takes is pretty damn horrifying and effectively jars it out of our fantasy land. The promise that is made in the light-hearted Pilot is not fulfilled; "Windfall" makes for a terrible wish-fulfillment show.

Am I wrong to ask that this show be a light-weight wish-fulfillment series? Normally, this is where I would tell someone to meet the show on its level and not demand it be what you want. But we've been down the relationship melodrama road a thousand times before. A married women is secretly in love with another married man. A son angry with his overbearing father runs away and gets in over his head. It's hard to shake the "90210" feel of the show, which ironically comes the least from the appearance of Luke Perry. Perry's character seems to be the only one who enjoys the money and is one of the show's bright spots. The guy is unusually laid back even when learning his wife is in love with another man.

What "Windfall" doesn't seem to get is that the wish fulfillment angle is the most original option to take this story. Maybe "Windfall" as a comedy about people misusing and abusing of money and fame (wait, that was pretty much "Arrested Development"). Or maybe just "Windfall" as a more intelligent drama. The age-old hypothetical of choosing between love and money is boiling under the surface here - and the show is unwilling or unable to dig deep to get to it.

Why? Might I propose the reason is to fill a TV mandate that demonizes money and fortune in order to play up the importance of the concept of love. Watch any scripted show at any time and more than likely you will see a depiction that money is inherently the root of all evil and love is inherently the source of all happiness. The fact that the money only allows these characters the opportunity to make all their selfish desires come true seems lost on them and muted by the show as one-by-one they seek to solve their problems by giving the money back.

Really anything would be better than the slow death-crawl that befalls this series. The show appears bored with itself. The cast appears to all but detest each other. The show is depressing. I'm all for an intelligent, insightful show about the heavy price of fame and fortune, but this will just make you want to chase a bottle of Xanax with a bottle of Jack. "Windfall" just may have sacrificed any chance of pure entertainment to spend an entire series lecturing to us.

* ½ / 4

too many characters and everybody has a problem

[SnoopyStyle · 5/10 · 6 November 2016]

Various friends and neighbors attend a party where people contribute a dollar to play the lottery. Sean Mathers works at a flower shop and hiding as a fugitive. He's invited by his boss Beth Walsh and her husband Cameron who are planning to move away for his new job. Peter and Nina Schaefer seems to have a happy family but she's cheating with Cameron who was her ex. Maggie is an overworked struggling nurse. Teen Damien adds a buck at the convenient store. Nina plays Cameron's birth date which ends up winning $386 million. Addie fights with her husband who she's in the process of divorcing. They have teen daughter Frankie. Struggling single mom Kimberly George delivered a pizza and added the extra dollar. Sean does a deal with lawyer Zoe Reida for her to claim the winnings and split the money. She fears his fake identity, a murder, and creepy Jeremy from his past. Damien is underage and can't collect for another ten months. He decides to marry his father's annoying friend's mail-order Russian bride Galina and move away from his disapproving father. Former student Elisa claims to have a baby with Cameron. Sunny van Hattem claims Kimberly's share threatening to tie up everybody's payout. Zoe goes missing and her sister Tally searches for her.

There are way too many characters and everybody has a problem. There is too much going on. It's bad soap and quite frankly whiny. Some of the rich people problems come off as annoying. Some of them are doing down right stupid stuff which gets really frustrating. What's with the baby kidnapping? With so many story lines, it becomes a waste of time waiting to follow the particular characters that one finds appealing. It gets tiresome and got canceled after 13 episodes.

Best New Show in Ages

[abdaughtry · 9/10 · 22 June 2006]

I can't imagine what kind of show the first reviewer on here likes, but I watched Windfall and was hooked immediately. It is no train wreck - it simply has many story lines for a variety of colorful characters. There is humor and drama. After each of the first two shows, I couldn't wait till the next one to see what would happen. Everyone I know who's watched this is also hooked on it. And I think the acting is fine - perhaps the critics could show the credentials that qualify them to criticize this great ensemble group. Also - there's no way they used Luke "Dylan" Perry from 90210 to get viewers. The only reason I tuned in was for Jason Gedrick, who is a far bigger star than anyone else, including Luke, although he didn't star in a television show that was watched by millions of adolescents. I will continue to watch it for all the other characters, as well. The fact that everyone else is unknown is just one more refreshing reason to watch and enjoy this show. NO ONE gets excessive screen time over anyone else. It is a show about many characters and many stories.

Luke Perry wins the lottery

[mdpomroy · 5/10 · 20 March 2007]

Remember Luke Perry? Oh come on, course you do. He was in teen drama Beverly Hills 90210 playing a high school kid even thought it was patently obvious that the man was so far into his 30s he was old enough to be some of the students' father. There you go, you can picture him now, well he's back.

In fact he's the main draw in this drama that follows 20 lottery winners after they all become notably rich. With US$20million each they head off spending but for each of the characters the win comes with unexpected problems from marital and ethical to legal and criminal. While indulging in the fantasy of instant wealth (there are lots of shopping scenes) it also fulfils the human desire to see rich people have problems too. Lightweight and easygoing it's more soap than heavy primetime material but a nice distraction nevertheless.

For Luke Perry, being given another shot at the prime time must have actually been like winning the lottery. But Windfall was cancelled in the first season, although there are 13 episodes to watch which is more than many are permitted these days. Many in America didn't get the chance to see how it all ended as some NBC affiliates screened pre-season football instead of the final episode. Well worth a look but if all this talk of Luke Perry has done is awaken a buzz of 1990s nostalgia then please note that the Beverly Hills 90210 DVD set was released to buy last November. You're excited now aren't you?

Excellent TV Show!

[BreanneB · 10/10 · 8 July 2006]

This t.v. show is excellent! Especially since Jon Foster is in it. He gives the best acting performance of all the actors on this show. I give him a 10 out of 10 golden star rating.

Everyone on this show has learned that being a multimillionaire is not all it's cracked up to be. The feeling is great but the price of other people wanting to take advantage is the cruel reality that comes with it. I wonder what will happen next week when they talk more about the murder.

I give this show 10/10 golden stars! The acting is great, as well as the costumes, production, script, plot, storyline, photography, and directing.

Windfall: another TERRIBLE new show on NBC

[bradybrannonrich · 1/10 · 30 May 2006]

Unfortunately, I recently caught the first episode of this new show on United Airlines. Bottomline, it was absolutely awful, completely ridiculous, the acting was terrible, it did not flow well, and Luke Perry (The only star) is in the pilot episode for a mili-second. I felt like they used his face to sell this new, horrible, second rate show. Overall, it was a very disconnected, poorly written train wreck that you shouldn't waste your time on. NOTE: If you are going to fly on United Airlines in the near future and you have nothing else to do, you could watch Windfall, but you will hate yourself afterwords. I've warned you...

Cast lacks chemistry

[jax713 · 3/10 · 20 July 2006]

Here's a really interesting story idea, one with a lot of potential for comedy, drama, etc., etc. that is being anesthetized before our very eyes by miscasting and one-dimensional writing. I've watched from the beginning and have a hard time remembering most of the characters names. Because there are *so many* characters, I'm going to give it a few more weeks, but I don't have high hopes because there is so little spark on screen. Every group of friends has at least one person who is funny and witty, for pete's sake, and it's usually more than that. This group is so stern and serious, they might bore themselves to death for a final episode.

The exceptions are Luke Perry, Sarah Wynter, Sean (the ex-con, right?), Damian the teenage boy (the actor is good, his love triangle is sappy and not credible), Galina the Russian wife, Sean's missing lawyer/lover Zoe (maybe she'll be found?), and the woman who threatened to sue for her share. These characters are interesting and the actors all have presence, so much, in fact, that the trance-like performances by the rest of the cast come into sharper contrast.

Is Jason Gedrich on downers or is it that his character is sleep-walking through life? I can't tell. And his hair looks over-dyed. His supposed romance with Nina must be a figment of both their imaginations because when they are in one of their tete-a-tetes, I see no chemistry. These two are very miscast as lead role love partners. It's boring to watch them and it's pretty hard to believe how they find their alone time together...oh, the easy convenience of it all. Alice Greczyn is another who looks like she's hypnotically reading memorized lines...tsk, tsk. The overdone waif-innocent longing or giggly looks are tiresome as an emoting technique when you have to see it weekly.

The scripting is also becoming too incestuous. There's far too much overlapping and interloping taking place. We are not going to get to know these characters fully if all we know are their sexual attractions to each other or their one night stands with each other which are an inevitability it seems. This is too trite for words. For the most part, these are supposedly intelligent characters but they're going to suffocate in the vacuum the writers are creating, particularly if the swapping happens too quickly. It may be efficient for the writers to do this, but it amounts to merely a game of spin the bottle with the same players week after week.

So unless some cast changes are made (not likely) and the script gets some new directions, I see a short run for Windfall. Too bad because the concept is original but it needs some pizazz.

loved it

[alwayzurs16 · 9/10 · 9 June 2006]

I thought this was amazing! I thought the storyline was so adorable. I was happy when they were happy and sad when they were. I thought the acting was fabulous! Each character brings something amazing to the show. It is also full of drama, humor and romance. I cant wait to see more of this within the coming weeks. I think that everyone should watch this show at least once. I found out by watching the first episoide that there was going to be a lot of drama, and learned that greed can make people do crazy things. That is why i think this show is so fantastic, you can learn and be entertained all in the same time. So, once again, watch this amazing show you wont be disappointed.

Great new show!

[kylie919 · 9/10 · 20 July 2006]

Great new show...Lots of unanswered questions at the end of each episode, leaving the viewer anticipating next week's show. Very good acting, including Luke Perry...not 90210's Dylan anymore! There are a few other known actors, but most are fresh faces which adds to the overall "novelty" of the show. A unique storyline, with many characters' lives intertwining with each other in unexpected ways. There's only been a few episodes, but they have already covered murder, blackmail, love, marriage & divorce, human desires and how money has affected everything in these peoples' lives. I hope this one sticks around...it has quickly become a new favorite!

Please bring WindFall Back!!!!!

[Misshipsg · 10/10 · 31 October 2007]

I loved this show.I watched it from the first airing to the end.Even video taped it.I would love to see this show air again with more story lines.The best cast ever.It was the most watchable show on my block that summer,every house on the blocked watched it.I remember having our block meetings,boy we could even get started without discussing Windfall.We loved it,and the cast.Is there anyway that this show could be brought back for a second,third and maybe even forth season.We would love it.We would love everyone responsible this if you could make the possible. Sincerely,

Windswept by Windfall,

Overbrook,Pa.Community

I Miss Windfall!

[anbutle1 · 10/10 · 26 July 2007]

I LOVED Windfall! I disagree with the other poster. I don't remember that much from the pilot, but it wasn't completely horrible. However, the show got SO interesting throughout the rest of the season! I wanted to see how everything would turn out! Also, Luke Perry was NOT the only star in that show! There was Malinda Williams, Jason Gedrick and Tembi Locke.

I found it interesting how the writers connected each character to each other in some way throughout the show. What happened with Damien and Frankie? What about Cameron and Nina? How could they leave us hanging?This show was great! I'm mad that they cancelled it!