S01.E01: Pilot

[Bort]

Quote

Carol Kenney enthusiastically begins her first day as an internal medicine intern but has a rocky start when she disregards direct orders to help a patient; Carol meets Dr. Frost, a senior attending physician who may be the ally Carol needs.

Airdate: Thursday, September 26, 2019

[Frost]

A little clunky, but for a pilot I thought it was good.  I like Carol's character.  If they can get the 'witty banter' between all of the other interns to sound less forced, this could be an enjoyable show.

[Pepper the Cat]

Undecided.

Will have to see another episode or two before I make up my mind.  

[Bort]

A little rough, but then so was The Big Bang Theory pilot and that ran for 12 years. So we'll see.

Heh, I didn't know Ben from Baby Daddy was in this. Kind of playing the same character.

[Snow Apple]

I'm already weary of the tough boss character. It a tiresome cliche.

I like all the others though. I always enjoy the shows about workplace friendships and bonding.

[jewel21]

I tuned into this for Jean-Luc Bilodeau who I loved on Baby Daddy. But so far I find his character lacks any character, heh. 

I'll need a few more episodes to decide if I want to keep watching or not. 

I also thought Carol's constant nattering was annoying. I know she's excited but you'd think that as a former teacher, she would know when to speak and when to listen. 

[Bort]

7 minutes ago, jewel21 said:

I also thought Carol's constant nattering was annoying. I know she's excited but you'd think that as a former teacher, she would know when to speak and when to listen. 

Yes, this. As a teacher, did she never have a student come in all excited on their first day, chittering like a chipmunk? Surely she should know how annoying that is.

[Bulldog]

I like Patricia Heaton, but oh boy, was this bad.   Hard pass.   

[Forsaken]

Started watching it, felt cheap and nasty from the first second. Patricia Heaton appears, audience (or recording) went nuts Happy Days style. I turned it off. I don't even think a minute had passed. 

It feels and looks like an old school sitcom. 

Edited September 27, 2019 by Forsaken

[alexa]

Well, hey this isn’t surprising...I liked the show, so usually that means several people didn’t.  Lol. The shows I hate will have several comments loving the show.  Anyway I did like it...I thought it had a good flow, easy to follow, and I will keep watching.  

[ShowsILoveToHate]

I was really disappointed in this show until towards the end when Carol went in to talk to that patient and his wife about having cancer. That scene gave me a glimmer of hope. 

I’ll keep watching to see how the show goes. 

[Snow Apple]

It's because it feels like an old school sitcom that I mostly liked it. I just want a pleasant half hour sometimes without thinking too much.

The applause for Patricia *was* a bit jarring, but I hope that's just for the first episode. 

[joanne3482]

I really liked it. I'm easy. 

[Gregg247]

I liked this.  It had some awkward "sitcom-type" situations (turning the shower on herself by mistake was too silly), but it was a pleasant way to spend a half hour.  I'm a big fan of "The Resident", so I kept wondering what this show would look like if it Carol spent her first day as a doctor on THAT show.    It could still be funny, but maybe a tad more realistic and medically-based.

[DoYouLikeMutton]

I thought I would love this show, but so far I am unimpressed.  Once again, the best lines were the ones from the trailer.  I thought the shower scene was stupid, and after watching the premier of The Unicorn, also a disappointment,  I was just too tired to go on.  I fell asleep and missed the last 1/3 of the episode.   I liked Carol's perkiness, but even that wasn't enough to hold my interest.   I will try it again though. 

[Guest]

I liked it, but her talking style was weird.  I wondered if she'd had too much botox/plastic surgery to move her face the way she used to?

[tinkerbell]

Ugh.  

[OhSarah69]

Ugh...

I like Patricia Heaton but I don't know if this will work for me.  The character was so jittery and jumpy through most of the episode and kept shrieking in that high-pitched tone throughout the episode - I wanted to turn the sound down. 

I did not like the chief resident boss-lady doctor nor find her believable - she was all bluster with no real gravitas behind her, and I bet that's not the actress's fault - it must be hard to share a screen with an established star who is chewing the scenery all around you.  But all she did was talk down to everyone - I realize it's just the first episode but sheesh, I wouldn't put up with that.

The other actors were fairly meh.  The bearded guy has a weird way of speaking and the other guy was just dopey.  I like Sabrina Jalees but I'm probably just biased because she's Canadian :).  I don't think her role is going to be big enough to make a big enough impression on anyone, but I salute her for getting a prime-time gig.

I think if you're going to build a show around an established actor who's had success in other comedic roles, you need to surround them with other people who are already funny by themselves, not put random people and try to write funny lines for them.

Geez, it must be hell to put on a new show - it's no wonder a lot of them don't get much past the pilot (not that I'm wishing anything bad specifically on this show).

And yes, I think Patricia might have done something cosmetic around her mouth - I'm not liking it, though she has a right to fix what she wants. 

[EmG]

Hmn. 

I like Heaton. 

The laugh track put me off right away. 

I'll watch a couple more to see if it grows into something.

[Wanda]

Was planning on watching this because of Lucas Neff from Raising Hope, but y’all are giving me second thoughts...

[SoMuchTV]

Way over the top a lot of the time (especially Heaton's character) but I'll probably keep it on my recorded block of shows with Young Sheldon and Mom, and watch if I don't have something better to do.  It's the pilot so maybe things will calm down.

I am glad they at least made her a high school science teacher, so she'd have some background for getting into medicine and the second career made some sense.

And hey - they guy from Raising Hope - one of my favorite shows ever.  I would never have recognized him but I saw the name Lucas Neff and it rang a bell.

And the aide from Speechless. Blink and you'll miss him.  I hope he gets more than one line and an eye roll going forward.

3 minutes ago, Wanda said:

Was planning on watching this because of Lucas Neff from Raising Hope, but y’all are giving me second thoughts...

Cross posted - you owe me a Coke 🙂

[possibilities]

I had low expectations, and liked it more than I expected to. I say it's worth watching a few episodes, to see how it turns out.

[Forsaken]

7 hours ago, deaja said:

I liked it, but her talking style was weird.  I wondered if she'd had too much botox/plastic surgery to move her face the way she used to?

I always thought she was better looking before she started all the surgery etc

[Snow Apple]

I saw the shower turning on from a mile away and wouldn't have laughed, but did end up laughing when it triggered a code blue alarm and the staff came running.

Was Lucas Neff the dumpster banana guy? I saw his name and looked for him and figured is this guy but he looks unrecognizable.

[eel21788]

21 hours ago, jewel21 said:

I also thought Carol's constant nattering was annoying. I know she's excited but you'd think that as a former teacher, she would know when to speak and when to listen. 

The most amusing part about the show for me was my senior year in high school, my middle-aged biology teacher decided she was going to get divorced and go to medical school. Listening to Carol's lines was like de ja vu. I heard it all in 1980. Her physical appearance was similar to Patricia Heaton's, too. (I don't know what happened to my teacher's medical career aspirations. Fifteen years later she was still teaching high school science at the same school.)

[eel21788]

57 minutes ago, Snow Apple said:

I saw the shower turning on from a mile away and wouldn't have laughed, but did end up laughing when it triggered a code blue alarm and the staff came running.

Except that isn't how a code is called in a real hospital. None of the hospital stuff was realistic. As usual, most of the doctors' "assignments" were things that are the responsibility of the nurses. Of course, there wasn't a nurse anywhere in sight either.

[AnnaRose]

3 hours ago, eel21788 said:

Except that isn't how a code is called in a real hospital. None of the hospital stuff was realistic. As usual, most of the doctors' "assignments" were things that are the responsibility of the nurses. Of course, there wasn't a nurse anywhere in sight either.

Yep.  I also thought it was unrealistic that the patient was admitted to the hospital just because he presented with headaches and fatigue.  With no prior CT scan or anything.  And then Carol supposedly knew he had cancer because, in addition to having a history of migraines, he was itchy for the past month?  Really?

Honestly, I only liked Patricia Heaton and Kyle MacLachlan in this pilot, and I agree with the poster above who suggested they should have cast stronger comedic actors in the supporting roles.  

On the plus side, I did think it was better than The Unicorn premiere, but that is not saying much.  I will probably give Carol's Second Act a few more episodes though because of Patricia.  Her character was hyped up for her first day as an intern, but I thought Heaton still seemed very natural and believable.  She is such a pro.

On a shallow note, I thought Patricia Heaton looked great!  (To me she looked more attractive than the actress playing her daughter.)  She also has a rather cute and charming way about her that makes her character, who otherwise might be too grating, much more appealing to me.

[Bort]

8 hours ago, OhSarah69 said:

I think if you're going to build a show around an established actor who's had success in other comedic roles, you need to surround them with other people who are already funny by themselves, not put random people and try to write funny lines for them.

26 minutes ago, AnnaRose said:

I agree with the poster above who suggested they should have cast stronger comedic actors in the supporting roles.  

Jean-Luc Bilodeau, who plays Daniel, was pretty funny in Baby Daddy, so I would say he's a pretty strong comedic actor. He wasn't given much to do here that was humorous. But then, I also submit that his comic timing in Baby Daddy might have been strong from playing opposite Melissa Peterman, who is really hilarious.

[torqy]

to me, Kyle MacLachlan played the same goofball he played 30 years ago on Twin Peaks

In Carol's speech to Chief Resident at the vending machine a lot of Debra Barone came out.

[ehall1052]

8 hours ago, AnnaRose said:

addition to having a history of migraines, he was itchy for the past month?  Really?

That was realistic. I was itchy for several months and the first doctor I was referred to was an oncologist to quickly eliminate any cancer diagnosis. Turns out my diagnosis was food allergies.

[Forsaken]

On 9/27/2019 at 9:41 PM, Snow Apple said:

It's because it feels like an old school sitcom that I mostly liked it. I just want a pleasant half hour sometimes without thinking too much.

The applause for Patricia *was* a bit jarring, but I hope that's just for the first episode. 

If it had some of the good elements of an old school sitcom it may have been ok. But that canned applause really killed it for me. She hadn't even said or done anything yet. We were just supposed to be excited because it's Patricia Heaton, the star of the show!

[AnnaRose]

1 hour ago, Forsaken said:

If it had some of the good elements of an old school sitcom it may have been ok. But that canned applause really killed it for me. She hadn't even said or done anything yet. We were just supposed to be excited because it's Patricia Heaton, the star of the show!

So I guess it is filmed in front of a studio audience?  If that's the case, I can see them responding like that.  I assume that the people who got tickets are fans of Patricia and were excited and there to see her specifically.

That kind of thing tends to happen when sitcoms are filmed in front of a studio audience and a beloved sitcom actor who was in multiple successful shows steps on stage for the first time in a series.  A recent example that comes to mind is Bob Newhart and The Big Bang Theory.  I wouldn't hold an audience's response against the show. YMMV of course.

[ctlady]

On the surface, I liked it.  I like the plot of a woman of her age wanting to do more than just go off and knit!  I did find the comedy way too forced as well PH being too animated, especially for such a seasoned actress between ELR and TM. I don't know if it's her or the way she was directed to act.  I do think this is something that has long term sustainability of more than just a season or two as her 'second act' can entail bother her internship, residency and beyond.  Even if she were to wind up being the hospital administrator down the line, she's still in her 'second act'.  I'll keep watching

[Frost]

The director's are going to have to de-Disneyfy Ashley Tisdale.  She didn't have many lines, but she still seems to have the heightened delivery and mannerisms from her Disney days.

[Bort]

1 hour ago, AnnaRose said:

So I guess it is filmed in front of a studio audience?  If that's the case, I can see them responding like that.  I assume that the people who got tickets are fans of Patricia and were excited and there to see her specifically.

That kind of thing tends to happen when sitcoms are filmed in front of a studio audience and a beloved sitcom actor who was in multiple successful shows steps on stage for the first time in a series.  A recent example that comes to mind is Bob Newhart and The Big Bang Theory.  I wouldn't hold an audience's response against the show. YMMV of course.

Yeah, but that studio audience didn't sound real, it was like robots laughing. It sounded like watching an episode of MASH, which wasn't filmed in front of a studio audience and a laugh track was added later. Maybe they didn't shoot this particular episode in front of a real audience because it was a pilot? I don't know, but I hope there's a real audience for the next episode.

[AnnaRose]

2 hours ago, kariyaki said:

Yeah, but that studio audience didn't sound real, it was like robots laughing. It sounded like watching an episode of MASH, which wasn't filmed in front of a studio audience and a laugh track was added later. Maybe they didn't shoot this particular episode in front of a real audience because it was a pilot? I don't know, but I hope there's a real audience for the next episode.

Huh.  I don't even recall anything other than the first response, so it didn't make much of an impression on me.  (Also, I've been watching tons of these short videos the last week, which has probably made me immune to noticing the laughter of a live audience.  People laugh out loud at all kinds of things I do not, especially when it's a live performance.)

@ctlady - Maybe that's why Patricia was more animated... being back in front of a studio audience filming multi-cam (more like a play) instead of single-cam like The Middle was filmed.  Perhaps she's just getting back into the groove of that?  I don't know. She had high energy, but I was able to buy that her character was excited and kind of wound up... so it didn't bother me.

Edited September 28, 2019 by AnnaRose

[Forsaken]

8 hours ago, AnnaRose said:

So I guess it is filmed in front of a studio audience?  If that's the case, I can see them responding like that.  I assume that the people who got tickets are fans of Patricia and were excited and there to see her specifically.

That kind of thing tends to happen when sitcoms are filmed in front of a studio audience and a beloved sitcom actor who was in multiple successful shows steps on stage for the first time in a series.  A recent example that comes to mind is Bob Newhart and The Big Bang Theory.  I wouldn't hold an audience's response against the show. YMMV of course.

I assume if it was a real audience they would have announced it at the start "Carol's Second Act is filmed in front of a live studio audience".

The applause sounded recorded as you didn't hear a murmur until she appeared and then it stopped abruptly as well. I saw a making of "Friends" episode and they would manipulate the audience recorded tracks there as well. They put a lot of thought into it actually. 

[Bort]

19 minutes ago, Forsaken said:

I assume if it was a real audience they would have announced it at the start "Carol's Second Act is filmed in front of a live studio audience".

They don't usually do that. Friends and The Big Bang Theory were filmed in front of a live audience and there was never any such announcement.

[BooBear]

Gosh I thought this was hysterical.  I haven't laughed that much in a while.  I do have concerns about Ashley Tisdale. 

I do get tired of Lucas Neff just playing the same person all the time but everything else was funny.  In general I hate canned applause so that is difficult. 

[ShowsILoveToHate]

On the same evening that I watched this show, I had watched 2 other new show premiers as well. "Carol's Second Act" was the one that I looking forward to the most.

The first one that night was "Perfect Harmony" starring Bradley Whitford and Anna Camp.  My husband and I ended up really liking it by the end of the episode. It had corny parts, but I'm very hopeful for future episodes. 

Second one was "The Unicorn".  It didn't hold my attention. I want to like this show but the main character is just so... I don't know... 'dry' or something.  I've never seen him in anything else, and the way they have his character dressed/hair, he looks like a serial killer or something. I will definitely be giving this show a few more episodes before making a final decision, but this was my least favorite of the 3. (I thought that ALL of the supporting cast was pretty good!).

Lastly was "Carol's Second Act" which I've really been looking forward to!

First of all, I hate the laugh track or live audience, whatever.  It takes you away from the story.  If it's a laugh track, and not a live audience, that's even worse. 

Carol acting like she's starting her first day of high school, in the opening scene, was ridiculous. I like that she was very excited to be there, but her over the top behavior wasn't appropriate, and I can't imagine any person (man or woman) acting that way on their first day of a medical internship. 

I agree with the previous poster who said that some of the things would, in real life, be handled by nurses, and except for Nurse Dennis sitting behind the desk, there weren't any/many nurses at all. 

I don't need my sitcoms to be totally realistic, but I can't stand leaving all reality out of any type of show. 

I don't know any of the supporting characters except for Kyle MacLachlan, and Cedric Yarbrough who I know from "Speechless" and other parts he's played.  I've heard of Ashley Tisdale but can't recall what I've seen her in.

Anyway, this first episode was so over the top with clichéd characters and near hysteria on "Carol's" part; it left me feeling disappointed.  I will continue to watch though, because so many good shows can have really bad starts.   

So, these are my few cents! 💰 YMMV 🙂 

[Snow Apple]

It seems most, if not all, of the cast are experienced veterans of sitcoms so hopefully it calms down after the pilot. It also depends on the director though.

[possibilities]

It looked so low budget, it made me laugh. They have name cast members but fewer extras and cheaper looking sets than Scrubs did.

I don't exactly mind, it just seemed like a funny choice to make, to eliminate nurses, have FIRST DAY interns giving really bad news without any guidance or supervision, and apparently folks didn't even have name tags, which would have taken care of "she's the chief?!" confusion when Carol met her colleagues.

But I still liked it enough to come back. I like the premise. I hope they do better with the writing, because it has potential. So, we'll see....

[WendyCR72]

21 hours ago, Forsaken said:

I assume if it was a real audience they would have announced it at the start "Carol's Second Act is filmed in front of a live studio audience".

Shows in the '70s and '80s did this. Cheers and Happy Days (yeah, I'm old!), as examples. But modern sitcoms that do have live audiences do not. As @kariyaki said, Friends and Big Bang Theory had studio audiences and never did that announcement.

[chitowngirl]

7 hours ago, ShowsILoveToHate said:

  I've heard of Ashley Tisdale but can't recall what I've seen her in.

High School Musical?

[ohSoShiny]

On ‎9‎/‎27‎/‎2019 at 2:18 PM, Wanda said:

Was planning on watching this because of Lucas Neff from Raising Hope, but y’all are giving me second thoughts...

Neff is the only reason I tuned in - love him.  But wow this was bad. 

[Forsaken]

5 hours ago, WendyCR72 said:

Shows in the '70s and '80s did this. Cheers and Happy Days (yeah, I'm old!), as examples. But modern sitcoms that do have live audiences do not. As @kariyaki said, Friends and Big Bang Theory had studio audiences and never did that announcement.

Fair enough. I don't know why but I liked that announcement, just nostalgia maybe. Now they are probably worried people will flood them with emails wanting to get tickets. 

I did find an article about Second Act and it is a live audience but that applause still sounded so recorded, the way it starts and then ends. Possibly altered post production. 

[Bort]

13 minutes ago, Forsaken said:

I did find an article about Second Act and it is a live audience but that applause still sounded so recorded, the way it starts and then ends. Possibly altered post production. 

My guess is that the pilot was not filmed before a studio audience. Could be that the subsequent episodes were, we just haven't seen any of those yet.

[Kip Hackman]

It was a little clunky (as most pilots are), and the laugh track was distracting.

But Heaton completely won me over in "The Middle", so I'll give it a few more episodes.

[andromeda331]

I'm uncertain after the pilot. Patricia Heaton being so happy and excited for so long did get annoying. I don't know about anyone else yet. But it was the first episode. But I really did like Carol offering to tell the patient that he had cancer. That would be hard to do the first time for anyone let alone the first time for an intern (even though it makes more sense the hospital would chose someone other then an intern on his first day to break such news,) and I did really like the scene with her breaking the news to the patient and his wife/girlfriend. She did a good job. 

[Snow Apple]

Like others stated, I'm glad Carol had a successful career before this. She's an award winning teacher so I'm going to go with her acting overly excited now because that's how she got her students excited and motivated.