Angel from Hell

This is a fun work of fluffy fiction, not to be taken too seriously and I really like it. Do we even know if the character of Amy is an actual angel? No! She could just be a good hearted nut case. It hasn't been revealed and leaves it to your imagination...so far, anyway. The show doesn't have a heavy religious message, so after a hard day's work, it's just what you need to relax to. The show is funny, enjoyable and who doesn't love Jayne Lynch?! She's fantastic, bringing likability, humor and a bit of chaos to the part quite well! Through all her mildly annoying traits, she still manages to be helpful and kindhearted, so if there were a real message, I'd say that would be it!

Jane Lynch plays a guardian angel (word angel being used loosely here) that's watching over Maggie Lawson character Allison who is an uptight doctor with a "no fun just work!" policy.

The pilot is interesting and light hearted which got me interested in following this series.

There are two issues I can already spot in this series.

First off this is a one camera production even though it really doesn't have to be! you have a supernatural being that is arguably more demon than angel, why not dramatize it? a single camera approach is more appropriate for more realistic settings and slices of life stories.... or blair witch projects knockoffs! not in a supernatural series, it just cheapens the production.

Second is the dialogue, for the most part the lines are OK, the main actresses are fine and Jane Lynch is living for this role but... some of the lines here are beyond saving, they're so bad they actually take you out of what was supposed to be a heart felt moment! Now admittedly they aren't too many of those but still when they come up you'll notice them!

Over-all this is an interesting series with flaws, still the good out ways the bad by a mile so give it a shot and see how it goes!

A somewhat naïve co-lead meets her guardian angel with some natural disbelief. Perfectly cast and the "angel' in particular is absolutely superb in her role as an obviously wise but oh-so-earthly hilariously unconventional woman - even for a hippy on booze. The costume designer deserves mention here especially for the angels outfits which are as beautifully whacky as her character. Actions and facial expressions are not blunt or forced but carry subtle nuances which is a very refreshing change to the more 'type-cast' in stone snarls or grins of the goodies or baddies that pepper so many TV shows and this may go unnoticed by some viewers, especially if you are expecting a stand-up comedic show. I wouldn't want to miss a single future episode if the show keeps to its high standards. It may be inappropriate to comment upon episode 2 here ergo I will just say it was even better than the first. Highly recommended.

There's a video on youtube called "First Look: Angel From Hell on CBS" that has most of the story and the better jokes and is 5 minutes long. Having seen that before watching the full episode, I would say A) I might have liked this better if I hadn't already heard the best jokes, and B) this might work better as a 5-minute-episodes web series.

The first episode is generally cute, with a very unangelic Lynch claiming to be a guardian angel. It's one of those shows where they don't want to say she is or isn't, which is cute but seems to have less potential here than in Wilfred (U.S. version), which handled that "is it real" thing so beautifully.

One issue I have with this series is that Maggie Lawson really doesn't seem to need a guardian angel. Her life doesn't seem all that bad, certainly not George Bailey bad. This inclines me to think that Lynch is not an angel, in which case she's a very skillful and disturbing stalker and why isn't Maggie calling the police?

Still, if your favorite thing about Glee was Lynch, you'll probably like this show. While I find her generally amusing, I was never as big a fan of her as a lot of people, so for me the show just isn't worth pursuing.

I'll give this an 8 out of 10 for room to improve and I'm really disappointed by all the negative reviews around the web. I enjoyed everyone's performance and the snappy witty dialogue. Jane Lynch is perfect as an Angel with a tendency to get sloshed. And who doesn't love Maggie Lawson? Anyway, it was good to see Kevin Pollack, though he didn't have much of a role (yet) as Allison's father. Was it an original storyline? Perhaps not and as a pilot the writer's should have really pushed something new with an Angel from Hell theme. But still I was happy to have seen it. Pilots often suffer and some with horrendous critiques, just look at Seinfeld. I hope they don't cancel it before given a chance. Fingers crossed.