Should You Sustain No Objections To The Grinder?

What Is This Thing?

After close to a decade headlining a legal drama as a hard-charging attorney who Doesn't! Settle!, Dean Sanderson -- unmarried and unattached -- finds himself uncertain of how he should spend the rest of his life. A visit home to Boise to watch the finale with his younger brother Stewart, a lawyer, and Stewart's family leaves Dean thinking maybe he belongs there, putting his legal "expertise" to work fighting the good fight for the little people. Sure, The Grinder's not a real lawyer, but is that actually that important?

When Is It On?

Tuesdays at 8:30 PM on Fox.

Why Was It Made Now?

After proving his comic chops both over several seasons of Parks & Recreation and as a skin-stretched cosmetic surgeon in Behind The Candelabra -- if you somehow missed the latter, RECTIFY THAT -- Rob Lowe was never going to go very long without headlining a sitcom. And since that tennis show The Pro didn't end up going anywhere, why shouldn't he be part of Fox's current live-action sitcom renaissance? (Thank you, New Girl, for kicking things off in 2011, and making the network safe for the likes of Brooklyn Nine-Nine and The Last Man On Earth.)

What's Its Pedigree?

The aforementioned Lowe plays Dean, with Fred Savage (The Wonder Years) as Stewart, and William Devane (literally everything) as their dad, Dean Sr. Mary Elizabeth Ellis (It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia) plays Stewart's wife, Debbie; Steve Little (Eastbound & Down) is Stewart's law partner, Todd. The pilot features alt-comedy superstars Brian Huskey and Kumail Nanjiani, with Natalie Morales (Trophy Wife) promised in a future installment. Series creators Andrew Mogel and Jarrad Paul previously co-created the animated Jonah Hill vehicle Allen Gregory, but more recently collaborated by co-writing and co-directing the feature film The D Train. Also on board as an EP is Nicholas Stoller, of The Five-Year Engagement and The Carmichael Show. Jake Kasdan directed the pilot; he's directed the pilots (and...also subsequent episodes) of a bunch of critically-acclaimed single-cam sitcoms, including Freaks And Geeks, Ben And Kate, and New Girl.

...And?

Despite how annoying the promos were -- and we in this household just re-watched all of Brooklyn Nine-Nine Season 2 on demand, so we've seen them a LOT -- I was hopeful for one reason: Fred Savage. Since his years as a sitcom kid, Savage has made some extremely impressive comedic choices behind the camera: he was an EP on Best Friends Forever and directed two episodes in the first season of Playing House; he also directed a bunch of Party Down and Happy Endings, and my late, beloved Aliens In America. Though he's worked a lot as a voice actor in recent years -- R.I.P., sweet Oswald -- he hasn't appeared in front of the camera much, so I figured for him to return to acting in a role that would employ his whole body, the show would have to be something pretty solid.

Turns out "solid" is a great way to characterize this show after the pilot. The central relationship between Dean and Stewart is nicely drawn and perfectly performed by both actors: years of fraternal chafing are contained in the exchange in which Dean asks Stewart to tell him what he liked most about The Grinder's season finale and Stewart gamely does his best to come up with something that is neither especially encouraging or a lie. "It felt as real as-- as all the other ones!" Stewart loves his brother but he also has the unenviable experience of being the only person in their family who isn't starstruck by him; at the same time, he's still a midwesterner -- too polite to tell Dean off too his face, and yet stymied in his passive-aggressive barbs because Dean is too oblivious to sense them.

As such Dean is a perfect fit for Lowe, too. As someone who's been an A-list TV star for at least eight seasons, Dean needs to be cocky, yet charming and approachable. He's very used to getting what he wants, and fast, but he's sufficiently seasoned not to throw diva fits within range of any camera phones (so...anywhere). Playing a lawyer and being so closely identified in the public mind with the role really has, apparently, convinced him that he's basically no different from Stewart, to poor Stewart's impotent consternation. Where the show gets its heart, and makes these brothers something more than the (one-sidedly) feuding children they could be, is that Stewart really does have something to learn from Dean. While it's true that Dean only kind of understands legal jargon and procedure, he does know showmanship, and that's something Stewart needs to work on -- and now can, since he's decided it's okay with him if Dean sticks around.

You couldn't say no to that face, and neither can Stewart.

Even the kids are funny! I know it seems impossible, but it's true!

...But?

Really my one and only critique is that we barely learn anything about Debbie other than that she's pretty cool for a sitcom wife/mother character, she unabashedly likes Stewart, and she wants everyone to get along. Other than that, we don't find out anything about her deal. Does she have a job? If so, what is it? What does she actually think about Dean and his Hollywood big-shot BS other than as it impinges on Stewart? The generally inferior Grandfathered, which premieres in the time slot before The Grinder's, got a lot wrong, but I definitely got to the end of it feeling like Paget Brewster's Sara was a person who'd had a complete life before parting ways with the key character in her show; I'd love to see some of that attention paid to Debbie, because I've always liked Ellis and she deserves it. (Seriously, Caroline on New Girl was a more well-rounded character from the second we met her on that show, and she was supposed to be the monster who ruined Nick!)

...So?

This crop of new shows has not really been too thrilling so far, but The Grinder's pilot is a very strong début and I'm hopeful that it will continue getting better. If you've liked any of the past shows this creative team's participated in, separately and together, that I've mentioned here, you should give it a try.