Trial & Error - General Discussion

[qtpye]

2 hours ago, BusyOctober said:

My minor problem with this show is the hair styling, Josh and Carol Ann specifically.  Why is Josh's air so full of product and plastered to his head like Alfalfa from the Little Rascals?  And I know Carol Ann is supposed to be a hard ass lawyer, but her "serious" hairstyle bugs me.  The swoopy bangs with the severely pulled back sides, minus those two little strands hanging by her ears just makes her hair look greasy to me (not as much an oil slick as Josh's, but still). 

It was killing me who Josh's hair style reminds and you hit it on the head.  He does look like Alfalfa all grown up.  This was probably a styling choice to make him look more "sweet" and less "hardened big city lawyer".

We realize from this week that Josh has always been a bit naïve (not realizing his "right hand man" was going to steal everything from him as soon as he got the chance).

I think I can explain Carol Anne's hair.  It was probably close to the style tough lady lawyers always were on tv, when she was growing up, so she is choosing to emulate it.

[tennisgurl]

10 hours ago, UsernameFatigue said:

Loved the board listing cannon balls as the third leading cause of death in East Peck, and Larry  listed as the fourth. LOL.

That was hilarious! I also loved how there was a little picture of a skate next to his name!

Is it weird that I'm totally shipping Josh and Carol Anne? I kind of loved them holding hands super hard while Larry was taking his lie detector test? Maybe next season they can somehow work a case together?!?!

"There are very few cannon ball accidents in New York." "You are hunting in a park, sir".

I really love this show.

[Texasmom1970]

I am truly enjoying this show.

Loved Dwayne talking about his Grandfather, Grandfather, Grandfather, Uncle, or something like that. Then him getting so excited over the arm and then so sad. Especially when he talked about losing the toe he found!

I am not a fan of Sherri's but I am finding her character and her her oddities funny as well.

[iMonrey]

I stumbled across this show by accident when my DVR recorded it last Thursday instead of Powerless - and boy am I glad I did. I'm loathe to start watching new shows at this point but this one is truly a gem and I had to go back and watch all the other episodes on On Demand. I haven't watched anything this funny in years (so of course it will get cancelled). I find myself laughing out loud through the whole thing, starting within the first minute or two of the episode. I love how Carol Anne Keane (anyone else notice = Carolyn Keane, author of the Nancy Drew mysteries?) keeps going on TV and referring to Larry as "the town murderer." 

I just love every single character and all the silliness of it. It sort of reminds me a little of Better Off Ted where every single character is an idiot except for the main one, although it's even funnier than that show.

[meep.meep]

And Larry was characterized by his roller skates.   I also liked that he didn't know his height except when wearing roller skates.

Murder Board!

[CheezyXpressed]

This show is getting better and better every week. The hand, Josie finally talking (which surprised me), Anne interrogating Larry, the caddy reading from his paper, Larry being the fourth cause of death, the judge who lost a family member because of a cannon. The cannon lol.

I almost expected to see Josie leaving in the car with the caddy at the end, or hitting a tree.

Edited March 30, 2017 by CheezyXpressed
because i don't know the difference between caddy and cabby

[meep.meep]

The caddy (?)

[mortonsalt]

59 minutes ago, CheezyXpressed said:

This show is getting better and better every week. The hand, Josie finally talking (which surprised me), Anne interrogating Larry, the cabbie reading from his paper, Larry being the fourth cause of death, the judge who lost a family member because of a cannon. The cannon lol.

I almost expected to see Josie leaving in the car with the cabby at the end, or hitting a tree.

I was really surprised by Josie talking, and how she and Jeremiah both said the same thing when trying to make the other look bad, so I don't think it's her now. I have a couple of suspects, but now I sort of want Dwayne to be right that it was a one armed man that did it especially since he had to give his arm back. 

Anyhow, I agree that it's getting better every week. Like other posters I'm no fan of Sherri Shepherd unless she's playing a role, but as Anne she probably cracks me up the most even though the whole cast is wonderful. I can't believe how hard she made me laugh when she suddenly went into her bad lawyer routine. I also loved how Josh finally joined in the chants of "murder board". 

[Shannon L.]

I agree that this show is just getting better.   Episode 5 had me in tears by the time Dwayne introduced his relative Reed Reid (who can't read!).  Anne is my least favorite character, but she's had a few cute moments. 

Loved it when Larry walked in and said "Hey!  The Murder Board!" lol!  I almost missed him being listed as the 4th biggest cause of death in the town.  I caught it at the last second. 

ETA: Episode 6--"You cockle tease."  bwah!

Edited March 30, 2017 by Shannon L.

[CheezyXpressed]

3 hours ago, meep.meep said:

The caddy (?)

*smack* Yea, I meant caddy.

[Curio]

20 hours ago, LADreamr said:

Loved that too, but mostly because it wasn't obvious in the frame. The fact that you have to pay attention to this show is one of my favorite things about it. 

I wish more shows treated their audience like this. We're smarter than they realize.

I'm glad I gave this show a chance. I was lazy and didn't change the channel so I stumbled upon the premiere by accident. At first I thought they were trying a little too hard to be quirky, but I dig the vibe now. And even though it's a murder mystery, I'm not all too concerned about who did it, I'm just enjoying watching the characters interact and learning about the weird town. 

The only quibble I have is with Anne...she's supposed to be dyslexic, yet the only word she has spelled wrong so far is 'trail.' I know someone who's legit dyslexic and they also watch the show, and they've pointed out a lot of words Anne has written on the board that they probably would have spelled wrong, like 'Thai' and 'virginity.'

[OtterMommy]

On 3/28/2017 at 10:21 PM, GaT said:

Still really enjoying this, it just makes me laugh. But I did start wondering, if they're showing 2 episodes back to back every week, why didn't they just make it an hour show?

My guess is that their either planned this as a full season or a mid-season (January) replacement and then decided to cover the This Is Us time slot for the rest of the season.  If that's the case, it isn't a bad idea--they already had a huge audience used to tuning at that time (if they were watching it live...)

[iMonrey]

I finally got to see the pilot episode - had to watch it on NBC.com since my cable company doesn't have it up on On Demand for some dumb reason. Boy, does NBC.com's player suck! It plays the commercials just fine but when the program comes on it's like watching stop-motion animation. Anyone else ever try watching anything on their website? Beware. They use the same sucky player a lot of other networks use and sometimes after a big long commercial break the episode resets and starts over from the beginning again! Infuriating.

Anywayyyyy - I see what y'all mean about the show getting better as it goes along. The pilot was actually kind of weak compared to the last few episodes. I'm not even sure I would have stuck with it if I'd started with that. I only stumbled onto Episode 2 by accident was it was very easy to pick up the story from there. 

[cleo]

ĪThe Carol Anne Keane = Nancy Drew thing has bugged me for a while. I just feel like they would have a reason for naming her that. I speculate that she will figure out who did it. After all, she just needs someone to execute. It  doesn't matter who.

[Big Mother]

Josh reminds me a lot of Steve Carell - especially with his hairstyle.

This has been bugging me since episode 2. The skate wrench - did it have traces of blood on it when we saw it?

Also, I know this show is farcical, but, going back to episode 2, you'd think that even such a small, backwards town as East Peck would have a bit of a forensics team that would've investigated the bloody handprint on the wall downstairs and the sooty footprint on the bedroom wall. Also, I find that the judge is super corrupt. Even in small town courtrooms standards she's flying by the seat of her own rules and allowing the prosecutor to do whatever she wants. Isn't there some kind of board that should be informed about things like this?

Who is financing Josh now that his firm has pulled out?

Lastly... who thinks the creepy sister-in-law (and brother) has something to do with the crime? 

Oh, one more lastly: I adore Dwayne. I can't stop laughing at his naivete, southern drawl, and just all-around charm. He's a fairly new actor I think. I like him.

[Dowel Jones]

Okay, you gotta love a town that has a monument to the largest surrender of the Civil War.  With a white flag as adornment, yet. 

Poor Dwayne.  As Foghorn Leghorn might have said, "That boy, I said that boy's IQ got a fightin' chance at three digits."

Murder Board!  Murder Board!

[Big Mother]

Just watched Episode 5. I canNOT get enough of this show!!!!

Who do y'all think did it?

All signs point to the rich brother. But I think the wife may somehow have been involved.

I haven't watched episode 6 yet.

I hope the mystery gets resolved before the end of the season.

[Perkie]

I loved Josh' reaction when Dwayne found the arm in the water.   That sudden shocked, "there IS a one armed man in town".  Hilarious.  

[bosawks]

I think any episode of television that includes John Lithgow plaintively calling another man bubbie should automatically win an Emmy.

[Curio]

I had the exact same reaction as Josh when they brought up the cable guy. How did I NOT think of the cable guy?!

[GaT]

“Reserved for Murderer’s Daughter” HA

[Songbird]

This show is a hoot! It gives me belly laughs! I love it! I hope there's more than one season of it...

[BusyOctober]

Loved Larry correcting the cop's (and his dead wife's) grammar during his interrogation.  That's something I would do...maybe silently so as not to irritate the guy with a gun asking me questions.

The only character I can't get into is Summer.  Not sure if it's the actress or the character, but in this ensemble, she's the weakest link for me.  I know Larry lied to her about her age, but she definitely comes off much younger than 28-30.  She should have been written as 19-22-ish.  But then maybe the potential for a Josh-Summer romance would be icky if she were. 

Also enjoyed Dwayne's little history lesson about how the town's Pumpkin Patch, the 3rd most popular industry - behind tobacco & book burning- got started. 

[Machiabelly]

My hope is that the boyfriend did it.

[Curio]

5 hours ago, BusyOctober said:

Also enjoyed Dwayne's little history lesson about how the town's Pumpkin Patch, the 3rd most popular industry - behind tobacco & book burning- got started. 

I hope Dwayne's history lessons become a regular thing. He could be a pretty great high school history teacher...probably be better at that than whatever it is he's doing right now.

Edited April 5, 2017 by Curio

[iMonrey]

I love this show so much I want to marry it. I loved that the hate mail was addressed to "that Larry guy what kilt the girl" and that Dwayne recognized the handwriting as his brother-cousin's. I love that they have dollar night at the Steak and Save and that the news anchor later name-checked the Steak and Save as the origin of the e-coli outbreak. I love that there's a restaurant called The Salty Pecker. And I love the chyrons they have on the local news show that read "Larry Henderson Murderer Update." And that they showed a picture of Woody Allen when Josh called in. 

I could go on and on, obviously. I mean, more than I just have.

[mortonsalt]

On 4/3/2017 at 8:13 PM, Big Mother said:

Who do y'all think did it?

I thought the brother in law or the sister in law before, but now that they're both suspects, I don't think it will be either of them because I think the murderer will be a total surprise like maybe the judge.

Someone at another forum had theorized that Summer was actually the murderer a few weeks ago based on it seeming like Larry was emphasizing "summer, it's always summer" when he said it. Then, last week she was put on the murder board by Anne accidentally, or it could be a clue. I think the character said she was also studying to become an actress in one of last week's episode where she was mock questioning her dad on the stand, so that could explain why if she did do it, she's been able to throw everyone off.  It's an interesting theory, but I'm not sure what her motive would be other than to protect her dad from his wife's cheating. Plus, other than those "hints" which might not be at all, nothing else points to her. 

 

4 hours ago, BusyOctober said:

Loved Larry correcting the cop's (and his dead wife's) grammar during his interrogation.  That's something I would do...maybe silently so as not to irritate the guy with a gun asking me questions.

The only character I can't get into is Summer.  Not sure if it's the actress or the character, but in this ensemble, she's the weakest link for me.  I know Larry lied to her about her age, but she definitely comes off much younger than 28-30.  She should have been written as 19-22-ish.  But then maybe the potential for a Josh-Summer romance would be icky if she were. 

Also enjoyed Dwayne's little history lesson about how the town's Pumpkin Patch, the 3rd most popular industry - behind tobacco & book burning- got started. 

I thought Dwayne's history lesson was even funnier in light of him having trouble passing everything he tried to smuggle into the jail since I guess his ancestor didn't have any problem passing things. 

I agree about Summer too. I want to really like her character because other than Josh, she's the only one that truly cares if Larry is found innocent, and I like that her tastes in boyfriends for the eye candy of course. Maybe she's too normal though since everyone else besides Josh is so wacky in some way. Or maybe it is because she comes across much younger than her actual age. 

[Curio]

2 hours ago, mortonsalt said:

Maybe she's too normal though since everyone else besides Josh is so wacky in some way. 

I think Summer is getting a little of the Ann treatment from Parks & Rec. She's the nice gal who's a little too normal to fit in with the rest of the cast.

[picklesprite]

Love this show! I'm so happy to come here and find so many like-minded lunatics! John Lithgow is not only wonderful, but I can't think of a single other actor who could do this role such hilarious justice as he does. I also especially love the Sherry Shepherd character, and fortunately for me, I've never seen the talk shows, either. She brings such a bright silly giggly glow to the show. And the young lawyer is really good at being hilariously earnest and kind.

I love the surprises they spring every episode. I look forward to "what's it going to be tonight?"

I don't know why I like it divided into two eps, but I really do. Okay, I do know. It's hard, I suspect, to keep an hour-long comedy plot line bouncing along. Easier to keep things lively for 30 minutes. I hope they get another season and they do it the same way.

[tennisgurl]

This show is so funny, I feel like I need to watch it more then once to get all the jokes!

I think my favorite quick joke was the local news channel showing a pictures of Woody Allen when Josh called in. And Dwayne's history lessons are hysterical. "pumpkins are the third oldest part of the economy, after tobacco and book burning".

I also loved the shots of all the animals starring at Josh and Carole Anne hooking up. Such judgement!

"I gave her a curtesy like".

[Big Mother]

Yes!!! The chemistry between Josh and carol anne was so scintillating it even got ME hot and bothered! Finally! Too bad we have to wait a whole week now to find out what the ramifications will be.

I'm seriously plotzing to find out whodunit!!!

[Shannon L.]

I loved the conversation in the coroner's office! I have heard some very strong dialects where it was hard to understand what the person was saying, so it was really funny to me.

Dwayne and the actor who plays him are a treasure on this show.

"Larry, I'd love to fill your holes. I heard it....can we edit that out please?"  Bwahaha!

I have to say, though, as someone who gets irritated when people in my home state are portrayed as dumb hicks, I do feel somewhat guilty finding this show so funny. I think that's why Summer, Larry (who just doesn't think before he speaks) and Carol Anne don't bother me as much.  They balance out some of the other characters.

Edited April 8, 2017 by Shannon L.

[SmithW6079]

I love Dwayne's family tree, from his grandfather-uncle to his brother-cousin. He needs to have a sister-aunt next. 

[iMonrey]

I think it will either turn out that Larry did murder his wife and has been faking his bumbling personality all along, or else (more likely) there was no murder and we'll find out his wife died in some kind of freak accident. 

[Big Mother]

I still think it was Josie. and her husband is covering up for her. And threatened to expose her if she talks. Which is why she's been keeping silent. And she now went away with his money so that she can't get caught.

[CheezyXpressed]

I can't believe I forgot about the cable guy too. I was nervous that Margaret was having an affair with him too, but it turned out to be owls. I wonder what happened to the gym trainer that we saw in the pictures. Maybe he needs to be up on the murder board...murder board....MURDER BOARD!
 

On 4/5/2017 at 1:47 PM, mortonsalt said:

I thought the brother in law or the sister in law before, but now that they're both suspects, I don't think it will be either of them because I think the murderer will be a total surprise like maybe the judge.

Someone at another forum had theorized that Summer was actually the murderer a few weeks ago based on it seeming like Larry was emphasizing "summer, it's always summer" when he said it. Then, last week she was put on the murder board by Anne accidentally, or it could be a clue. I think the character said she was also studying to become an actress in one of last week's episode where she was mock questioning her dad on the stand, so that could explain why if she did do it, she's been able to throw everyone off.  It's an interesting theory, but I'm not sure what her motive would be other than to protect her dad from his wife's cheating. Plus, other than those "hints" which might not be at all, nothing else points to her. 

 

I thought Dwayne's history lesson was even funnier in light of him having trouble passing everything he tried to smuggle into the jail since I guess his ancestor didn't have any problem passing things. 

I agree about Summer too. I want to really like her character because other than Josh, she's the only one that truly cares if Larry is found innocent, and I like that her tastes in boyfriends for the eye candy of course. Maybe she's too normal though since everyone else besides Josh is so wacky in some way. Or maybe it is because she comes across much younger than her actual age. 

I thought it might be Summer due to the title sequence. Aside from Josh, she's the only person who doesn't have a picture of her moving. The only thing that moves is a circle around a body. Plus, in the previews/promos for the show they showed her in a jail cell so I think she knows something.

[Spunkygal]

I think it was the cannon ball.

[picklesprite]

6 hours ago, CheezyXpressed said:

 I was nervous that Margaret was having an affair with him too, but it turned out to be owls.

 ". . .it turned out to be owls" is funny enough to be in Buffy.

[Big Mother]

11 hours ago, Spunkygal said:

I think it was the cannon ball.

WOW that is actually genius :)

 

I wonder when we'll get to see an actual picture of the mysterious margaret?

[Spunkygal]

The only thing about the cannon ball is...where is it? Did the dog bury it? But that glass door looks like a cannon ball went through it.

[mortonsalt]

6 hours ago, Spunkygal said:

The only thing about the cannon ball is...where is it? Did the dog bury it? But that glass door looks like a cannon ball went through it.

Yes, during the episode where Josh was almost struck by a cannon ball, I had thought that maybe a similar thing happened to Margaret because her death happened at around the same time as when the cannon ball gets shot off, and that would explain the glass door. I thought that one of the characters said that it was some kind of long object or something not cannonball like that hit Margaret though which is why I ruled out it being a cannonball. 

[UsernameFatigue]

I panicked this week when I realized that my PVR did not record this show. Luckily I was able to watch it on On Demand. I also wondered how many shows are in the series - turns out there are 13, so only 5 left. I am already going through withdrawal just thinking of it. 

My favourite part of this week's epis was the shirts that Dwayne was selling with Larry's picture and Guilty on it. And Ann asking if they had any in her size.  And of course the sizes themselves. Loved that Dwayne was wearing toddler size, and told Josh's boss that he would be a toddler long. Lol. I wish they had carried the gag over to the sweat shirt Larry was wearing from the hospital which had XXL on the front. Though maybe that was supposed to stand for something else. 

[Texasmom1970]

I seriously love this show. Dwayne gets funnier to me in every episode! 

[aradia22]

Quote

Someone at another forum had theorized that Summer was actually the murderer a few weeks ago based on it seeming like Larry was emphasizing "summer, it's always summer" when he said it. Then, last week she was put on the murder board by Anne accidentally, or it could be a clue. I think the character said she was also studying to become an actress in one of last week's episode where she was mock questioning her dad on the stand, so that could explain why if she did do it, she's been able to throw everyone off.  It's an interesting theory, but I'm not sure what her motive would be other than to protect her dad from his wife's cheating. Plus, other than those "hints" which might not be at all, nothing else points to her. 

I mean, theoretically it could be anyone because it's a fictional show but it would feel too Legally Blonde for me. 

Just checking in to say I'm still enjoying this show. The NBC web player is awful though but I pushed through to finish all the episodes. Still lots of little gems of humor though I'm concerned about the larger plotting. I think it was good to bring in Howard so we would have someone experienced and logical ask about the cable guy. I think the reason it was so easy to overlook it is because in a comedy you're not really trying to anticipate things the way you would with a detective story. I was a little bothered by Bentman just dying so easily like that. I wish he'd at least given a clue first. I feel like we've tearing through suspects and in a small town, that's something to be worried about. Hopefully the show has some plan. Also, insanity defenses rarely work and I wish they hadn't just wrote Howard back to NY like that. I feel like the murder plot is losing steam. There's no sense of danger or stakes. 

[cleo]

The Bentman interaction with Larry seemed weird to me. Larry's whole tone an face changed. I know he was mad at the cable but there was a moment where it really felt like something else. It was the first time I thought maybe he did it.

Bc if he did it, maybe the cable guy saw him. That was what went through my mind that scene.

[TaraS1]

On 3/29/2017 at 6:38 PM, mortonsalt said:

Anyhow, I agree that it's getting better every week. Like other posters I'm no fan of Sherri Shepherd unless she's playing a role, but as Anne she probably cracks me up the most even though the whole cast is wonderful. I can't believe how hard she made me laugh when she suddenly went into her bad lawyer routine. 

Me too!  I'm a tough sell when it comes to TV comedies, but this one makes me laugh out loud every week, and that scene was so unexpected and made me laugh so much that I went back and watched it about five times.  

On 4/3/2017 at 7:48 AM, Big Mother said:

Also, I know this show is farcical, but, going back to episode 2, you'd think that even such a small, backwards town as East Peck would have a bit of a forensics team that would've investigated the bloody handprint on the wall downstairs and the sooty footprint on the bedroom wall.

I live in a very East Peck-esque kind of town and we definitely don't have a forensics team of any kind.  If Larry the murderer moved here, our local law enforcement would have to bring in the State Police for that kind of investigation.

[biakbiak]

I still think it's the Marla Gibbs/neighbor/juror, so clearly it's not!

[TaraS1]

They outdid themselves with the "...to completion" bleeping scene - I quite literally laughed until I cried!

And Dewayne's "Gail, stay in your lane" was hilarious.  I love this little show!

I also think it's neat that they cast people a lot of us have forgotten about like Julie Hagerty, Mary Jo Catlett (from Different Strokes!) and Marla Gibbs.  Kudos to the casting director.

[DrSpaceman73]

Love the Julie Hagerty appearance!!!  You don't see her often, but I recognize that voice anywhere. 

really enjoying this show, one of the surprises of the spring. 

Anyone know how many episodes are in this season? 

Anyone see the words on the wall at the gym? Something like "Making Peckers hard since 2001"

[Seelouis]

I completely lost it when Larry came downstairs in the Simpson jersey.    And when Rutger Hiss went into a real coma moments  after being caught faking one.  This show is so unexpectedly hilarious.