When I hear that the creators of "Ted Lasso" are working on a new show for Apple TV+ and that it's going to have Harrison Ford in a starring role, you better believe that I get excited for that. It sounds like a winning combo, and with Jason Segal also involved, who has proven to be quite a good actor when he has the right material, this can only be something that fuels this TV lover's heart. It has now finally premiered on Apple TV+, and while this first episode sure has a lot of heart to it, it's future does seem a little uncertain.
If there was any doubt that this was made by the creators of "Ted Lasso," that should be thrown after a few scenes, because this does feel like a spiritual companion to that show. The themes are very similar and both shows try to balance the comedic beats with the dramatic tension. And while this show does work well in both genres, there's clearly a bit of balancing issue as the show seems very comfortable in its dramatic moments, but has a clear lack of memorable comedic beats. The only few memorable funny moments were with Harrison Ford, and the show has already shown scarily little of him so far. When the strongest beat of your show is something that you include very little of, that's a bad sign. However, Jason Segal's lead character is a very sympathetic character, although a lot of his past is still clouded in mystery and the show does a lot to heighten his worst qualities, so whether or not this is a character that you're supposed to root for or not is a little unclear. The writing is solid, yet a little wonky as mentioned with the unfocused balancing of genres. It also steps on a lot of the tropes that the classic sitcoms have, and it'd be great to see it steer away from that a little bit and become its own show; however, the show also seems very unoriginal in its premise, so it's not easy to see where this show will eventually end up.
"Coin Flip" is a solid opening for this show, but it's also clear that the creators need to step it up a little for future episodes. The drama works very well, but the humor needs to be worked on, and if I had my say, I'd say to get much more Harrison Ford in this.
