S01.E01: Pilot

[formerlyfreedom]

When a former Princeton music professor stumbles into choir practice at a small-town church, he finds singers that are out of tune in more ways than one. Despite their differences, he and his new cohorts may just help each other reinvent.

Airing Thursday, September 26, 2019, on NBC

[Machiabelly]

We really enjoyed this.

Who was in charge of the Perpetual Praise church? 

[mtlchick]

I really wanted to like this.  

I didn't.  There was something that was really disjointed and rushed about it.  And it doesn't help that because of Anna Camp (who I do like overall) they were well into Pitch Perfect territory. 

I'll give this a few more weeks as I have nothing to watch in that time slot but I can't see this lasting long. 

[Snow Apple]

I like it enough to keep watching. Not must see tv (yet), but this is just the first episode. 

[ItCouldBeWorse]

There is no University of Princeton, Anna Camp's character!

Edited September 27, 2019 by ItCouldBeWorse

[rhys]

39 minutes ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

There is no University of Princeton, Anna Camp's character!

39 minutes ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

There is no University of Princeton, Anna Camp's character!

Omygosh, thank you! I don't know why that annoyed me so but it did. I didn't expect the old man to let it pass. He should have at least rolled his eyes.

[Kiddvideo]

I think they tried to fit too much into the episode, too many characters to step on everyone’s rakes and then form a bond in 30 minutes. It could’ve been written into full length feature film.

I’ll give it a few weeks, see how it develops.

[ClareWalks]

Oof, this was bad. The writing was terrible. Bradley Whitford is amazing but even he couldn't make that character work. Anna Camp sounded like she was more concerned with the accent than the acting.

[Koalagirl]

This seemed like a 30 minute movie. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Hee, as a former choir student, I loved all the criticism that Arthur spat out when he barged into the church. All totally valid!

I had to laugh when he went the Seinfeld route and made a decision purely out of spite.

Was the pilot originally intended to be an hour? It felt like they were zooming through and a lot of stuff got cut.

[A.Ham]

I really liked it! I may be blinded by my love of Bradley Whitford and Anna Camp though. Also, I loved that they had BW say “Is that too on the nose?”

What can I say, you can win me over with a West Wing reference.

[Guest]

I had to watch it because Bradley Whitford, and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it.

[jmonique]

I liked it, actually! I found how it all came together at the end in a dedication to the dead wife rather lovely. Bradley Whitford sold the surprise, delight and pride for me... 

But it did feel like "Mr. Holland's Opus, v. 30-minute Comedy." I'm not quite sure where they go from here, but I'll turn back in for Whitford and Camp.

[thesupremediva1]

As a church choir geek whose best friends for life all came out of my high school church choir, this was a must-view for me. Also, Bradley Whitford is just too good for words. And Anna Camp has my heart because of Pitch Perfect.

This needed to be an hour. Or a 2-part ep. It was rushed. People's minds and motivations changed scene to scene and day to day and none of it felt natural. However, the choir parts were spot on and made me laugh. I've sung the Hallelujah Chorus more times than I can count. Posture is important. And watching a life-long soprano bitch about not being an alto is comedy gold to me. 

I was in on this no matter what. I hope they smooth it out in the coming weeks. There's something special here, especially with the two leads, but it's buried under rushed plots and slapstick crap they don't need. Just let the story breathe and we might have something great to watch. 

[Lovecat]

When I first heard about this show, I was all, "GROWN-UP GLEE WITH JOSH LYMAN AS MR. SCHUESTER??  SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!!"

I was slightly disappointed with the pilot, though; I too thought it was very rushed, and the choir managed to pull off a good performance *and* win a trophy in the first contest out, so where do we go from here?  [Rhetorical question--obviously they're going for the big win and knocking the other choir down a few pegs, but still.  Give them a little more room for growth, Show.]  I'll give it a few more episodes to settle in.

My only LOL was the Reverend's family's name alternate names for American shows and movies, especially the one for GLEE:  Being Gay in High School is Hard.

[martha21]

I thought it was cute and delightful. Granted, I like shows like God Friended Me and this reminded me of that. I got teary at the end with the butterflies and the teacher finally seeing the sign he was looking for. In it for the warm fuzzies.

[Whimsy]

5 hours ago, A.Ham said:

I really liked it! I may be blinded by my love of Bradley Whitford and Anna Camp though. Also, I loved that they had BW say “Is that too on the nose?”

What can I say, you can win me over with a West Wing reference.

I didn't watch West Wing, but otherwise totally agree!  I did like this, a lot.  I'll keep watching.  Hopefully it'll find it's footing and stick around. 

[tennisgurl]

Definitely has some pilot awkwardness, but I found it to be quite charming. Bradley Whitford can just about do no wrong in my eyes (he was one of the few bright spots in an otherwise dull and dismal season of The Handmaids Tale) and I always enjoy Anna Camp, so I think I will like this show. I think it should have been an hour though, it wouldn't have felt so rushed 

The tributes to the main characters dead wife at the end was sweet. What can I say, I am a massive sap sometimes. 

"Being gay makes high school hard."

[cmahorror]

"like Mary Poppins in the classic Disney film unmarried women cause trouble" - HA! As one of the few humans on earth who cannot stand Mary Poppins, practically perfect in ever way my ass, I loved this.

As for the show, it was better than some of the pilots I have seen but didn't really reach out and grab me the way I hoped it would. I love Bradly Whitford and Anna Camp but this felt very much like Glee (or being gay makes high school hard) in church. The misfit group of people coming together for a singing competition, the teacher who comes in to pull it all together, the final performance that is way too good to pulled together in the short time they had with the limited training and experience (replace Eye of the Tiger with Don't Stop Believing), and the teacher having been out of the group only to come back and find inspiration by the miraculous performance that came from out of nowhere by the group of misfits coming together.

That being said, I love that he agreed to coach the choir out of spite and I hope that he does not lose his cynicism as the series progresses. I need a little bitter with my sweet, thank you very much.

Edited September 28, 2019 by cmahorror

[DuckyinKy]

5 hours ago, cmahorror said:

That being said, I love that he agreed to coach the choir out of spite and I hope that he does not lose his cynicism as the series progresses. I need a little bitter with my sweet, thank you very much.

Since it is based in Kentucky, I'd say that's a given! 

I enjoyed it, I imagine it will improve once they find their groove. 

Also, hey Long Duk Dong at the edge of the choir, I see you! 

Edited September 28, 2019 by DuckyinKy

[ketose]

I like underdogs stories. It's why I liked Glee before they did everything but sing on the show. I'm not sure about the dead wife angle here. Couldn't he have just been fired for the chair throwing?

[reallyjustjen]

On 9/26/2019 at 10:00 PM, rhys said:

Omygosh, thank you! I don't know why that annoyed me so but it did. I didn't expect the old man to let it pass. He should have at least rolled his eyes.

On 9/26/2019 at 9:17 PM, ItCouldBeWorse said:

There is no University of Princeton, Anna Camp's character!

I took this as a purposeful attempt to signal how out of touch (for lack of a better phrase at this hour) the choir members were with his background, especially since it went along with the whole “they never make the Final 4, but I hear it’s an ok school” bit.  

Edited September 29, 2019 by reallyjustjen

[ItCouldBeWorse]

40 minutes ago, reallyjustjen said:

I took this as a purposeful attempt to signal how out of touch (for lack of a better phrase at this hour) the choir members were with his background, especially since it went along with the whole “they never make the Final 4, but I hear it’s an ok school” bit.  

I agree, but I expected him to correct her, if only for the sake of the audience, many of whom would not realize the error.

[ShowsILoveToHate]

I agree with almost of the critiques here!  Loved it, but they crammed too much into a half hour.

Like a previous poster, I also like some bitter with the sweet, to balance things out. 

I'm in this for the, hopefully, long haul!! 🎼🎵📺

[Lady Calypso]

I watched it. I thought it was ok enough to get me to record another episode. I can't watch live due to other shows, but I will give it another try to see if I really like it. The actors are good, so that's a plus, and I didn't get second hand embarrassment from the singing, so that's a good sign.

Plus, Bradley and Anna in the same show? I love both actors, and recognize a couple of the others.

[Kel Varnsen]

That was actually pretty fun even though I don't usually care for musical stuff. I have liked Anna Camp since True Blood (I can't believe I watched that show) and have always thought she should be the lead in something. Although I can't believe it has gotten to the point where she is now playing mom characters.

Liked Bradley Whitford, the guy can do comedy as he showed in Brooklyn 99. I just hope he doesn't lose too much of his asshole personality.

[ouinason]

I turned this on for background noise, and ended up really loving it by the end.

[singsong]

I finally watched this over the weekend and surprised myself by how much I laughed.  I'm in for more.   I'm all for sitcoms that actually make me laugh instead of trying to have important conversations.    

[peachmangosteen]

On 9/27/2019 at 2:51 PM, martha21 said:

I got teary at the end with the butterflies and the teacher finally seeing the sign he was looking for. In it for the warm fuzzies.

In spite of the fact that that moment was in no way earned, I totally teared up, too.

This really did feel like it was supposed to be an hour. Or a movie. Or like an entire season lol. It was way too much and way too rushed. 

I really couldn't stand Anna Camp in this but I liked the rest of the characters/actors a lot. And there were some really funny lines. It was pretty bad overall but I'll give it another shot because I feel like there's potential.

[msrachelj]

I loved it way more than I expected. Like the professor and his sense of humor. Could be pretty good. Much better than a lot of the new shows ( Carol's Second Act, blech)  and some of the old getting tired ones also. 

[Yeah No]

I just caught this episode on "On Demand" because when I saw a promo. for the show and saw that it was about a misfit volunteer choir in Kentucky I had to tune in.  Mr. Yeah No and I are total choir geeks and have been in choirs not too different from that one, although they really should have a couple more older people in it if it's going to be realistic. 

I agree with everyone about the pilot seeming rushed and disjointed, but I'm going to give this a chance because it looks like it has potential.  I haven't watched any more recent episodes, but I will soon.  I loved how Mr. Princeton (forgot his name already) was able to determine that the woman's son had dyslexia from the way he read music.  Mr. Yeah No is dyslexic so he's going to find that very interesting.

Interestingly, the night before I watched this I watched the movie "As Good as it Gets" for the first time and somehow the professor on this show is reminding me a little of Jack Nicholson's character in that movie.  I laughed at him being seen as someone so incorrigible that he even got rejected by a cemetery.

[BW Manilowe]

6 hours ago, Yeah No said:

I just caught this episode on "On Demand" because when I saw a promo. for the show and saw that it was about a misfit volunteer choir in Kentucky I had to tune in.  Mr. Yeah No and I are total choir geeks and have been in choirs not too different from that one, although they really should have a couple more older people in it if it's going to be realistic. 

I agree with everyone about the pilot seeming rushed and disjointed, but I'm going to give this a chance because it looks like it has potential.  I haven't watched any more recent episodes, but I will soon.  I loved how Mr. Princeton (forgot his name already) was able to determine that the woman's son had dyslexia from the way he read music.  Mr. Yeah No is dyslexic so he's going to find that very interesting.

Interestingly, the night before I watched this I watched the movie "As Good as it Gets" for the first time and somehow the professor on this show is reminding me a little of Jack Nicholson's character in that movie.  I laughed at him being seen as someone so incorrigible that he even got rejected by a cemetery.

“Mr. Princeton” is Bradley Whitford, who’s best-known for playing (& winning a Best Supporting Drama Actor Emmy for playing) Joshua (Josh) Lyman, White House Deputy Chief of Staff in The West Wing (then his character became the Chief of Staff when the new Administration took over at the end of the series). His hair wasn’t gray then. His character name here is Arthur. I’m not sure if he has a last name yet, or I can’t remember it.

[aradia22]

Feels like this will be my show of the season that I like... so it gets cancelled. 

I grew up doing choir so I liked the singing aspect. I'm not as into that brilliant, troubled man archetype. Not the Don Draper but the wisecracking genius. You know... Psych, House, a multitude of USA shows, etc. They're not as much to my taste anymore. It's just the pilot though.

Even though the point of a choir is to blend, I love that the actors have such distinctive singing voices. I like all the character actors I recognize. I'm excited to keep watching as long as it lasts. 

I will say that given how easily they put together a pretty damn good number, I'm not sure how much they need a choir director. 

Reverend Jax is my favorite character so far. His lines and delivery SLAY me. I want to know all the altered titles of the movies and TV shows he's watched.

 

Quote

And watching a life-long soprano bitch about not being an alto is comedy gold to me. 

I am that soprano. For most of my singing life, I was a mezzo in denial. For a while in high school I had those high notes but they're totally gone now. I can only maintain that vocal quality when I'm singing all the time and I'm way out of practice. Still, if asked, I refuse to say I'm an alto. 

Quote

The tributes to the main characters dead wife at the end was sweet. What can I say, I am a massive sap sometimes. 

I read it differently. Like, Anna Camp's character was using her son's knowledge to trick Bradley into definitely staying because he got his sign (though the joke was that he'd been getting many signs throughout the episode). My prediction is that he might be upset in future episodes that the butterflies didn't just magically appear. But I could also see them dropping it as it's pointless drama. 

Quote

Although I can't believe it has gotten to the point where she is now playing mom characters.

Right? I mean she could be a young mom but she seems considerably younger than her ex-husband and new love interest. It feels like the character is older than Anna herself. 

[chitowngirl]

8 hours ago, aradia22 said:

Right? I mean she could be a young mom but she seems considerably younger than her ex-husband and new love interest. It feels like the character is older than Anna herself. 

Anna Camp is 37.

[possibilities]

Wow. She looks about 19, to me.