Connecting...

Okay so I'll say I was impressed with this show for sure but I get a odd feeling that half the reason it's good is it's our new life day to day though I do recommend due to humorous moments I say it's only funny cause it's true to life

Wow. This thing has to be the lowest budget effort any network has ever backed. It could literally have been produced by having people talking in front of a green screen. Everything is static and oh, so boring. You could get the same effect by going to any low budget coffee shop and listening to the customers. I gave it 2 stars even though it's a one-star effort. The extra star is for having the hutzpah to actually con a network into making a pilot.

A group of friends stay connected during the pandemic by using a Zoom-like internet app. Annie is the hot gal obsessed with the TV show Cheers. Ben is the hot guy and they secretly like to date. Pradeep is hiding from his kids. Ellis is trans. Garrett and Ben's sister Michelle are a couple who likes quarantining. Rufus is overly concerned with conspiracy theory.

I like this group of actors and their characters. The premise and the filming structure is intriguing. I'm willing to give this a shot. The problem is its relentless obsession with present day social commentary. It needs to be tone that down for a network sitcom show. It's possible to do a once-in-awhile-very-special-episode but this one insists on making it the central theme of every episode. It gets tiresome.

Does anyone know what happened to the uproar over Shakina abusive behaviors towards others? Its a shame that so many other Trans actors who do things correctly aren't given opportunities. There's so many people still working to heal and they've just opted out and consider themselves above their actions.

Connecting is an unusual show in that it's format hasn't really been used for comedy before. For those familiar with the emerging "screenlife" in films such as Searching or the Unfriended series produced Timur Bekmambetov, indie film The Den, and Nacho Vigalondo's Open Windows, you;ll notice this format is typically utilized for horror/thriller films. The attempt at using the storytelling framework for a sitcom is respectable, but it doesn't lend itself to humor as well as other formats and still needs some adjustment.

In terms of the characters, I think they're all likable and played by charismatic actors who have good chemistry with each other. In terms of the overall format I'm skeptical as to whether or not it's capable of maintaining it's premise for 13 episodes and beyond, but the show how a decent enough pilot that I am willing to stick with it for a few more episodes to see where it goes.