[TV] Big Shots, 10 p.m, Thursdays, ABC

[Emperor]

A dim and mercilessly unfunny dramedy from writer-producer Jon Harmon Feldman (“Dawson’s Creek,” “Tru Calling,” “Reunion”), “Big Shots” is about a quartet of powerful executives who like to yammer about their personal lives at the same country club.

 

It may be clueless when it comes to eliciting laughs, but on the plus side it does has the distinction of being the second pilot ABC will air in the span of 25 hours that features as one of its main characters a powerful and prominent alpha male trying to cover up his affair with a transsexual.

 

If “Big Shots” is not quite the worst new pilot on the networks this autumn, it nestles comfortably among the bottom two.

 

USA Today gives it one and a half stars (out of four) and says:

 

… If the rap against Sex and the City in its early seasons was that the women sounded like gay men, the problem with Big Shots is that the men don't sound like anyone at all, male or female. It's as if the show has uncovered some new, alien race in which the male-substitute life forms sit around pools in plush, white robes saying things like: "Men. We're the new women." No, you're the old contrivance.…

 

 

The New York Times says:

 

… the wine cellar is used by one of them, Duncan Collinsworth, for trysts with his ex-wife. That he prefers her to any 26-year-old is one of the female fantasies fulfilled by a series that imagines that when men are making a birdie on the back nine what they are actually talking about is women. …

 

 

The Los Angeles Times says:

 

… Feldman has created a quartet of rich guys so insufferable, self-centered and whiny that they make the men of feminist masterwork "The Golden Notebook," or even "The Nanny Diaries," look positively heroic. … where the housewives are surprisingly complicated and often sympathetic in their insularity, these guys seem just boorish. … Tee-time satire requires nuance and that, unfortunately, has been checked at the clubroom door. …

 

 

The Washington Post says:

 

… As with other "Desperate" clones, "Big Shots" tries way too hard to be shocking and raunchy. The actors resemble kiddies at school trying to impress one another with the latest naughty word learned in gym class. And the more "adult" that writer and series creator Jon Harmon Feldman tries to be, the more juvenile the show seems to become. … the plot twists and cheeky remarks don't add up to anything particularly cogent or insightful. Not by a big shot's long shot. …

 

 

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says:

 

… "Big Shots" may be no more realistic than "Grey's" or "Desperate Housewives," but fans of ABC's other light drama may be inclined to give it a shot. …

 

 

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel says:

 

… they spend so much time hashing over their problems together that they seem a little, well, girly. Or as McDermott's character ruefully remarks: "Men are the new women." That's representative of the insights presented here: not especially fresh or noteworthy. …

 

 

Newsday says:

 

… a tiresome attempt at a Desperate Husbands/CEOs sort of comedy-drama … Maybe series creator Jon Harmon Feldman ("Tru Calling") knew something Idahoans didn't, since his pilot has one of his big shots discovered in a men's room playing footsie (and other body parts), with a "tranny" hooker. Sen. Larry Craig's story is not only more interesting but way more believable. …

 

 

The Boston Herald give it a “D” and says:

 

… James Walker (Michael Vartan, “Alias”) is the group’s conscience - a boring exec who discovers his wife (Wendy Moniz) cheated on him. “I may be leaving, but I’m not the one who walked out,” he says, just one example of the show’s trite dialogue. … Not for a second will you believe these guys are friends - or even members of the human race. McDermott, modeling peach fuzz and a sprig of chest hair, plays nearly every scene with his idea of a sexy leer splayed across his face. He’s so creepy, my TV wants a restraining order ….

 

 

The Hollywood Reporter says:

 

… when all is said and done, the series feels less like Wisteria Lane than "Stand By Me" channeled through Danielle Steel. …

 

 

Variety says:

 

… naughty script doesn’t develop much chemistry among the guys, while filtering each through relationships with women as opposed to, say, high finance. … exhibits few attributes worthy of its getting ABC’s best new-series slot, post-“Grey’s Anatomy.” …

 

[Cadsuane]

I watched maybe ten minutes of this last night, and had to turn it off. It was horrid. Two especially attractive men to look at, and there is STILL no way I can stand the awfulness that is everything else about the show. Blech.

[Emperor]

It is in my DVR but good to know what to expect. 

[Mendorah]

Yeah, I don't get this show.  It's about men, but at least two are HAWT, so they definately want women to watch.  But then they let us women in on the pillow talk that just confirms our ideas that men are generally pigs and they also generally expressed pretty negative views about women and they expect us to love it?  Or are they trying to corner a new market with a Drama for Men?

 

Are they stupid?  Does anybody actually know any men who would watch this?  Isn't this kind of drama fuled by the chick ratings?

 

There were parts of it that I enjoyed.  I mean, Dermott whatever his name is is HAWT!  And his tryst with the tranny hooker was really kind of funny.

 

I dunno maybe I didn't get it because I'm most definately not a guy.  I mean, Sex and the City was similar to this in idea, but I GOT that.  Because I'm a chick, I guess.  And I'm still confused as to who they were marketing the show to.  I thought it was women, but I just don't see a whole lot of women loving this show.

[Cadsuane]

SatC was good because it was SMART, and the four main females are real human beings (aside from Sam's sex life: I don't know any woman who is like that about sex), who discuss things real women think and worry about in their real lives. It also didn't take itself too seriously when the plot contained somewhat ridiculous events. And as you pointed out, this kind of dramedy generally is fueled by female viewers, to whom SatC was very good at catering.

 

The four main men on this show are completely unbelievable as real people, and also unlikable. They are not people that would ever have the relationship with each other that they are supposed to have, ever. The dialogue is smarmy and fake, it's just ALL BAD. ALL OF IT.  :P

 

... Except for Michael Vartan's and Dylan McDermott's physical presence.  ;D