Us & Them

Wasted Cast becuz of bad script. The pilot is actually not too bad, but then it all went down hill from there.

First off, if you're gonna rip it off, then do it well and have good acting in it, this will join the long list of rubbish rip-offs of classic British shows

Don't waste your time with this robotic remake of a very good U.K. show. Go to the original. I really don't have more to say about this show because I don't want to give anything away. I've read the other reviews and you can clearly tell that some are written by people with a vested interest in the show. I can't stand poor remakes and transparent reviews. Apparently I need more lines but I really don't want to give anything away in the show but I can tell you that if you watch the original you have to take into account that it is a U.K. show so a lot of the jokes are geared to a British audience. Again they want more lines so I have to fill space. I'm sorry about all the filler but in order to warn you about the horrors of a bad remake and U.S. copycat shows I have to make up something.

I have seen more than my share of UK comedies translated to the US. For every Steptoe and Son (Sanford and Son) there's a Coupling. For every The Office, there's a The Inbetweeners. I thought I had seen the worst that could be done... until just now. I found this monstrosity by accident today and there's not enough mind-bleach in the world to take it away again. Gavin and Stacey was a beautiful, gentle, hilarious comedy. This? This has taken the basic conceit and stripped away everything that made it work. Was this some condition of taking James Corden off our hands? "Jimmy, come over, do a late night talk show, we love you - one thing though, we want you to agree to us destroying what you love most. Just sign here." It's taken us over fifty years to forgive Dick Van Dyke for his accent in Mary Poppins; this may take millennia.

Stacey (Alexis Bledel) is a small town girl from Dillsburg, PA. She has a first date with email friend Gavin (Jason Ritter) who lives in NYC. They bring along their outrageous best friends Nessa (Ashlie Atkinson) and Archie (Dustin Ybarra). It's the start of a long distance relationship, at least a four hours drive apart. Gavin and Archie lives in the first floor apartment under his parents (Kurt Fuller, Jane Kaczmarek). Stacey lives with her widower mother Gwen (Kerri Kenney) who often hangs out with her brother-in-law Uncle Brian (Michael Ian Black).

This is a British import adapted from Gavin & Stacey created by James Corden and Ruth Jones. It never made it on the air. It's surprisingly fun if not that original. I don't know anything about Gavin & Stacey. That probably works to my advantage. I have no expectations for the show to fulfill. The first obvious problem is the title. Friends & Family is much better although I don't know why it couldn't be called Gavin & Stacey. Us & Them sucks. Basically, this all depends on the cast. As a network TV sitcom, this is mostly standard with a bit of heart. The cast has good chemistry and this has a solid mix. The only questionable one is Bledel. Stacey should be a country gal and she needs to be goofier. In the comedy to drama range, Bledel leans more towards drama. In a simple comedic move, Stacey should be doing shadow boxing as she and Archie get into a girlie fight. Also, is it weird to be dating a mother and then the daughter? That's Hollyweird for you. This is better than most failed network shows. I don't know the behind-the-scene reasons for not getting on network TV. It's too bad that it didn't even get a chance.