S01.01: I Want You Back (Pilot)

[Meredith Quill]

Quote

A group of diverse, down-on-their-luck people attempt to change their lives by participating in a potentially life-ruining reality dance show, featuring a modern reimagining of "Swan Lake" in the all-new "Pilot" series premiere episode of THE BIG LEAP airing Monday, Sept. 20 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX.

 

[Whimsy]

I watched this and...  thought it was pretty terrible, tbh.  The acting is bad and the story makes no sense.  Who would want to watch a bunch of people who are not even good dancers of any style, let alone ballet, and put on Swan Lake?  It would make so much more sense to take these bunch of people and put on something more modern with a bunch of different styles.  

[Demian]

Jesus H. Tapdancing Christ.  This is Glee, but with dancers.  Just shoot me in the fucking head.

Edit:  Nora Dunn deserves so much better than this.

Edited September 21, 2021 by Demian

[Suzysite]

Well, I wasn't sure what to expect, but I kind of liked it.  It had its moments, but overall I found it touching and funny.   

[Bulldog]

Looks like I may be in the minority, but I kind of loved this.  I'm surprised myself as this doesn't seem like the type of show I would normally watch at all.  

[DanaK]

What an odd show and kind of all over the map, but kind of endearing. The opening scene was comedy gold and the bowling alley dancing was a fun segment. A Swan Lake performance seems kind of an odd choice to foist on amateur dancers

I don’t see this lasting long enough for a full season pickup sadly

[Lilac2000]

I liked it. I like Mallory Jansen going back to her mean Galavant ways rather than the Hallmark heroines she's been playing recently. I'm sure she's lovely in real life but she really does play the mean girl well.

[DanaK]

I read a review that suggested this seems better as a comedy and fails at the more dramatic parts and I kind of agree

[Emiloo212]

I liked it a lot. I don’t think it’s supposed to be a show about serious dancing. It’s about being behind the scenes of a reality show. Scott Foley is great as usual. I wish he were a little more sympathetic. It’s good to see a somewhat overweight woman playing the female lead, and as a dancer yet. The scene where she was teaching the football player the dance moves was kind of magical. Does anyone else think that the music in that scene sounded like the music in Bridgerton?

[Maverick]

1 hour ago, DanaK said:

The opening scene was comedy gold and the bowling alley dancing was a fun segment.

 I'm convinced this show is deliberately trying to fall into the 'so bad it's good' category and that the bowling alley scene was an homage to Grease 2, which falls into so campy and earnest that it ends up in the unintentionally good realm. 

1 hour ago, DanaK said:

I read a review that suggested this seems better as a comedy and fails at the more dramatic parts and I kind of agree

 When I saw the commercials and the announcer intoned 'a new drama from FOX' I was like, really?  A drama?   And seeing it cemented the fact it's not a drama.  I got several good laughs and am convinced I was laughing with the show, not at it.   The excessively bitchy judge who didn't have her first period until 30, the gay guy wondering if the kid is his even though they never had sex, just about every word that came out of Scott Foley's mouth.   It's all meant to mock drama cliches and reality TV.   And so far it's entertaining enough.  

 

[UnoAgain]

I really enjoyed it as well... But I really liked most of glee too.. Whether it was schlotzy drama or low comedy.. Something about it made me watch.. And I think this was even less schlotzy and funnier... Tho I'm also older now... Also nice that we got a full body lead actress who can speak on her issues, but so far in a much more relatable way than the lady from this is us... Scott Foley.. Who I know is good, but generally I don't enjoy was great here.. Watching him upend these peoples lives and only kinda struggle with it will be fun... I may let a few episodes oile up so I can binge but I will make sure to catch all... 

[suzeecat]

I liked it more than I expected.  there's lots of superficial silliness, but layers to be peeled away.  I'm looking forward to seeing where this goes.  I never saw one episode of Glee but even I got the impression that's where it was birthed from. 

[Empress1]

10 hours ago, Maverick said:

 I'm convinced this show is deliberately trying to fall into the 'so bad it's good' category and that the bowling alley scene was an homage to Grease 2, which falls into so campy and earnest that it ends up in the unintentionally good realm. 

 When I saw the commercials and the announcer intoned 'a new drama from FOX' I was like, really?  A drama?   And seeing it cemented the fact it's not a drama.  I got several good laughs and am convinced I was laughing with the show, not at it.   The excessively bitchy judge who didn't have her first period until 30, the gay guy wondering if the kid is his even though they never had sex, just about every word that came out of Scott Foley's mouth.   It's all meant to mock drama cliches and reality TV.   And so far it's entertaining enough.  

I didn’t realize it was supposed to be a drama either. There was a lot that was clearly played for laughs, e.g. the game & party scenes where everybody knew the high school guy was gay (and when they were saying they loved each other, I totally thought they meant it platonically; I didn’t realize they were supposed to be a couple until one of the friends was like “doesn’t she know he’s gay?”), and the whole scene in the Apple store. (Looking at porn and masturbating is not cheating, IMO, and it’s weird to me that a woman her age would be shocked by the idea that her husband looked at porn. Porn is a multi-billion-dollar industry; people watch it.)

The lead’s son is adorable and I enjoyed most of the dancing sequences. I’ll give it at least another episode.

[DanaK]

It does have a certain quirky charm. With the reality show element, it reminds me, at least on paper, of Lifetime's Unreal, though I never saw that show, but at least one reviewer made that comparison

The preliminary ratings weren't good at all with a 0.4 in the 18-49 demo and 1.968 million viewers, making it 4th in its timeslot and running behind almost everything else for the night except reruns and the CW, so unless things pick up, this will likely not get a full season pickup

[Empress1]

12 minutes ago, DanaK said:

It does have a certain quirky charm. With the reality show element, it reminds me, at least on paper, of Lifetime's Unreal, though I never saw that show, but at least one reviewer made that comparison

I watched the first season of Unreal and a little of the second, but they botched race in such a spectacular, gross way that I stopped watching. Unreal was darker than this from the beginning, and it got and stayed pretty dark. I don’t remember laughing at Unreal.

[Retired at last]

To me, this was a combo of Unreal (which I LOVED for the first season) and So You Think You Can Dance. I do wish Scott Foley was a little nicer, but I am guessing he will be. While Swan Lake was a horrible choice for untrained dancers, I agree that this show is not about dancers. I am hoping it sticks around long enough to build some good relationships, but I am afraid it will get pulled sooner rather than later. I am willing to stick with it for the ride.

[Koalagirl]

1 hour ago, Retired at last said:

To me, this was a combo of Unreal (which I LOVED for the first season) and So You Think You Can Dance. I do wish Scott Foley was a little nicer, but I am guessing he will be. While Swan Lake was a horrible choice for untrained dancers, I agree that this show is not about dancers. I am hoping it sticks around long enough to build some good relationships, but I am afraid it will get pulled sooner rather than later. I am willing to stick with it for the ride.

You hit the nail on the head with the mashup of Unreal and SYTYCD.  I found myself smiling at the end of the episode but from the previews there’s going to be a hell of a lot of drama mixed in.  I’m sticking with this show for now.

[CountryGirl]

The pilot was cheesy, full of every cliche imaginable, and the definition of trying too hard. 

And yet I loved it. 

Perhaps it’s the younger me, who wanted to be a ballerina, but puberty and an injury had other ideas. 

Perhaps it’s the presence of Scott Foley whose Noel (of Felicity) made me realize I  had moved on from my college boyfriend (a total Ben) and was falling for my best guy friend (my now-husband). 

Perhaps it’s filling the hole I didn’t realize was there when Glee went off the air (Glee in its early seasons’ best, mind you).

In any event, I’m all in. 

[Guest]

I put this on without a clue what it was about and ended up really enjoying it. For the most part I thought the realty show satire worked much better than the more earnest parts. They could drop the scenes outside the show and I wouldn’t miss them at all. 

Mallory Jansen was stealing the show with her reactions to the auditions and interactions with the other judge. Scott Foley is always great. Teri Polo, the fired guy trying to win his wife back and Piper Perabo could disappear next week and I’d never miss them. 

[DanaK]

Final numbers for Episode 1: 0.29 in the demo, 1.474 million viewers. That's a big fall from the preliminaries; I don't know if it followed some sports program. This might be the first flop of the season

Edited September 22, 2021 by DanaK

[GaT]

I watched & I'll hang in there for at least a few more episodes. You can see the obvious plots to come, so that's a shame, & the whole Swan Lake thing is stupid, but I'll keep watching. The ratings don't sound like it's going to be here long, but they may have nothing to replace it with, so who knows.

[proserpina65]

I took a chance on this, fully expecting to not like it.  Turns out it was pretty entertaining.  Not deep or meaningful, but some of the characters are interesting, and the behind the scenes reality show stuff was quite funny.  And yes, Mallory Jansen was gold.  So I'll stick with it for now, which is more than I can probably say for Ordinary Joe - the other new show I took a chance on.

[Crs97]

I just finally watched it.  While it was kinda fun, no one (besides maybe Justin) was a good dancer.  I get that they are supposed to be amateurs, but they weren’t good at all.  I liked that Scott Foley said Gabbie was the star not because she could dance, but because she would get her heart broken.  That lift started decently, but then she was just hanging there.  Why was anyone impressed, much less clapping in awe?  I will try again, but they weren’t good.

[Guest]

8 hours ago, DanaK said:

Final numbers for Episode 1: 0.29 in the demo, 1.474 million viewers. That's a big fall from the preliminaries; I don't know if it followed some sports program. This might be the first flop of the season

I doubt it made much of a difference but it’s worth noting the Fox put the first two episodes up on streaming before the premiere. That makes it harder to judge the live numbers from the first episodes since anyone who was really interested in the show probably watched early. The third episode will be a better indicator. 

Edited September 23, 2021 by Guest

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, Crs97 said:

I just finally watched it.  While it was kinda fun, no one (besides maybe Justin) was a good dancer.  I get that they are supposed to be amateurs, but they weren’t good at all.  I liked that Scott Foley said Gabbie was the star not because she could dance, but because she would get her heart broken.  That lift started decently, but then she was just hanging there.  Why was anyone impressed, much less clapping in awe?  I will try again, but they weren’t good.

That was a weird moment and it felt uncomfortably like they were applauding because he could lift someone of her size. It really undercut anything progressive about having a plus size lead. 

[peachmangosteen]

This is precisely my type of shit so I enjoyed it. It seems so obvious it won't even get to air all of it's eps though let alone get another season with how bad the ratings and reviews are but I'm hoping it can somehow survive.

[ssj]

Way too many side characters in this show. Too many side stories. Just focus on the dance competition side and not the whole family life drama 

[DearEvette]

Wait... this is supposed to be a drama?  I legit laughed so much.  The auditions were funny and it has bite.  There were some great one-liners.  Too bad about the ratings but I'll watch it until it's gone or until it begins to take itself too seriously.

[peachmangosteen]

I think it's probably supposed to be a dramedy.

[lala2]

I loved it and hope it can get at least one season. 

[Cathy Santoni]

On 9/18/2021 at 11:49 AM, Whimsy said:

I watched this and...  thought it was pretty terrible, tbh.  The acting is bad and the story makes no sense.  Who would want to watch a bunch of people who are not even good dancers of any style, let alone ballet, and put on Swan Lake?  It would make so much more sense to take these bunch of people and put on something more modern with a bunch of different styles.  

Yeah, let’s pick the single most technical form of dance for these amateurs to perform (most of whom have no ballet experience). Swan Lake makes zero sense. Mixing each of their styles would be so much more interesting.

[CountryGirl]

I don't disagree that mixing styles would be interesting.

The premise for the show was actually inspired by a British reality show, Big Ballet, in which 18 amateurs put on an abbreviated version of Swan Lake. They did a more than admirable job. 

 

[CarpeFelis]

On 9/21/2021 at 8:55 AM, Empress1 said:

(Looking at porn and masturbating is not cheating, IMO, and it’s weird to me that a woman her age would be shocked by the idea that her husband looked at porn. Porn is a multi-billion-dollar industry; people watch it.)

Generally it’s not cheating, but when it gets to the point where someone’s so addicted that they completely shut out their partner as this guy was doing? This has all the hallmarks of cheating: lying to his wife, claiming to be “too tired”, and completely shutting her out emotionally. Sure, there was no affair partner, but he was destroying his marriage just the same as if there was. (I have to wonder what was happening to their income, too, since he was taking up most of the hours he claimed to be working.)

[proserpina65]

4 hours ago, CarpeFelis said:

Generally it’s not cheating, but when it gets to the point where someone’s so addicted that they completely shut out their partner as this guy was doing? This has all the hallmarks of cheating: lying to his wife, claiming to be “too tired”, and completely shutting her out emotionally. Sure, there was no affair partner, but he was destroying his marriage just the same as if there was. (I have to wonder what was happening to their income, too, since he was taking up most of the hours he claimed to be working.)

Exactly.  Looking now and then isn't cheating but constantly and instead of being with your partner?  Totally cheating.

[Leeds]

.

Edited October 15, 2021 by Leeds