S01.E01: Pilot

[Tara Ariano]

Quote

Several People with unexpectedly intertwined lives start noticing coincidences about one another.

[DrSpaceman73]

Maybe this is a good show, but from the preview, it seems to be the most utterly pretentious and sappy new show coming about this fall that is now on The Hallmark Channel. 

[BookThief]

Yeah that's how I felt about the previews too. But TV critics that I respect like it and there's a "twist" that they aren't allowed to elaborate on (and I'm unwilling to go searching for) so maybe the show could only give us certain moments as to not give away the secret? I'm going to give it a shot but lord knows I don't need more shows to follow...

[Primetimer]

Prepare to cry, Generations X and Y. Our Thirtysomething has arrived.

View the full article

[withanaich]

Maybe this is a good show, but from the preview, it seems to be the most utterly pretentious and sappy new show coming about this fall that is now on The Hallmark Channel. 

I'm with you. Crap this treacly doesn't make me cry ... unless I'm crying because my eyes hurt from rolling them so hard. Yick. I mean, I guess I'm glad it's not another cop/hospital/lawyer show, but this is so so so not for me.

[slf]

I love the couple Randall and Beth, especially when Beth switched views and saw her daughter braiding hair. "OVER UNDER AND BACK THROUGH, BABY!" Hell, if her kid's gonna sit through the game and braid her friends hair she's gonna cheer her on just as hard as the daughter Terminatoring her way to a goal.

Edited September 21, 2016 by slf

[TheOtherOne]

So the twist was what I'd seen speculated on a few articles about the show (mostly on TV Line), so people are either good at guessing or knew and were trying to spoil it for people. The ending was very sweet, with the three babies in the matching onesies.

I generally liked the characters, but I guess I don't really see the point in the dual timelines. So we'll watch the parents in the past and the now-grown kids in the present...why? Seems like it'll be weird shifting from the 80s to the present constantly every episode. Unless it's to show the parents having adventures reflecting on the kids' lives in the present, like Lost's (and 20 million other shows') flashbacks, but with the same characters getting "flashbacks" every week. Yeah, weird. Guess we'll see.

But if they give me Milo's ass in every episode, they can do whatever they want.

Edited September 21, 2016 by TheOtherOne

[jennifer6973]

• I thought I recognized Beth and now I realize why, she was on NCIS.

[LoquaciousAudacity]

I called the "twist" about ten minutes before the end. 

I like the characters so far. 

[slf]

When people said there was a twist I was expecting something supernatural.

[SimoneS]

I thought this was really good, excellent acting and writing. Sterling was outstanding as usual. The only thing that I didn't like was how separate Sterling's character was from his two siblings. I hope that was only done to keep the twist a secret to the end and that he will be sharing future stories with his siblings.

Milo's ass was pretty. Nicely done, show.

Edited September 21, 2016 by SimoneS

[mtlchick]

I never watched Parenthood. I watched due to the hype. I didn't cry once.

and yet...I didn't see that twist at the end. Well played, show. I guess from here on out its the parallels as to what their parents went through and to what the kids are up to now?

"that made me feel sorry for Alan Thicke." I admit I laughed at that. 

I guess I'll give it a few more shows but so far...it's good. But not sure if it was worth fawning over. 

[mojoween]

I didn't get it until the cop offered Milo a cigarette; I thought it was just a random coincidence that there was another baby left in a fire station.

I'm sad that this means no more Gerald though as he'd be 109 by now.

Sterling K. Brown is worth every minute I watched.  It was interesting how he came at his father by getting angry at being abandoned when apparently his parents gave him a damned good life and it obviously worked out for the better instead of him ending up in some drug den.

Did they have terrible towels in 1980?  I thought it was clever how Mandy and Milo were in a relatively unfurnished house so it kept the secret as we wouldn't see the dated decor.

I did think however that the show was going to be about random people who shared a birthday but I'm intrigued anyways.

[pinkelephant3]

I really liked it...and didn't see the twist coming. Looking forward to adding this into my weekly shows!

[KaveDweller]

I'd read a "theory" about the twist, so I was looking for hints that Milo and Mandy were in the past and was seeing a lot of them.  No cell phones, semi-dated clothes, etc. I wish I hadn't read it.

I liked it, but am slightly nervous it will get boring after a few episodes. 

[DearEvette]

i liked this.  But I must be an unfeeling monster because I didn't cry once.  Didn't even get a tingle in my nose...

I guessed the twist about 20 mins before the end.  There was a background shot of a woman wearing this plaid skirt and I thought it looked dated and then I started paying a attention to the hospital setting and it just didn't look high tech enough.  What finally did it is when the show very pointedly didn't show the picture of Randall's adoptive parents, even though normally we would have gotten a look at the photo.

Birth dad seems sketchy.  Randall shuldn;t have said how much he paid for that car...

I like Toby.  He's funny and feels natural.  I love that he immediately took a selfie with Justin Hartley's character (man I need to look them up on IMDB). And the Alan Thicke line.

[VioletNevermind]

I haven't watched a network comedy in 18 years when Seinfeld went off the air (well, besides 19 Kids and Counting, har har!) and I haven't watched a network drama in eight years when I gave up on Grey's Anatomy for the final time.  I watched this solely due to the hype.  I didn't cry, nor was I tremendously impacted emotionally by the ending.  While I think the show is well made (relatively speaking), I think it was way, way oversold.  Sterling K. Brown was the best part of this show, which doesn't surprise me one bit.  I'll give it one, maybe two more tries, but so far it's coming off very Saturday afternoon Hallmark movie.

I know, I know; I'm a monster!

Edited September 21, 2016 by SuzyLee

[Sandman]

I'm a big sap, I admit it freely. But I liked this. I didn't manage to suss out the connection between Sterling K. Brown and the twins until the third of The Big Three showed up. But in my defense I thought I heard Randall say the fireman "never left."

I like all the characters so far. But I guess that really is the last of Doctor Best of The Best? Too bad; it's the most I've liked a character played McRaney in some time.

[Jadzia]

I feel like such a dumb ass! I didn't quite understand the twist until the very last shot with them looking in the bassinets in a 1970s looking room. At first I thought they were just showing that what happened  in the past was somehow being repeated in the future with a new set of 3 babies. Finally understanding the twist made me more forgiving of the huge nitpick I had during the episode, which was "why on earth was she delivering premature triplets vaginally?" Nowadays they would have whisked her into a c-section as soon as she got to the hospital.

I also thought some of the timing didn't make sense - I am 45 and I was in 9th grade when the Challenger exploded so I wondered how a 36 year old would have been in 2nd grade. Also, I thought the crack epidemic didn't really happen until the mid 1980s so I wondered how Sterling K. Brown's bio mom was a crackhead in 1980 but maybe she was an early adopter?

That all said, I loved the show, love Sterling K. Brown and I even loved Milo's ass. I'm in!

[sjohnson]

I'm not hearing first names very much, so far they're Manny, Specs and Giggles. Specs' obsession/compulsion for his real parents separates him from the rest of the family dramatically. But we don't really know anything about the wife, so he's really in a vacuum so far. 

Giggles seems to be the only woman Manny has a emotional relationship with, which is unexpected in a thirty six year old. He doesn't really seem to be so big a success he's got an endless supply of groupies. There's no reason to think he'll have a career which is a downer. 

Giggles struggle with her weight seems like a downer too. 

And the disappearance of the parents by the time the babies turn thirty six seems like a relatively short life too. And that's another downer. 

So, it seems to be very well made, but promising to be really grim. At this point I'll have to watch more, but I'm not sure I've got the stamina for this much realism. 

[SanLynn]

So will we ever see Jack and Rebecca in the current timeline? Some of the stuff said makes me think they might have passed or something. It's a rhetorical question but I have to type it out because it's bugging me. LOL

I actually liked it and I don't really go in for these type of dramas. I feel stupid reading some of the comments that I didn't get the twist ending but I didn't.

I gave it a spot on my DVR. We'll see if that holds as the show moves on.

Edited September 21, 2016 by SanLynn

[bonniejmac]

Quote

I also thought some of the timing didn't make sense - I am 45 and I was in 9th grade when the Challenger exploded so I wondered how a 36 year old would have been in 2nd grade.

This bugged me too. I'm 37 and was in 1st grade. So the triplets would've been kindergarteners at best. 

But oher than that, I enjoyed the show.

[mojoween]

I'm curious to see the fallout when Milo explains about the third baby.  I hope Mandy is as accepting as he is!

[SimoneS]

I hope Randall's biological father isn't conning him, but I wouldn't be surprised if he was. The actor playing the father is a very good actor so I expect his scenes with Sterling K. Brown to be a treat.

Toby was a strong character. I hope that he is a regular. His delivery, especially of the Alan Thicke line, was funny.

Kevin's tantrum was painful. However, the publicity might get him some more dramatic roles.

 Has this show been picked up for a whole season? It has potential. I prefer to see Sterling starring in his own series rather than being part of an ensemble where he doesn't get to do as much.

[lulee]

I was only half-watching while working on lesson plans. I missed that the Manny and his sister were twins until toward the end.

I'm relieved about the twist if for no other reason that it makes Dr. Gerald McRaney seem less way behind the times about pregnancies with multiples and high-risk pregnancies in general.

[mmecorday]

Hey, was Randall insinuating that "What's Happenin'!!" was a bad sitcom? Because he's wrong! #norogernorerunnorent

This wasn't bad at all. I like the characters and the writing was good. I will probably tune in next week to see how things develop.

[Amethyst]

I enjoyed it, but it wasn't the weepfest I was expecting.  Plot wise, I thought the twin stuff was the most interesting.  Overall, I think the show has good bones and I'll give it a shot.  I don't know if I'll watch it live every week, though.  That's reserved for Atlanta.

I didn't guess the twist until the fireman mentioned the baby left at the station, and it clicked.  Nice, but not super surprising.  I remember people going bananas over Modern Family's pilot when the twist was revealed.  I thought the twist in this show was that all these people were turning 36.

But I was glad for the time travel thing, because I was ready to throw things at the screen when I learned that Moore's character was going to deliver her babies naturally.  Most doctors (if any) won't consent to delivering multiples through traditional delivery now because it's too dangerous.  That alone should have clued me in on the twist.  

I don't think Milo and Mandy Moore's characters are alive in the present day; Kate seemed to be discussing them in the past tense.  

[Lady Calypso]

I also accidentally read the theory and people seemed fairly confident, so I pretty much looked out for it. I do think that it would have been better if I wasn't spoiled, but it didn't ruin everything in the pilot.

Randall, Kevin, and Kate are all very interesting characters. Kate may be the least interesting at the moment, but her budding romance and weight loss plot could be a journey to watch. I liked Toby too, so that's a good sign with her story. And I like Kate and Kevin's sibling relationship. It seems very sweet and loving.

Birth dad is totally going to try to rob Randall of money, isn't he? Randall's optimism was so sad to watch with this in mind. But there's a good chance I'm just paranoid here. Even without this, it's still a sad story. 

Kevin's life seems to be spiraling. It's interesting that he doesn't seem to have any meaningful relationships, even as an attractive thirty six year old that was an actor. 

I'm not sure how the Jack/Rebecca story is going to be woven into the present day scenes, even with them being flashbacks with the kids, but Mandy Moore and Milo Ventimiglia definitely make it worth it. It was sad to see Jack/Rebecca without family during their scenes, though. And it does sound like both of them have passed away in the present timeline. 

All in all, I will have to give it a few more episodes, especially since I was spoiled on the twist. It's still a very heartfelt show and I think I'm in it for now. I've been looking for a non-cop/doctor/lawyer/superhero show to watch, so these family dramas/dramedies are so hard to come by. 

[Sandman]

14 minutes ago, bonniejmac said:

This bugged me too. I'm 37 and was in 1st grade. So the triplets would've been kindergarteners at best. 

Wait -- doesn't the math work? Kevin (ex-Manny) said he was in the first grade in 1986 when the Challenger disaster happened. Assuming the present timeline is actually set in 2016, the twins and Randall were born in 1980. Kevin said it was a roomful of seven year olds, but he could have been younger than the rest -- pretty sure I was six in the first grade, and my birthday's in September. 

Edited September 21, 2016 by Sandman

[lulee]

Quote

Several People with unexpectedly intertwined lives start noticing coincidences about one another.

So ... that episode description seems way off. Was NBC just screwing with viewers?

[Bluedog100]

Quote

 

I'm a dumb ass too. I couldn't figure out how they were smoking in a hospital and thought what a coincidence it was that another baby had been left at a fire station! Didn't connect the dots until it was basically spelled out for me here. Thanks guys! I have to say I really enjoyed it. 

Edited September 21, 2016 by Bluedog100
Auto correct

[bonniejmac]

7 minutes ago, Sandman said:

Wait -- doesn't the math work? Kevin (ex-Manny) said he was in the first grade in 1986 when the Challenger disaster happened. Assuming the present timeline is actually set in 2016, the twins and Randall were born in 1980. Kevin said it was a roomful of seven year olds, but he could have been younger than the rest -- pretty sure I was six in the first grade, and my birthday's in September. 

I could have sworn I heard him say second grade, but maybe I mis-heard? So yeah, depending on when in 1980 they were born and depending on where they live and school entry cut-off dates and all of those real-life details that I tend to get bogged down in, it could work.

[chocolatine]

I'm not usually a fan of sappy shows, but I was intrigued by this one because I'm also turning 36 this year, and because of Sterling, whom I "discovered" on the O.J. Simpson miniseries.

I didn't read anything about the show beforehand, only saw the promos, so I didn't know about the twist, but I figured something was up when I saw the box at Jack and Rebecca's house in the opening shot; it was labeled "Family Photos '75-'79". Then I saw Jack's jeans and denim jacket combo and the fact that the doc didn't even mention c-section as an option, and it all started to make sense.

I liked the pilot; will keep watching.

Edited September 21, 2016 by chocolatine

[photo fox]

I liked it. I'm in. 

[Bama]

I had heard nothing about this show and went in completely blind, so I think that helped.

When the fireman said the line about the baby, I was like "Well, that's too much of a coincidence!" and then when he offered the cigarette and the camera panned back and we could see that this was set in 1980 and that Kevin, Kate, and Randall are those babies, I was like "NO WAY!".

Maybe I'm too easy lol.  

I didn't have any full blown tears but I teared up when -

-Dr. Best of the Best gave Rebecca the speech about being a stranger on the biggest day of her life (I got the OBGYN on call with my first child until my doctor could make it back into to town and I remember that feeling)

-Dr. Best of the Best gave Jack the speech about losing a child

-the ending montage tying all these people - and their birthdays - together

And, I too, hope that isn't the last we see of Gerald McRaney.  I loved him in this.

[Scarlett45]

55 minutes ago, SimoneS said:

I thought this was really good, excellent acting and writing. Sterling was outstanding as usual. The only thing that I didn't like was how separate Sterling's character was from his two siblings. I hope that was only done to keep the twist a secret to the end and that he will be sharing future stories with his siblings.

Milo's ass was pretty. Nicely done, show.

I have a feeling we will be seeing Sterling more. I think they kept him secret to protect the twist, as well as the fact that as the married/parenting sibling he would have less time to chat/hang the way the other two did. 

I think this show is going to be very emotionally intelligent. Looking at the surface the sister seems to be the one with the "problems" while the brothers are doing well, but that's not the case, you can just "see" the sister's issue with weight, but her brothers have just as many demons. 

@Jadzia my mom (an Ob/Gyn) was watching this with me and she was commenting on that, "why aren't they sectioning her!.....that's the cleanest surgical gown I've ever seen!"

Edited September 21, 2016 by Scarlett45

[Amethyst]

52 minutes ago, SimoneS said:

I thought this was really good, excellent acting and writing. Sterling was outstanding as usual. The only thing that I didn't like was how separate Sterling's character was from his two siblings. I hope that was only done to keep the twist a secret to the end and that he will be sharing future stories with his siblings.

Milo's ass was pretty. Nicely done, show.

I thought the same thing.  I assumed that's why they deliberately didn't show the picture of Randall's adoptive parents.  They didn't want to give away the twist.

I also noticed Jack's 70's style beard, but just figured that was his style.

[Court]

They don't automatically do c-sections with multiples now. My sister had twins a few years ago and didn't have a c-section. 

It just depends on the mom and babies health. It fooled me because when the Dr kicked the husband out, I just assumed a c-section is what would be happening then. Clearly, I can see now it was never mentioned and I should pay better attention. 

[memememe76]

I totally didn't catch the ending until it hit me in the face. Dumbasses unite!

Loved this. I am not sure how Milo and Mandy will play into it, but I have got to figure that they will be prominent. They are arguably he two biggest names on the show. 

I suspect that the bio dad will be seen in the flashbacks. 

[WhosThatGirl]

That reveal was well done. I was genuinely impressed. When Jack was staring at the two babies and then the firemen said about the baby being left at the station, I just kind of went "aw it's kind of like a book end" because I'm an idiot and then the smoke offering happend, it was kind of genius. For me anyway.

 

I don't think Rebecca or Jack are alive. Just when Kate said "remember what Dad used to say about lemons?" It seemed like someone being described in the past.

I can't get over that ending. It made the show for me. I liked it but I didn't find anything different or spectacular about it and then the ending. It was really good.

[MaryPatShelby]

OK seriously, I'm a moron, so could someone explain this to me?  What I'm getting from reading here is that Milo and Mandy are living in 1980, so they are the parents of Kate, Manny, and Sterling......right?  

I actually thought that Gerald McRaney was their father, after Kate recounted "Dad's" telling of the lemon/lemonade story. With that in mind, I couldn't figure out why stuff in the hospital was so dated.  
 

[WhosThatGirl]

2 minutes ago, MaryPatShelby said:

OK seriously, I'm a moron, so could someone explain this to me?  What I'm getting from reading here is that Milo and Mandy are living in 1980, so they are the parents of Kate, Manny, and Sterling......right?  

I actually thought that Gerald McRaney was their father, after Kate recounted "Dad's" telling of the lemon/lemonade story. With that in mind, I couldn't figure out why stuff in the hospital was so dated.  
 

Yes, Milo and Mandy are Kate, Manny, and Sterling's parents. He as you know got the lemon story from Dr. Gerald. 

Also, FYI, just read an a ew.com article with producers/writers/etc from the show and they said Sterling got an e-mail from Manny that said 'Happy b-day bro' but you have to freeze frame it well enough to catch it, so Sterling isn't totally  isloated from his siblings.  

I can't wait to see how the series chips fall. The siblings relationships is going to be fun to watch, not just that Sterling is adapted, but just that Kate and Manny are TWINS. That would be a hard bond to break, I would imagine. And obviously, how the parents deal with this situation. 

[Amethyst]

On 9/20/2016 at 11:16 PM, MaryPatShelby said:

OK seriously, I'm a moron, so could someone explain this to me?  What I'm getting from reading here is that Milo and Mandy are living in 1980, so they are the parents of Kate, Manny, and Sterling......right?  

Yep.  Assuming this is right (feel free to correct!), in 1979, Jack (Milo) and Rebecca (Mandy) had three children, the third child being stillborn.  In the present day, Randall (Sterling) tells his bio-dad that the fireman who found him as an infant took him to a hospital, where Randall met the people who would eventually adopt him.

In the hospital scene back in 1979, while Jack is looking at his twin children, a man tells him that he just dropped off a baby who had been left at his fire station.  Jack sees the abandoned infant, and the story goes from there.  Jack and Rebecca's twins grew up to be Kate and Kevin, and Randall was the baby Jack and Rebecca adopted.

Edited September 24, 2016 by Amethyst
1979, not 1980.

[chocolatine]

Now that I've had time to process, I wonder is it even realistic that Jack and Rebecca could just take Randall home with them the same day he was brought in? (They must have gotten to take him right away or no more than a few days later, because in the scene at home with the babies wearing matching hand-made onesies they are still tiny newborns.) Weren't there protocols in place about handing him over to child services? I know it was 1980, but it still seems unrealistic that a couple could just take an abandoned baby home with them without lots of red tape.

Edited September 21, 2016 by chocolatine

[WhosThatGirl]

Yeah, I thought that too. But tvlogic very rarely resembles real life logic. It would only keep the story from moving forward, so I'm just going to go with it.

[Tooch]

I liked it. I seriously hope that Kate's story goes on to more than just Mike & Molly 2: Electric Boogaloo.

I am a fat person who is in the middle of losing weight and we DO talk about other things sometimes. 

I am also 37, just had a birthday couple weeks ago. I was born in 79 and was also in second grade for Challenger (and in NH no less, where McAuliffe was from, so it was a very big deal there) so the math also bothered me enormously. Glad it's not just me. 

[izabella]

I liked this a lot, and I'm looking forward to watching this series.  I enjoyed the twist, and it must have helped that I had no idea about nor heard anything about this show.  I almost didn't watch it because the episode description sounded blah.  Loved the Kate and Kevin relationship, and am looking forward to seeing them with Randall. 

I'm so glad for a show that isn't all cops/docs/lawyers/zombies or reality!

[bybrandy]

38 born in 78 who was living in Houston at the time of the challenger explosion so the math bugged me, too.  I was 7 about to turn 8 and in 3rd grade.   

I doubt they had no red tape to take home that baby but he was born to a crack addicted mother and the twins were six weeks premature so they didn't go home immediately.   I could see them getting emergency foster placement in the couple of weeks before those babies were cleared to go home.   

Black babies are to this day adopted less than white babies so having a placement for black crack baby would have been a big deal.  Assuming of course they were in a state that didn't block multicultural adoption which was a thing in some places at the time.

[WhosThatGirl]

I mean I said it earlier, at one point during the episode halfway through, I was thinking, "This is a nice show and all, I love all of the actors and it's written well, but it's kind of meh" and then that twist. Which I still, HOURS later can't get over. It was so good. I never would have expected that. I just assumed that there were these random people who all happened to have the same birthday and that these little moments of Jack and Rebecca having twins and another story being of adult twin siblings, I never would have thought the twist being that they were in the past. It was good. Really good. Like.. I've haven't seen a show that's done a reveal like that ever. 

[Court]

1 hour ago, Sandman said:

Wait -- doesn't the math work? Kevin (ex-Manny) said he was in the first grade in 1986 when the Challenger disaster happened. Assuming the present timeline is actually set in 2016, the twins and Randall were born in 1980. Kevin said it was a roomful of seven year olds, but he could have been younger than the rest -- pretty sure I was six in the first grade, and my birthday's in September. 

I think it works. Did the show say what month they were born in? They could have been near the cutoff. I know where I am the cutoff is 9/1. But I have friends whose kids are actually younger than mine a grade ahead because their cutoff is Dec 1. 

I started a year early so I was 5 when I started first grade and turned six that year.