Ordinary Joe

I have been interested for years in the concept where a series of random events and choices we make have a great influence on the direction our lives take. My first wife died recently and, even though we are no longer married, for our children I wrote a 10,000 word history of how we met and the series of random events that led up to it, plus all the random events that resulted in each child being born. The kids loved it.

This new series borrows on that, where Joe at graduation and the immediate aftermath, has the opportunity of three different choices. What the program does is show us what happens in each of the different choices. It takes a bit of effort to keep up with which life we are seeing but is done very well and color shading is used, green when he is the nurse, blue when he is the policeman, and red when he is the rock star. It makes for an interesting, and thought-provoking, TV show. My wife and I have continued to watch it.

This sort of has a "This Is Us" vibe to it and that is a good thing as far as we are concerned. Another plus is that each show is available streaming on Peacock the next day so we can watch it at our leisure if we want to use the initial broadcast time for something else. Or simply re-watch parts of an episode to gain more insight.

Update FEB 2024: Seems the COVID pandemic and its aftermath just lost this TV series with no explanation.

Jump between lives way too much, too quickly to let us get in-depth details about each one. We don't get to enjoy any of it or get shown enough to really care about any one of them. It other words we are going through everything entirely too fast and with too little detail to even care. Has the potential to be an Emmy contender and a 10 but as it is it's only a 6 at best.

I like that NBC is trying a new idea with this show, and it works out well, for the most part. The biggest issue with the show is the lack of focus, because there's 3 different realities where Joe made different decisions. This results in a messy episode that's very unfocused, and can be tough to follow at times. But even with that, each story is interesting and engaging, with Joe making different decisions and has to struggle Joe is also a solid protagonist so far. He's likeable, and relatable with him unsure what he wants to do. As the audience, we are engaged in Joe's stories and the struggles he has to overcome. Some of the other characters were also solid to, such as Amy and Jenny Overall it's a solid show. It may have an unfocused story, but has engaging characters and handles it's concept in a fascinating way.

I get it. I really do. The writers of this new TV series obviously have some issues with their own life choices and now that they are either middle and/or old age they are second guessing the life/career choices that they have made. This is by no means a new concept as anyone who is now past the age of thirty (30) something has most likely looked deep into their current situation and wondered how different their lives would be today if only they had made one key alternate decision and/or life/career choice.

This series simply explores the possibilities of what one man's life would be or could be depending upon the life partner (s)he chooses as well as their career choices.

I am a happily (twice) married retired senior citizen with three (3) adult sons and two (2) grandsons so far and wishing for more grandchildren. The series title is most appropriate as this ordinary Joe (James Wolk) provides his audience how one's man life is lived as a rock star, a hospital nurse, and also as a police officer as his own dad was until his father lost his life saving others during the 9/11 attacks in New York City.

The series has a similar feel as the multiple Emmy Award winning (2016 - 2021) series "This Is Us" as both series explores both the past and present periods of a persons life story. I believe if this series sticks to maintaining a more dramatic presence rather than a sci-fi genre it will sustain a large enough audience to win a few Emmy's of its own.

I give the series a positive 8 out of 10 IMDB rating.

Average show with an interesting premise and a solid cast. Natalie Martinez is absolutely gorgeous, and a great casting for her role.

But, with that premise, the writing bounces around so much that it feels like it's made by a bunch of creators suffering from ADHD who can't make up their minds where to go.

It has promise. However, the usual inept failures of NBC have given it their usual kiss of death by placing it in the Monday 8pm EST time slot, trying the impossible. To compete with Monday Night Football. The NBC fools(a pathetic network that destroys most of what they get their hands on-especially their sporting events) continually try to do this impossible task, and only continually fail. And, we all know what it means when people do the same thing over and over, continually failing, and not learning from their mistakes. This is the essence of what NBC is, unfortunately.

Interested to see where the storyline goes. Hopefully, the creators take their ADHD meds and don't ruin the show with mediocre writing.