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Simon Roberts is the head of a powerful agency, with the biggest clients and brands in the world, but even more important to him is having his daughter Sydney by his side. As his partner, Sydney is Simon's exact opposite - focused, organized and eager to make a name for herself, but also too busy parenting her father, which she'd resent if he wasn't so brilliant at what he does. With his team and his daughter behind him, Simon continues to set the advertising world on fire, and it looks like they are definitely buying what these crazy ones are selling.
Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.
Taking its name from that famous Apple ad, "The Crazy Ones", from producer David E. Kelley ("Ally McBeal", "The Practice", "Boston Legal") is clearly aiming to be a bold, inspiring, game-changing new show. By equating his show with the innovative Steve Jobs, Kelley is showing a certain amount of hubris -- and a heck of a lot of confidence in his new show. It almost lives up to it.
Undoubtedly the biggest game-changer of "The Crazy Ones" is in drawing the legendary Robin Williams back to the small screen. The last time he had a starring role on a TV show was in "Mork & Mindy", which went off the air 31 years ago. So bringing Williams and his beloved brand of humor into America's living rooms every week for the foreseeable future is an achievement not to be ignored. And for those who like Williams, it's an achievement to be endlessly thankful for, as he's in top form here with plenty of opportunities to riff and improvise. And even for those who aren't fans, there's plenty else here to enjoy.
Sarah Michelle Gellar plays Williams' daughter, the Felix to his Oscar. It's surprising to see Gellar in a comedy, and she's thus far the weakest link, although that may be because all she was given to do in the pilot was look exasperated. The supporting cast that surrounds Williams and Gellar is universally solid. James Wolk ("Mad Men") is Zach, the resident "himbo" of the office, who relies as much on his dashing good looks as his advertising skills. Hamish Linklater ("The Newsroom") is Andrew, the nebbishy art director. And Amanda Setton, who was inexplicably let go from her role as Shauna the office assistant on "The Mindy Project", now gets to play Lauren the office assistant on "The Crazy Ones". It's not a revolutionary role for her, but it's one she's superb in. Mindy's loss is our gain.
The plot of the pilot revolves around the firm trying to keep McDonald's from firing them. It's understandable that the writers wanted to establish "The Crazy Ones" as taking place firmly in the reality of our world, but the number of times McDonald's is name-dropped starts to make the whole episode feel like 30-minutes of product placement. (The producers claim they received no money from Mickey Ds.) The awkward Big Mac shilling is somewhat offset by the prominent guest starring role played by Kelly Clarkson as herself. Some of the best scenes of the episode occur when Williams and Wolk are trying to woo Clarkson into recording a jingle for them, complete with coming up with an impromptu (clearly-improvised) song on the spot.
But despite the big names of Williams, Clarkson and McDonalds, the pilot suffers from an uneven tone and pacing. So much focus is given to the episode's big guest star that Linklater and Sutton are given almost nothing to do, which is a shame, considering a pilot is when you want to introduce your characters to your audience. Gellar struggles occasionally with the comedy and, while it's sort of nice to see a semi-stable father/daughter relationship on screen, stable also unfortunately equals boring.
In its first episode, at least, "The Crazy Ones" is much more conventional than it thinks it is, despite its splashy packaging. That's not to say it's bad, and given time to find its footing, it could even become great. But for now, it's a good show and a fun vehicle for Robin Williams to do some clever ad libbing. There are definitely worse things a show could be.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qz-8JoUQzE0[/youtube]
