The Winner

Geez it's not the Next Great Sitcom(tm) or anything, but it's not even close to "1 star". That's just silly. It's better than half of the sitcoms currently on TV, but only barely, so I think a "6" is better warranted. There's some real chemistry with the cast, and I actually laughed out loud a couple times, so I'm giving it a shot next week, too. The last line of the second episode tonight ("This isn't us...") was very genuine and clever, and if the show can find THAT tone more often, it'll last the year.

One other thing: I was a huge, huge Arrested Development fan. But surely even the most ardent AD fan will acknowledge the quality went down season by season. That's the problem when you start so brilliantly. At least this show has room to improve. ;)

OK this show is abysmal, but I actually enjoyed watching it because it sucked so much. Just the laugh track is an instant classic. And the plot: "It is a comedy about a successful man named Glen Abbott (played by Rob Corddry) looking back to the time when he was in his thirties and living with his parents." On the episode, "Hot For The Teacher", they showed the outside of the video store and all on the windows had posters of new movies. Like Cars, Clerks 2, Little Man, John Tucker Must Die. I think they could've done better by doing something to hide them so it actually makes it look like it is supposed to be in 1994. In another episode a Nintento Gamecube was visible.Brilliant, love it! I hope it gets a 2nd season, just to see if they can mess it up even more. Really bad TV can be a lot more fun than just mediocre stuff...

The Winner FTW!

Personally, I think this show has some true potential - its main characters are a 32-year-old balding man and a 14-year-old boy that are so much alike that they practically finish each other's sentences. The concept of having not only Glenn (Rob Corddry's character) helping the kid (Josh) meet girls with what they both think are the best pick-up lines in the world, but then they turn around and have the kid helping Glenn date his own mom!! The fact that Josh feels comforted by the idea of his new friend getting with his mother makes the show worth watching.

For those of you who are not familiar with Corddry's work on the Daily Show, a lot of his quirks and nuances make the character and the comedy work - he really does make you think he has the mind of a young teenager (that has problems with talking to girls).

A blossoming young boy of thirty-two (>'.')>

I really hate to be the guy who whines and complains about Fox canceling something like Arrested Development and green-lighting shows of lesser quality, but this warrants it. How bad is this show? It opens with a joke about a mother believing "O.J. Simpson couldn't hurt a fly!" (the show is based in 1994). That's the very first joke. That's the joke with which Ricky Blitt decided to launch his sitcom; which would be seen by millions of people who just finished watching The Simpsons. I changed the channel before the canned laughter even started, which my roommates found hilarious.

You want to know what the true sodomy of this show is on the American viewers? Fox aired TWO episodes of it on one night. One after The Simpsons and one after Family Guy. I seriously thought the ad for another "all new episode" after Family Guy was a mistake. True to word, the second episode aired. I tried to give it a second chance, hoping the O.J. Simpson joke was a fluke.

Whatever talent Rob Corddry had on the Daily Show did not serve him here. Whatever comedic insights Seth McFarlin and Ricky Blitt had in animation, it doesn't translate to live action. When you combine over-acting with meaningless situations meant to be awkward the end result is completely empty trash.

I'm very confident this won't last. Why? Because if Fox had any faith in this show, they wouldn't have given away two episodes on the first night. If you have a quality product you know people want to see, you milk it for all you can and spread out the goodness. Obviously, that didn't happen here.

For the record, I'm not a movie geek. I commented on one movie years ago. I could count the number of message board posts I've made on one hand. In fact, I'm making this comment rather than posting something on the boards because I honestly don't care what other people think of what I have to say. I'm an average viewer who was insulted by what I saw being presented to me. The saying goes, "if you don't' like it, change the channel." I did change the channel. Twice.

The Winner is an enjoyable show presented to us by Family Guy and American Dad! creator Seth MacFarlane.The show has a very original concept the love of geeky 32 year old Glen Abbott moves back in next door with her twelve year old son who is a mirror image of what Glen was as a kid.Glen and 12 year old Josh become friends and help each other out in life, Josh uses Glen's childhood knowledge to score girls his age while Glen uses Josh's knowledge to form a relationship with Josh's mom.Yes it is far fetched and wacky but it's told in a way that works and makes it all seem possible.Most of the nay sayers of this show will claim it sucks simply because it has canned laughter then go on a rant about shows with canned laughter and how "bad today's shows are" or b*tch about Arrested Development being canceled.In many of the other reviews you'll see very little information on the show they may say "it's predictable" or "it's unoriginal" then rant about everything they find wrong with todays TV shows and hardly analyze The Winner at all.The Winner primarily focuses on awkward situations and embarrassing moments to draw laughter from you much like the American Pie movies.The character is a loser , virgin, nice guy, who's too geeky for his own good he's basically a big kid with little to no knowledge of the adult world (examples being showing up for a job interview without a resume, going to a penthouse for sex lessons, and using his $250 paycheck as a pick up line.Alison is the sweet, trusting girl next door who has great comedic timing she's sort of the "normal" character.Josh is a geeky houndog who wants girls but isn't very good with what to say basically a child version of the Glen character.Glen's parents with whom he lives with are the typical squabbling old coots the father a real hard@$$, the mother a nurturer.The show isn't perfect as a lot of the situations are very unbelievable and the fact that Alison would be so trusting of Glen around Josh (especially in todays paranoid society)is very unrealistic.The show is fun and without any of the random humour or pop culture references you see on Family Guy, or any of the political humour you see on American Dad! this is just a harmless show that gives you more laughs than the average sitcom like According To Jim or Til' Death.The series airs on Sunday nights @ 8:30.See for yourself.