Pilot Review: A to Z

Another new romcom this season, A to Z is the chronicling of Andrew and Zelda’s budding relationship, set to last 8 months 3 weeks 5 days and 1 hour.

First Impressions

OMG BUG AHHH.

This show reminds me of How I Met Your Mother, and not just because Zelda was the mother. This nerdy, try-hard guy (“Meant to be??” How very Ted Mosby.) won’t even be liked by the viewers, while this adorable girl (and every other character) will be …adored.

Plus, it feels similar to Manhattan Love Story, only less unique. I like the premise of Manhattan Love Story more – the characters aren’t fated to be together, and they seem so much more realistic. (I’m sorry, is my distain for Andrew coming off too strong?)

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FKlRDYy_7o]

There are three points on which this show totally appeals to me:

1. This show is beautiful, from the “A” and “Z” of their names, to the 26 episodes that will make up the alphabet.
2. This humor is my humor. Dry, witty, and farcical.
3. Recurring themes and jokes are the shit.

When I realized their names: “DUDE I JUST REALIZED THEIR NAMES START WITH A AND Z. THATS WHY WE GAVE OUR GIRL SUCH A WEIRD NAME. AND THEN HAD TO MAKE HER PARENTS HIPPIES. OOOHH.”

Andrew and Zelda (when you get past how awkward they are) have a well-written chemistry. Their sense of humor just meshes really well.

Scene: Zelda is going into a room where her date is waiting, another woman. Andrew stops short, saying, “Oh, you’re…” and Zelda turns around, “Bye.”

“Bye/bi as in bye, or bi?”

Plus the ironies are right up my alley. I eat that shit up.

And one point on which it totally loses me:

1. Andrew

Andrew is just way too creepy for me. Super intense. I kept thinking “Stop it. …Stop it.” in my head. Going on and on about how they are meant to be. Even later on when I find something I can relate to, he goes and is weird about it. Like, I get competition. Because you’re right. And you know you’re right. But not because you’re just trying to prove something is fate. That’s dumb.

Zelda, on the other hand, is my girl. Yes, he’s being a creep, he needs to slow down. You should get the hell out of there. That’s the normal thing to do.

Plus, remember how I said everyone else in this show would be awesome?

• Andrew’s boss is hilarious. We see her stomping around the online dating office yelling at employees that succeeding at match making is bad business because those users no longer need to pay for their services, and crumpling thank-you letters from married couples!
• Andrew’s best friend = comic relief. And I’m pretty sure I like him.
• Then there’s Zelda’s best friend, who is passionately in love one moment, and throw-my-drink-on-you pissed the next.
• My favorites might have been the two computer programming co-workers who explain “the one” and “the negative one” story, which I loooooved. If this show is all about the little bits like this, and not so much the love story, I’m totally down.

For now, I’m not down.

Andrew is unbearably romantic. Zelda… isn’t. They are “obviously” meant to be. (Actually, this does make them seem meant to be…)

Each of our episodes will have a letter tied to them – presumably 26 episodes will fill the season. My guess? We’ll have Andrew and Zelda break up in “Z,” only so they can decide to try again in season 2. You know what I think should be done instead?? For season 2, can we just re-cast with, say, Aaron and Zara?

This is pretty funny to me. I love recurring themes and jokes. But overall, I just don’t think there’s enough going for this show. And… I really just don’t like this guy. He’s too desperate and clingy and making every little thing full of perfectness pressure. Calm down bro.

With so many romcom-sitcoms to choose from, I’m going to need a little more than this. It’s not that I didn’t like you (OK, I didn’t like you, Andrew) but comparatively…

[rating given=”3″ half=”false” possible=”5″]