Unbalanced: Pilot

I've seen this pilot a few times now, on both DVD and at the screening in Cambridge that Declan mentioned. While there are some flaws in the production, none are glaring; what is glaring is the originality of the piece. There are very few works in the TV/Film space that manage to be simultaneously as cynical and sweet as Unbalanced. Sweet in the earned way, not in the treacly sense. This pilot not only does a great job of setting up what are sure to be fun adventures down the road - it also creates characters you want to get to know. Ian and Jane are a brother/sister team whose history you want to plumb and whose rich fantasy life you want to ride along with on the highs and watch, rapt, from a concerned distance when it dashes them on the rocks. I daresay that most audience members will be seriously intrigued by the Drs. March and Ian's boss as well.

Oh. And also? It's hilarious. Very funny writing and acting create gags that make it worth overlooking some occasional flaws in the cinematography etc. A diamond in the slight rough, this independent pilot could clearly make a series that could capture the hearts of viewers.

I was invited to the first private screening in Cambridge and I had a great time watching this pilot. There are a lot of familiar faces for anybody who's seen an improv show in Boston in the last five years, and they acquit themselves well on film. The pilot is smart, very funny in places and very weird in others. The brother-sister duo who comprise the main characters have a great chemistry. Left with lots of questions but had a totally satisfying story.

I wish the filmmakers the best on the festival circuit. There were still a few tweaks to be made according to the curtain speech, but it looked very slick to me. Happy to see such professional work coming from Boston talent!

The Unbalanced pilot holds fantastic potential for a recurring series. The combination of a detached daydreamer who jumps in an out of a fantasy world and her brother who tries to strike a balance between supporting her and getting caught up in her imagination leaves seemingly endless possibilities. We get the sharp cutaways like we would see in "Scrubs", but with a chance to actually put them in context and make them more relevant to the story, as opposed to being one-off gags.

The fantasy world itself has it's own recurring characters, and it's own potential to evolve and change in parallel with the real world scenarios happening around the main characters. Even in this one pilot episode we see the dream world characters change drastically, making them much more interesting and leaving me curious to see what they will do next.

And because the best of Boston's improv community are behind this, they've been able to add all of their humor and performance skills to really round out the whole package.