Talking pillow gives ‘Imaginary Mary’ a restless night
For this ABC sidelined the Pittsburgh-produced “Downward Dog”?
Next week ABC debuts the disappointing “Imaginary Mary” (8:30 p.m. Wednesday, WTAE), starring Jenna Elfman as Alice, a woman whose childhood imaginary best friend — what appears to be a furry talking pillow voiced by Rachel Dratch (“Saturday Night Live”) — suddenly begins to appear to her again.
Granted, a quick description of “Downward Dog” — a talking-dog show that debuts with a sneak preview at 9:30 p.m. May 17 — doesn’t sound much better, but seeing “Downward” offers proof it’s not a dog creatively.
Alas, ABC had only one midseason slot and two high-concept shows in contention to fill it. It’s likely neither show will succeed, but the odds for “Downward Dog,” which will air at 8 p.m. Tuesday weekly starting May 23, got longer once “Imagine Mary” was granted the in-season slot.
To be fair, “Imaginary Mary” isn’t the worst comedy of the season (that dishonor goes to any one of the three sitcoms CBS debuted last fall), but it would be a better show if it was just about a career woman meeting a dude with three kids — and minus the computeranimated talking pillow.
Mary, Alice’s imaginary best friend, is an attempt to make this series seem different from every other single-gal-meets-a-single-dad show. And it’s true, “Imaginary Mary” would be more generic if it didn’t have Mary, but when she appears on screen with a grating voice that betrays Alice’s independent career woman id, it adds little comedy to the show.
“Imaginary Mary” is at its funniest when the focus is on Alice’s boyfriend, Ben (Stephen Schneider), and his three kids and their interactions with Alice — scenes that don’t feature Mary at all.
One gets the sense that the show’s executive producers, who include Adam F. Goldberg (“The Goldbergs”) and David Guarascio (“The Goldbergs”), realized this, too. A second episode ABC provided for review has decidedly less Mary than the premiere.
‘Nobodies’
The TV Land comedy “Nobodies” (10 p.m. Wednesday), already renewed for a second season, follows three real-life Groundlings alums — Hugh Davidson, Larry Dorf and Rachel Ramras — playing fictionalized versions of themselves as they try to get a script they wrote, “Mr. First Lady,” produced. They are hoping their Groundlings pal Melissa McCarthy, an executive producer on “Nobodies,” will star in their movie.
But through a series of cringe-inducing missteps, they don’t manage to secure a commitment from Ms. McCarthy in the pilot, although her actor/director husband, Ben Falcone, appears and directs the “Nobodies” premiere.
“Nobodies” is a cross between “Curb Your Enthusiasm” (the comedy of the uncomfortable, it burns!) and “Episodes” (except in “Nobodies” it’s crazy people in a sane world as opposed to “Episodes,” where it’s sane people in a crazy industry).
“Nobodies” has its amusing moments — and plenty of celebrity cameos in the premiere, including Maya Rudolph, Jim Rash and Jason Bateman — especially when it explores the disdain more successful writers have for, say, animated kids show writers. But tolerance for uncomfortable comedic moments will vary by viewer.
Kept/canceled
CBS renewed “The Big Bang Theory” for two more seasons, keeping the show in production through at least May 2019.
NBC renewed “Shades of Blue,” co-starring Mon Valley native Gino Anthony Pesi, for a 10-episode third season.
Comedy Central will bring back “Detroiters” for a second season in 2018.
Hulu renewed drama “Shut Eye” for a second season.
Animal Planet’s “River Monsters” swims onto TV for its final season at 9 p.m. April 23.
Syfy renewed “The Expanse” for a 13-episode third season to air in 2018. Syfy’s “12 Monkeys,” returning for its third season with 10 episodes airing over three nights (May 19, 20 and 21), will be back for a final fourth season.
Channel surfing
Former “Criminal Minds” star Shemar Moore will return to the CBS procedural for its 12th season finale (9 p.m. May 10). … Tyra Banks will return to host the next edition of VH1’s “America’s Next Top Model.” … History gave it a try and now BBC America will, too, producing its own version of “Top Gear America” with actor William Fichtner, drag racer Antron Brown and
British auto journalist Tom “Wookie” Ford as hosts. … A&E will revive “Biography,” off the air for five years, with episodes devoted to Biggie Smalls, Vladimir Putin, Elizabeth Smart and Mike Tyson slated to launch this spring. … Comcast Xfinity’s annual Watchathon Week, April 3-9, will allow X1 customers free unlimited access to the Netflix catalog of films and shows. … Next week WQED-TV debuts “Before Stage Four: Confronting Early Psychosis” (8 p.m. Thursday) about mental health issues. ... Robert Hayden, anthropologist of law and politics at the University of Pittsburgh, will be featured on PBS’s “Dead Reckoning: War, Crime and Justice From WW2 to the War on Terror” (8-11 p.m. Tuesday, WQED-TV) about the evolution of the postwar justice system over the past 70 years.
Daytime Emmys
“Odd Squad,” a live-action television show from Pittsburgh’s Fred Rogers Company, scored 14 Daytime Emmy nominations Wednesday. The company’s animated “Peg + Cat” earned three.
Besides being put up for outstanding children’s or family viewing series, “Odd Squad” received nominations for directing, hair and costumes to the “outstanding writing special class.” Outside network soap operas, it was the most-nominated program.
The 44th Daytime Emmy Awards will hand out creative prizes April 28, with the rest April 30. Both events are in Pasadena, Calif.