1600 Penn

I read the discouraging reviews on here and saw the abysmal ratings for this show. Based on those criteria, I almost didn't bother watching at all. But the first two episodes were on the DVR, so we thought we'd give it a try.

The first scene of episode 1 reminded me of something like "Animal House", not a good recommendation from my point of view. However, we persevered, and actually found it to be quite enjoyable. We then watched the second episode, and enjoyed it more than the first.

1600 Penn is fast-paced, quirky entertainment. With a bit of time to develop the characters, it might be more than that.

It is so easy to criticize it. ignoring not only the good intentions but the real virtues. and the basic not bad idea. the critics are, in many cases, result of the serious perspective about politic. or the expectation to meet a sarcastic/ironic serie about the world of White House. but this serie propose just a gallery of ordinary characters in the extraordinary place. and not the humor represents its great virtue but the realistic portrait of a family. with crisis, children, a father not special and a genius son versus a not brilliant another. the humanism did this serie more than nice, almost special.

Get rid of the "Skip" character. Replace him with someone more talented. The rest of the cast is talented. Let them do their jobs. The "Skip" character is so obnoxious, it takes away from any potential this show has. It also takes away from the very capable actors. The focus should be Pullman and Elfman. A president with a trophy wife trying to raise the step kids in the public eye would be enough to carry this show especially with the talent of Pullman and Elfman. The relationship between the step mom and the older daughter would also be an excellent focal point. The relationship between the family and the Presidents assistant could also be a focus. The assistant to the president is played by an excellent actor. He is very talented and entertaining to watch.

I really wanted to like this show because of Bill Pullman. As it turned out, he was the only light in an otherwise dull and murky program. Same old American sit-com with a few special moments (the Cabinet sharing family problems instead of deciding the future of the Nation.) Trivial jokes. Extremely irritating first son. Extremely annoying and ingratiating first lady. You can see the network hacks selecting jokes from a really old joke book then trying to modernize it with some misplaced hip language. It could have been much worse. As it is, 1600 Penn is an out-of-the-box network sit-com with little new to offer. Bottom line, occasionally amusing but over-whelmingly boring. Sorry, Bill. I really wanted to love this one just for you.

Like the rest of you I was expecting more with such a great cast. Jokes were kind of bland and it was a bit chaotic. However, I believe the talent on the program is skilled enough to bring us through plot and character development, I think it's too soon to tell. The writers could probably use a pick me up. We're so use to comparing television shows to great successes of our generation, that we tend to approach new programs with a sense of cynicism.

I believe there's going to be some substance in all this. The Office's first half of their premier season was dumb as well. I think there's hope....willing to keep it on my DVR schedule to see what happens.