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PIVOTING is a single-camera comedy about how we deal with life, death and all the crazy things that happen in between. Set in a small, middle-class town in Long Island, NY, the series follows three women (Eliza Coupe, Ginnifer Goodwin, Maggie Q) – and close-knit childhood friends – as they cope with the death of the fourth member of their group. When faced with the reality that life is short, these women pivot, and alter their current paths, by way of a series of impulsive, ill-advised and self-indulgent decisions. These pivots will strengthen their bond and prove it’s never too late to screw up your life in the pursuit of happiness.

Premieres on FOX this Sunday, January 9, 2022, 8:30 EST, subsequent episodes will air on Thursdays.

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I didn't hate this, which surprised me.

As a former grocery store cashier and bakery/deli worker, I really liked that they showed that the doctor didn't have the experience needed for the grocery store job. People think those jobs are "low skilled", but they aren't at all. It's hard, memory-dependent manual labor while interacting with people all day in a chaotic environment.

"So-and-so broke his parole so I got the job." Nope. That's not how it works. I hope she is shown her struggling in the grocery job. Or maybe switch to a family/general practice? Anything that's less pressure than an E.R. doctor?

I liked Eliza Coupe from Happy Endings, but I didn't at all understand her never spending time with her THREE kids. Granted, I don't have kids, but all I was thinking was, if you don't want to be around kids, maybe don't have them...or at least stop at one...? I was "raised" by neglectful/absent parents, so I don't have any patience for parents who complain about their kids. There were choices.

I have an extremely low tolerance for Gennifer Goodwin after watching a couple of seasons of Once Upon a Time. The "skinny jeans" segment was just stupid, and I had second-hand embarrassment for the actors.

I'll probably watch the second episode and see how it goes. I want to like this show.

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36 minutes ago, bilgistic said:

"So-and-so broke his parole so I got the job." Nope. That's not how it works. I hope she is shown her struggling in the grocery job. Or maybe switch to a family/general practice? Anything that's less pressure than an E.R. doctor?

This was my big complaint.  There is simply no way that one would go from being a doctor to a job bagging groceries.  (And that is not a jab at grocery clerks.  I have no doubt it is a hard job.  I couldn't do it.)  If she wanted to get away from the pressures of the ER, there are so many medically related jobs she could take that would be less taxing.   They did something similar on Young Sheldon with the college professor taking the job at a grocery store.  Its just not something that would happen. 

The physical trainer was the kid from the underrated Bless this Mess.  I always thought he was the highlight of that show. 

Overall, I didn't hate it.  Will give it a few more tries to see if it finds its footing.     

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41 minutes ago, bilgistic said:

I liked Eliza Coupe from Happy Endings, but I didn't at all understand her never spending time with her THREE kids.

It was two kids. I didn’t understand her thing of how she hadn’t been going directly home after work. What did she do before, instead of going home? Sit at a bar all evening?

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17 hours ago, Bulldog said:

This was my big complaint.  There is simply no way that one would go from being a doctor to a job bagging groceries.  (And that is not a jab at grocery clerks.  I have no doubt it is a hard job.  I couldn't do it.)  If she wanted to get away from the pressures of the ER, there are so many medically related jobs she could take that would be less taxing.   They did something similar on Young Sheldon with the college professor taking the job at a grocery store.  Its just not something that would happen.

I knew this was a comedy when the grocery store employees looked happy while they worked. I had fun cutting up with my coworkers, but my jobs and the environment/companies were hot garbage--horrifically toxic management to the point of borderline abuse, nonsustainable wages (~75% of us were on food stamps), overall morale in the toilet. Maybe we were seeing Maggie Q's perception of working in a grocery store?

17 hours ago, kariyaki said:

It was two kids. I didn’t understand her thing of how she hadn’t been going directly home after work. What did she do before, instead of going home? Sit at a bar all evening?

I thought there was one that was maybe preteen, then another that was mid-elementary school aged, and then the baby/toddler. I kind of zone out when there are kids in a show. There could be two or 12. It's too many for me.

Edited by bilgistic
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9 minutes ago, bilgistic said:

I thought there was one that was maybe preteen, then another that was mid-elementary school aged, and then the baby/toddler. I kind of zone out when there are kids in a show. There could be two or 12. It's too many for me.

Ginnifer Goodwin had a teenager and two grade school aged kids. Eliza Coupe had a toddler and a grade school aged kid. The teenager is who was watching all the kids when they were at the hospital. Watching four kids? I hope they paid her well.

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I will give it a couple more episodes to get the background of the characters stuff out of the way and hopefully it will get a little better. I liked Gennifer the best mostly since I loved her on OUAT. There is an ease to her acting that I like. The other two are going to have to grow on me because I have been spoiled by Brianna on Frankie and Grace in the cold woman character and the other lady is just super bland to me. They are a bit stilted and yet over acting-ish also for me. I hope the show finds a groove because I want to see more of the actors at the grocery store. The man doing the job interview needs to be a main character, ha.

As far as changing jobs and grocery stores, toxic people, down with the struggle and so on and so on blah blah, sometimes it is a case of where ever you go, there you are. I don't think that is her story, I hope it isn't because the wherever you go there you are plots aren't fun. 

Did anyone else notice the yellow keep out tape across the bathroom door at the ending scene? The same bathroom that she changed the kids diaper in earlier? 

Edited by stewedsquash
an extra to need not be there
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I love Maggie Q and her character is so far the most normal, except for the weird doctor/grocery bagger thing.  Ginnifer Goodwin is doing the ditsy character her voice usually nets her.  (Big Love, Mona Lisa Smile, She's Just Not That Into You)

But the blonde--Eliza Coupe?  I don't know her--is making this show unwatchable for me.  Twice in the first five minutes of the second episode, she expresses her resentment at not being given special privileges by knocking over stuff for other people to clean up, and then strolling away.  Her interaction with her husband, children and friends is appalling.  Is this character's behavior enjoyable? 

Is the "pivot" going to be that the main character stops being so entitled?

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God forbid a person should actually work hard!

I am trying to like this show, but it seems to be devoted to adults acting like children.

The one woman is chasing after her trainer (who, honestly, is being kind of shady, inviting her to the park on days she's not scheduled for a session) and openly planning an affair. The other is an entitled onboxious jerk to everyone from the barista to her husband and demands a breast exam in a public place from her friend who's on the clock. I don't mind the third woman as much, but her ability to quit her job with no notice and take a stupendous pay cut with no repercussions seems pretty absurd. 

My best friend died and I didn't do any of that stuff, so I don't really get it. They all just seem like spoiled adolescents.

Also, Eliza Coupe's hair, which I hope is a wig, looks sstringly and terrible, and Ginnifer Goodman's make up made her look like a ghost.

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So, I missed the pilot but I caught the second episode last night because I'm trying to get into more comedies and...I don't think I'll be back for another. I didn't find the show that good. It had some awkward dialogue and some unfunny moments. And it's a shame because I love Ginnifer and Maggie, and I'm sure I've seen Eliza in other things that I enjoyed, but this wasn't very good.

They were just delivering messages that were quite bizarre, such as it's ok to slack off because it's worse to be a tattletale? And it's ok to cheat with some trainer? Not to mention the bizarre inappropriateness of the friends in public spaces.

I know it's none of the actresses because all of them are quite talented and capable of carrying a show. But the writing is not very good and I was hoping it would be.

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15 hours ago, possibilities said:

God forbid a person should actually work hard!

Having worked retail, I can say that long-term employees tend to resent the hell out of new employees who come in with all this enthusiasm for how they're going to make everything better.  So that part rang true for me.

It's not a great show but it fills a spot in the schedule for me, so I'm hanging around for now.  At least until I get bored.

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11 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

Having worked retail, I can say that long-term employees tend to resent the hell out of new employees who come in with all this enthusiasm for how they're going to make everything better.  So that part rang true for me.

I worked in retail for a while but I couldn't stand it because 2/3 of the people there were dead weight trying to do as little as possible, and the rest of us were swamped by customers and tasks that needed doing. So, yes, I know that people who work retail often hate it and do as little as they possibly can, but I'm not actually sympathetic to their lassitude.

Likewise, the kids who hated anyone who actually did homework, etc? They can slack off all they want, but the desire to insult anyone who isn't doing so strikes me as frankly the work of anti-social idiots. So... I don't get that personality at all and don't like seeing it elevated and normalized, not only by the retail workers on this show but also by the two friends who think their bestie whose nerdiness is a bad thing, and that it's a great idea to drag someone away from work before their shift is over, not because their project is urgent, but because they think it will somehow improve her personality. 

Clearly, this show is not for me.

The thing is, I liked Superstore, and the retail workers on that show hated their jobs and often were slacking off, but they weren't portrayed as righteous when they were bullies. It was accurate without being glorifying. Like with The Office, there was a portrayal of how a person could find their job miserable, and why that was so, and how people dealt with that in a variety of ways... but when they were dysfunctional or wrong, they weren't made to seem like their dysfunctions were righteous, even if you understood how they got there. 

With this show, so far it seems to be delighting in the encouragement and promotion of dysfunction, just for its own sake. It's adolescent bullies in adult lives, running around being shitty and making excuses. It's openly plotting an affair, trashing the coffee shop, using your grief as an excuse to be shitty instead of actually dealing with your feelings, and just generally acting out with no care for the impact it has on other people. I can laugh at dysfunction, but so far this show is not working for me.

It's too bad, because the cast could have done something great, and the premise is a good one. But the writing is absolute shit.

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What the hell was with the opening scene ?  Trying to use an expired gift card so Amy decides to trash the place.  They feel entitled to free coffee because their friend died.  These 3 women are awful.  

Plus, the whole episode wasn't funny.  It's supposed be a comedy, right ?

8 hours ago, possibilities said:

But the writing is absolute shit.

Agreed, the writing is just terrible.

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enjoying it so far. First time seeing Maggie Q in a comedy. Seeing Ginnifer Goodwin as a mother makes me feel so old, first time i noticed her was long long long ago as a high school student on Ed.

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This was my big complaint.  There is simply no way that one would go from being a doctor to a job bagging groceries.  (And that is not a jab at grocery clerks.  I have no doubt it is a hard job.  I couldn't do it.)  If she wanted to get away from the pressures of the ER, there are so many medically related jobs she could take that would be less taxing.  

It was because the grocery store employees all seemed to be so happy and having fun. That’s what she wanted in her work life, although it could have been projection rather than reality.

It does bug me when doctors or lawyers (whether on tv or in real life) quit their jobs because they can’t handle the pressure. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing. I just read an article about a lawyer who quit because the firm expected her to be available 24/7 and she wanted some family time. So she quit and became an artist. Now that’s all well and good, but what about the 8 years of education? What about the debt to pay for it? Why not put up a shingle and run your own little law office doing family law or estate law or whatever? Make it work somehow. Why totally quit what clearly was an interest for many years? Makes no sense. This show was the same. ER doctoring is too high pressure? Then downsize, open a family practice, take on only as many patients as you want. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing.

That said, I liked the show. It was silly and exaggerated by design. It’s hard to find shows about women being friends.

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On 1/15/2022 at 3:38 AM, possibilities said:

So, yes, I know that people who work retail often hate it and do as little as they possibly can, but I'm not actually sympathetic to their lassitude.

I didn't say do as little as possible.  I said we often resented new employees who had all these ideas about how they were going to make things better.  It was my experience that they did so without ever considering that their ideas have already been tried before and didn't work.

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21 hours ago, Shermie said:

It does bug me when doctors or lawyers (whether on tv or in real life) quit their jobs because they can’t handle the pressure. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing. I just read an article about a lawyer who quit because the firm expected her to be available 24/7 and she wanted some family time. So she quit and became an artist. Now that’s all well and good, but what about the 8 years of education? What about the debt to pay for it? Why not put up a shingle and run your own little law office doing family law or estate law or whatever? Make it work somehow. Why totally quit what clearly was an interest for many years? Makes no sense. This show was the same. ER doctoring is too high pressure? Then downsize, open a family practice, take on only as many patients as you want. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing.

I think it’s hard to say how everyone should deal with burnout or the realization they’ve spent years and years working hard at something they no longer enjoy.  Not everyone is meant to stay in the same profession all their life. There’s nothing wrong with a radical change if you think it through and plan for it.

The problem with the Maggie Q character is they laid no ground work to explain she burned out / had been unhappy for a while but was afraid to take the leap / was just waiting until the student loans were paid off, etc.  She’s a type A person who often brags about being a surgeon, and her friends act like she’s never complained about the job much before, so it’s not believable that she suddenly wants out.  
 

This might’ve worked better as an hour long drama with some humor.  The sitcom jokes are stale and unfunny.  There’s no effort or time to get the audience to really understand the emotions driving these women.  Realizing you’re a bad mom, making a huge career change, facing mortality…. Interesting themes, but the show explores them in this shallow, uninteresting way.

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On 1/13/2022 at 7:32 PM, candall said:

But the blonde--Eliza Coupe?  I don't know her--is making this show unwatchable for me.  Twice in the first five minutes of the second episode, she expresses her resentment at not being given special privileges by knocking over stuff for other people to clean up, and then strolling away. 

This, combined with the Sarah plot/premise, tells me the show creator and writer haven’t been working class in a looooong time. Eliza Coupe (Amy) has always been good at making appalling characters watchable. I think the problem here is that the show doesn’t think Amy was in the wrong to knock stuff over. Make the coffee shop actually in the wrong then! Maybe the gift card hasn’t expired, it just got demagnetized or the bar code has partially rubbed off and the cashier could just manually type in the gift card number but doesn’t want to.

On 1/13/2022 at 9:56 PM, possibilities said:

I don't mind the third woman as much, but her ability to quit her job with no notice and take a stupendous pay cut with no repercussions seems pretty absurd. 

In my limited experience, most people who formerly had high paying jobs tended to spend at the level of their income and are not easily able to make the mental adjustment to downshift their lifestyle. I’m gonna guess the show thinks Sarah has a vast amount of savings. 

Looks to me like the show is rooting for a Jodie/Matt hookup. Certainly Sarah and Amy think Jodie’s husband — the as yet unseen Dan — is a terrible person, but unfortunately Amy in particular is not a narrator we necessarily want to believe.

I think another problem with “My Friend Died!” is that the episode wanted to be real about how grief is disorienting and can cause irrational anxiety but starting the episode off with a clearly cynical and insincere invocation of their friend dying so they could make use of an expired gift card throws the whole tone off. I think that plot needed another round of polish or two to tie those different levels of saying and feeling “my friend died” together.

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I think the complete lack of respect (and maybe experience?) for service/retail workers coming from the writer's room is going to drive me away from this show. There's nothing funny about leaving messes for service employees, and I don't see any consequences for the characters that will get me beyond a "I hate this entitlement" reaction. Grocery shelves aren't just free for all for employees to make choices, especially major chains like this store. 

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11 hours ago, Pallida said:

I think the complete lack of respect (and maybe experience?) for service/retail workers coming from the writer's room is going to drive me away from this show. There's nothing funny about leaving messes for service employees, and I don't see any consequences for the characters that will get me beyond a "I hate this entitlement" reaction. Grocery shelves aren't just free for all for employees to make choices, especially major chains like this store. 

Next episdode should shown them being banned. 

1. For trying to use an expired gift card. 

2. Stealing supplies and causing a mess. 

3. Physically attacking an employee.  Sarah physically stopped the cashier from preventing Amy's action. 

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I’ve enjoyed this show but I doubt it will see a Season 2 unless the ratings improve quickly. The football audience from the premiere didn’t carry over to the second episode. The “My Friend Died” second episode wasn’t great. It felt like the girls felt the world owed them something. Also also having Joe Millionaire as a lead-in hasn’t helped it and Call Me Kat. Fox should’ve stuck with Hell’s Kitchen.

Edited by nelroy78
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New characters seen: Dan, who sucks, and Colleen's husband, who doesn't.

Amy's main thing, of gradually becoming a better mom, hasn't been all that funny or compelling.

Also, I think the premise is inherently very limiting. TV often starts with an inciting incident that forces a change in someone's life, but very quickly they settle into a new normal. Rachel Green runs away from her wedding in "Friends", ALF meets the Tanners in ALF, and so on. But the premise here isn't just that Colleen died, it's that it sparked some big life changes for Jodie, Sarah, and Amy. Soooo do they keep changing? Or do they get stuck midway through this change from the pilot? Like, is Sarah always going to be the new cashier at Fields? Is Jodie always going to be barely sort of flirting with her trainer? Most of all, is Amy always going to be overwhelmed at being a mom?

To some degree this was a problem with Happy Endings too, which basically only sold because of the premise ("what if we keep watching after the end of a romcom when a bride runs away from her wedding") and then it very quickly ditched the premise and just became a hangout show. Same with Cougar Town, which ditched its somewhat icky premise ("Courtney Cox is a cougar") and just became a hangout show. Happy Endings even scrambled the first season episode order because the premise-heavy episodes were the first few in production order.

That said, I like that they miss and grieve for their friend. But the character drives for the three main characters all seem rather limited.

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The only thing that makes sense for the grocery bagging storyline is that she has to pay spousal support - maybe this will get her out of it because her nurse ex probably makes more than her now.  But I don't think the writers are that smart.

I don't know if it's the makeup or wardrobe or what, but Eliza Coupe is only 41. In some of her closeups she looks 50ish.

The dead woman's husband is waaay too chill for being a new widower.

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It's never a good sign when a show goes to the "wheeee we're all on hallucinogens!" well so early in its run.  

However, Ginnifer Goodwin did finally get something fun to do -- Jodie's unhinged texting to her trainer and ripping the tree out of the ground were actually funny.  Of course, her plot is destined to be stuck in this stagnant limbo forever unless Jodie has a drastic personality change ... she's too passive to have serious thoughts about leaving her awful husband or thinking about a career for herself, so flirting with her cute trainer as a distraction is pretty much her entire story.    

The stuff with Amy trying to have a conference call in the same room as her kids, and later bringing the gross fig home to her son ... ok, that was cute and we're at least getting closer to some substance in this plot.

The Sarah stuff still is not working.  Cancel the damn credit card if you don't want your ex using it.  I also don't understand why she left her house and belongings and credit card to the ex she's also paying spousal support to.   Leaving a high powered career like medicine can be a valid choice (especially for doctors / nurses after the last 2 years, not that this show seems to acknowledge the pandemic!), Sarah's decision to do this with no plan or apparent history of burnout or desire for a major career shift -- especially after her self-nullifying surrender of everything to the ex -- is actually insane.  

How long has Colleen been dead??  Joking with Brian about all the food people keep bringing him and dragging him and his tiny daughter out to steal a tree seems wildly inappropriate.  

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4 hours ago, Pepper the Cat said:

Sitting on someone’s grave having a picnic is so disrespectful.

About two hundred years ago, graveyards were the first public parks. But I guess cultural mores have shifted since then.

I wonder if the show knows nurses are pretty well paid. Certainly enough to afford $12 sriracha, at least. Also, it really bugged me that Sarah didn’t scan all those chips she stuffed into Diana’s bag. And right in front of the manager! And he didn’t say anything about it!

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I kind of liked the attitude of "you don't have to work out." The guy may not be a good match, but he's not dragging her for "letting herself go" either. I would love to see it turn out that the one trying to have an affair is actually the shitty spouse in that arrangement.

I agreed the widower of Colleen was way too chill. It makes the three women look even worse, in the way they are using Colleen's death as an excuse for their shenanigans.

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Sitting on someone’s grave having a picnic is so disrespectful.

No it isn’t. Cemeteries are like parks; people stroll through them, sit there and reflect, they plant flowers.

People tend to treat cemeteries too much as if the dead people are actual “living” there underground or something. Either you believe in an afterlife, which means the soul is gone and the dead people aren’t in the cemetery at all anymore; or you believe dead is dead, so it doesn’t really matter what happens on their grave since they have no idea. Unless someone is literally and intentionally dancing on someone’s grave, what does it matter what people do in a cemetery?

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I think the concept would have worked better as an hour long dramedy and if the deceased friend had passed away after moving away from the town.

Maybe the 3 friends would have realized life was short and started to do things they always wanted to do but were afraid to do so.

 

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On 1/21/2022 at 10:04 AM, SlovakPrincess said:

It's never a good sign when a show goes to the "wheeee we're all on hallucinogens!" well so early in its run.  

However, Ginnifer Goodwin did finally get something fun to do -- Jodie's unhinged texting to her trainer and ripping the tree out of the ground were actually funny.

The tree stealing part of the episode was extremely funny.  I loved the talking fig.  Of course, any plot involving fig trees makes me think of Livia poisoning every fig o Augustus' tree in I, Claudius.

On 1/21/2022 at 11:19 AM, Pepper the Cat said:

Sitting on someone’s grave having a picnic is so disrespectful.

To me, it's fine, as long as you're on your friend's grave.

On 1/21/2022 at 8:46 AM, Tachi Rocinante said:

The dead woman's husband is waaay too chill for being a new widower.

People grieve in a lot of different ways.

 

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4 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

The tree stealing part of the episode was extremely funny.  I loved the talking fig.  Of course, any plot involving fig trees makes me think of Livia poisoning every fig o Augustus' tree in I, Claudius.

To me, it's fine, as long as you're on your friend's grave.

People grieve in a lot of different ways.

 

Except they weren’t on their friends grave. They were on the neighbours. The grave of their friend, or rather the grave they thought was their friend did not have grass on it yet.

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On 1/21/2022 at 7:46 AM, Tachi Rocinante said:

The only thing that makes sense for the grocery bagging storyline is that she has to pay spousal support - maybe this will get her out of it because her nurse ex probably makes more than her now.  But I don't think the writers are that smart.

As I understand it, changing the terms of court ordered support isn't that easy.  The court anticipates that a person paying spousal or child support might try to get out of it by changing or quitting their job. The amount awarded is based on what the payee could be making with their experience and education. I don't know why support is being paid but she'd probably still be paying based on doctor salary.

I liked the first few episodes but I'm finding myself enjoying it less and less.  And I do NOT get why the trainer is a regular character. Are we supposed to be rooting for an affair?

Edited by Irlandesa
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Well  we   have    another   Prime Time   show         that   promotes,   encourages,  excuses,  justifies,  rationalizes,  glorifies  and  Romanticizes   INFIDELITY.

How   cliche,  Unoriginal   and    sad.

another  great   example    of  just   about  ALL that is  wrong  in  today's  society. 

 

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13 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

I liked the first few episodes but I'm finding myself enjoying it less and less.  

This. I had high hopes for it being Happy Endings level quirky and clever. It showed promise of going that way but has kind of turned into a standard sitcom-y thing. Not terrible, just not special enough. I had the same issue with American Auto.

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