1600 Penn

I found this show to be very amusing. It isn't meant to be super serious or super funny it is a typical sitcom in terms of content spread. There are parts that are extremely funny, parts that are uncomfortable, and parts that make you actually feel bad for the characters. There is nothing drastically wrong with the show although it may not be everyone's cup of soup. On the scale of Sitcoms it would fall somewhere between Cougar Town and Everybody Loves Raymond and is definitely not garbage.

The primary concept of the show is following the family of the President through the trials and tribulations of day to day life. As with most TV comedies there are of course a smattering of character flaws that exist which cause unusual situations to come about at a higher than usual pace. The core building blocks of this show are tried and true and while most shows are a little rough around the edges at first as well this one will develop quickly as the actors/actresses become more used to their characters.

It is worth a watch especially since you can see it for free on IMDb/hulu.

It is so easy to criticize it. ignoring not only the good intentions but the real virtues. and the basic not bad idea. the critics are, in many cases, result of the serious perspective about politic. or the expectation to meet a sarcastic/ironic serie about the world of White House. but this serie propose just a gallery of ordinary characters in the extraordinary place. and not the humor represents its great virtue but the realistic portrait of a family. with crisis, children, a father not special and a genius son versus a not brilliant another. the humanism did this serie more than nice, almost special.

Just another reason cable is out doing network television. We were quite excited to see Bill Pullman in this role. The first couple of minutes gave us a chuckle or two. Then it was downhill from then.The premise of the show sounded appealing and the teaser commercial looked very comical. All the comedy is very cliché and predictable. I sometimes wonder if they actually have a look at these shows before they try to air them in prime time. The funniest of the whole show was the monologue at the end. And even that wasn't that funny. All in all we will give it a second look but I don't hold out a lot of hope. Bill, you should stick to major motion pictures.

I really wanted to like this show because of Bill Pullman. As it turned out, he was the only light in an otherwise dull and murky program. Same old American sit-com with a few special moments (the Cabinet sharing family problems instead of deciding the future of the Nation.) Trivial jokes. Extremely irritating first son. Extremely annoying and ingratiating first lady. You can see the network hacks selecting jokes from a really old joke book then trying to modernize it with some misplaced hip language. It could have been much worse. As it is, 1600 Penn is an out-of-the-box network sit-com with little new to offer. Bottom line, occasionally amusing but over-whelmingly boring. Sorry, Bill. I really wanted to love this one just for you.

Get rid of the "Skip" character. Replace him with someone more talented. The rest of the cast is talented. Let them do their jobs. The "Skip" character is so obnoxious, it takes away from any potential this show has. It also takes away from the very capable actors. The focus should be Pullman and Elfman. A president with a trophy wife trying to raise the step kids in the public eye would be enough to carry this show especially with the talent of Pullman and Elfman. The relationship between the step mom and the older daughter would also be an excellent focal point. The relationship between the family and the Presidents assistant could also be a focus. The assistant to the president is played by an excellent actor. He is very talented and entertaining to watch.