Retired at 35

Being a fan of George Segal's old movies I wanted to like this but can't beat a dead horse anymore. It is now in its second season and I tried to watch it again thinking that maybe it got better. Sadly, I could not have been more wrong.

There is no timing or flow to their dialog or interactions. If you just sit and watch you can almost see each of them running their lines and stage directions in their heads. When one person finishes speaking there is an unnatural pause and then it is like the other person "wakes up" to the fact that they must respond either with verse or action.

To each their own little bubble and they never connect. No chemistry, no comedic talent and poor direction. Bury it already it is really starting to stink to high heaven.

The premise is a young executive son moving back in with his parents. The cast is wonderful... with the exception of one actor... the lead (Johnathan McClain) who is just God awful in comedy... it just does not work. And what a wonderful backing cast... all with talent, all who CAN act. McClain lacks the interpretation, the timing, the physical comedy cues that make a great lead actor in a great sitcom.

McClain appears about 20 years too young for the lead role of "Dave." George Segal, playing his father, looks about 40 years older than the son... too bad they did not cast Clark Gregg from "New Adventures Of Old Christine" for example in the role... a Bob Newhart kind of character actor who could carry this role off. Matthew Perry would of course be the perfect ideal lead actor in this series, but I imagine his asking price is about a million an episode as of this writing. Average sitcom writing, great acting by all except for the atrocious McClain.

Full disclosure: I only watched one episode (I couldn't take more than that). What's embarrassing is to have a cast of long-time respected actors (George Segal, Jessica Walter and George Wyner) in such a series. There were certainly some funny lines, but someone decided that EVERY line was not only funny, but hysterical, so the entire episode is filled with distractingly uproarious laughter start to finish. An example: guy at the bar on the phone wants to impress nearby woman with his name-dropping and refers to Warren Buffet as "Buff-hay." Hysterical laughter. He goes on to explain that man is the inventor of the buffet (again, "buff-hay"). Hysterical laughter. Then his friend comes over and "explains the joke," saying, "It's Warren Buffet" (correct pronunciation). Hysterical laughter! I'm sure Buffet didn't invest in this one.

The show focuses on David Robbins (Johnathon McClain), a young man who abruptly quits his job and moves in with his parents (portrayed by George Segal and Jessica Walter) at their retirement community.

The writing for the show is awful. The show lacks creativity. Most of the jokes are unoriginal or mediocre 1-liners. George Segal and Jessica Walter are talented, but the lines they are given are not funny. McClain's acting is okay, but nothing great.

Since the pilot, the show has only made minor improvements. The later episodes of the first season are not quite as terrible as the pilot, but the show has not improved enough to become worth watching.

I'm writing this review for one reason. This thing turned itself around hard. I have no idea if they got new writers or what, but after the first two episodes I was like everybody else and ready to bail on the show. But I gave it one more shot and it totally swayed me. They've aired 4 episodes as I write this and the last two are hugely better than the first two, which were kind of all over the place and not very funny.

The show seems to have settled down and figured out what it wants to be, which looks like a throwback comedy with some basic conflict and a cute resolution at the end. And I'd say it does that slightly better than average.

One thing I will say though, in reading some of the early stuff on here, the guy who plays David, Johnathan McClain, seems to have caught some heat, which is crazy to me. I think dude's the best thing about the show. I read a review of this series in The Daily News which called his work solid, and I totally agree, and in the last two episodes he's far and away the funniest part of the show. He seems natural and comfortable on screen, and frankly looks like he's putting way more effort into making the thing work than George Segal and Jessica Walters. Somebody I read said they should have gotten Matthew Perry, which is weird because to me dude seems to be playing a cross between Perry and Schwimmer, which is kind of how the part's written, so I think the guy's doing great.

I mean all in all, it's not like amazing and it's not gonna change TV, but I don't think that's probably the point. My girlfriend watches Hot In Cleveland, which I kind of sit through, but then this comes on and I've got no problem watching it before we go to bed.

If it keeps going in the direction it's headed, I think it could go from being pretty good to just plain good. We'll see.