1. It's like if Michael Phelps, came out of retirement, jumped in the pool, bellyflopped and drowned.
2. Is it written by Greg Daniels, or Michael Scarn? There's a strong "threat level midnight" vibe.
3. I felt like it both wanted and not wanted to become the Office. The daughter's name is Erin, Dundies are spotted in one scene, a satellite is named "Dunder M", even some of the cast are from the Office. It's a bad idea to advertised as "from the crew who brought you the Office" because it's nothing like the Office. It feels like it's swinging awkwardly between rom-com and sci-fi, trying to crack some jokes in a drama series.
4. Set aside the political jokes, let's measure comedy with its only criteria: is it funny?
5. I can't believe those writers sat in a writing room and thought, "a CGI chimp doing sign languages for 22 minutes seems funny". Are they in a middle school creative writing class? How old is the target audience?
6. That voice is just plainly horrible. Is he doing an impression?
7. I know Steve Carell might be the victim of stereotype casting. He just looks like a middle-age middle-class male who always uses made-up words and wants love and attention. (I'm trying to be a fan here.) Not only in the office, but he also has the same roles in 40-year-old virgin & crazy stupid love. He is just so good at goofy characters that if he's doing something serious, it looks unfit.
8. IMDB 6.9, RT 39%. Something wrong with douban algorithm?
9. I really wanted to love this. I tried. Might give the second season a chance, if it's not canceled. Afterall all Greg Daniels shows have a weird consistency that first season always sucks.