"Kung Fu" (the CW)
It's a martial arts story with plenty of action, dark and light-hearted plotting, upbeat tones and ideals, engaging characters, gritty exposition, cohesive editing, gorgeous cinematography and a very talented cast of Asian-American actors who stand out in their individual scenes, thus, making this "Kung Fu" update well worth the attention it generates week after week with its fast-paced, involving scenarios, story boards and well-positioned, choreographed fight scenes.
As a weekly series, it is exhilarating. It is fun. It fully understands the martial arts arena and its artistic form. It has depth and purpose. It tells its stories with just the right amount of spiritual adventure and involvement. It is clever. It intrigues. It surprises. And better yet, it is never repetitive.
Taking its cue from the original 1972 series that starred David Carradine, the CW version of "King Fu" casts the charismatic Olivia Liang as the show's star and moves the story from the Old West to modern day San Francisco using plotlines that focus primarily on family, community, traditions, romance, revenge, organized crime, gangland warfare and high voltage martial arts sequences. It all works especially well.
What keeps this "Kung Fu" afloat is its uncanny ability to move effortlessly from scene to scene without getting bogged down or preoccupied with the mystical aura of martial arts or steady, well-placed action moments, which serve their intended purpose but without overkill. Here, there's an even mix of real story and Chinese American traditions, framed by important dialogue, well-drawn sub plotting, characterizations, mood music, atmospheric detailing, pathos and humor and great reaction shots of the entire cast. Surprisingly, nothing gets lost in the translation or various story arcs, all nicely implemented by the writers. Better yet, every episode is completely different from the last one.
"Kung Fu" stars Olivia Liang as Nicky Shen, Shannon Dang as Althea Shen, Jon Prasida as Ryan Shen, Eddie Liu as Henry Yan, Gavin Stenhouse as Evan Hartley, Vanessa Kai as Pei-Ling Zhang, Tony Chung as Dennis Soong, Kheng Hua Tan as Mei-Li Shen, Tzi Ma as Jin Shen and Yvonne Chapman as Zhilan Zhang.
In the lead role of Nicky, Liang brings depth and purpose to the show's connecting stories, its spiritual nature, its moody romantics and its martial arts escapism. As an actress, she is also given the opportunity to create a likeable, driven character of quiet beauty, impassioned firepower and conventional wisdom. Dang plays her materialistic obsessive sister role of Althea with a light, witty and plucky optimism that is both funny and irresistibly relatable. As Henry (the love interest of Nicky), Liu projects the image of a handsome and charming leading man but without the cliches and stereotypical mindset associated with this type of role. Kai, the actress who plays Nicky's mentor Pei-Ling, delivers a stellar performance of compassion, strength and emotion that is exactly right for her characterization of a Chinese shifu and a compassionate ghost. Chapman is both evil and cryptic as Pei-Ling's sister, a martial arts villainess anxious to put Nicky completely out of commission and unlock the powers of the eight sacred weapons.
"Kung Fu" is a welcome addition to the CW network. It is timely, passionate, functional, mythical and intriguing. The writers are respective of the martial arts genre, the Asian-American characters, the story arcs, the show's setting and premise and the ongoing, creativity of every episode within the context of the updated main story and its evolution.
"Kung Fu" airs Wednesdays on the CW from 8:00 to 9:00 p.m.
"United States of Al" (CBS)
It's not in the big leagues like "The Big Bang Theory" and "Young Sheldon" but Chuck Lorre's new CBS comedy "United States of Al" exhibits potential and drive while trying to work out its comic niche in a sitcom world where jokes misfire, laughs are fleeting and the title character of Al lacks the sheer enthusiasm and humanization necessary for this mid-season comic fest to fly and earn its wings.
It has its moments, though. For example, when the jokes are good....real good...laughing out loud comes relatively easy for its home audience. But when things fall flat, you can't help but groan or wish you tuned into the latest episode of "Young Sheldon" instead or watched back-to-back reruns of the far superior "The Big Bang Theory."
Regardless, "United States of Al" works especially hard to generate laughter, win you over and force you to sit still and watch episode after episode without ever reaching for your remote to change the channel or tuning out completely to plan tomorrow's lunch and dinner menu or your weekly grocery list.
The series (good intentions abound) charts the renewed friendship between Riley (Parker Young), an ex-Marine and Awalmir (Adhir Kalyan), the unit's Afghan interpreter who arrives in the U.S. from Afghanistan to begin a new life while living in close quarters with his best friend and his bestie's wife (Kelli Gross), daughter (Farrah Mackenzie), sister (Elizabeth Alderfer) and dad (Dean Norris).
Much of the humor in this half-hour comedy comes from Awalmir's odd-couple like adjustment to life in suburban Ohio (the show's setting), his relationship to Riley, his confusion over American culture and ideals, his lack of understanding parts the English language, his dalliances with the opposite sex and his quirky discovery of lifestyles and situations that were considered taboo in Afghanistan. Some of it is funny. Some of it is desperate. And some of it is pretty lame and pointless. It's your call.
When the show works (it all depends on which episode you are watching), "United States of Al" makes great use of its unexpected charm, its knockabout craziness, its elevated mayhem, its pumped up landscape, it misunderstood cultural references and its zesty optimism. It also displays enough potential to make you forgive its shortcomings especially when the material isn't quite up to par. Regardless, you watch hoping things get better. Three or four episodes in, they actually do.
Adhir Kalyan, cast in the role of Al, works hard to make sense out of his characterization, the show's cockeyed humor, its beats, rhythms and subplots and his interaction with his newfound family and friends in America. Acting wise, he's completely charming, personable and fun to watch. The episode where Al struggles to get his driver's license but is quickly distracted by women in bikini tops, short-shorts and exposed cleavage is the actor's best work to date. But at the same time, he's only as good as the material allows. As Riley, Parker Young, best remembered for roles on "Enlisted," "Imposters," "Arrow" and "Suburgatory" is handsome, sexy and very much eye candy for the women who tune in with or without their husbands, partners or gay friends. The role itself is one the actor plays with style, ease, conviction and comic verve. It's also tailor-made for Young who adapts the persona of an ex-Marine most engagingly. He and Kalyan work especially well together. They have great, great chemistry.
Is "United States of Al" worth watching? The answer is yes. Its intentions are good. Its got a great time slot (it follows "Young Sheldon" on Thursday nights). The ratings are high. And the cast is uniformly good for this particular type of sitcom. All the show needs is a shot of adrenaline and a writing team who needs to get off their ass and create a more heavy-handed kind of comedy with more creative input and energy and less stereotyping and jokey humor about Muslims, Afghanistan, combat, immigrants and minorities.
"United States of Al" airs Thursdays on CBS from 8:30 to 9:00 p.m.
"Home Economics" (ABC)
Topher Grace, long absent from primetime once "That '70's Show" concluded its eight-season run back in 2006, returns to sit-com television in ABC's "Home Economics," a good-natured, goofball comedy series trying desperately to make a dent in the ratings while going for laughs that sometimes misfire or jokes that are insanely funny amidst the show's welcome, laidback silliness.
But does the show work? Possibly.
Is it worth watching week after week? Yes and no.
Can it overcome its comic pitfalls? That depends mainly on the writers' ability to recognize the show's real potential, its zany, twisty perspective and its alternating seriocomic instincts.
Three episodes in, "Home Economics" is still watchable in its infancy, but still waiting for that break though "big moment" that may or may not come.
Created by Michael Colton and John Aboud, "Home Economics" casts Grace as Tom Hayworth, a up-and-coming novelist whose last book flopped and is very low on cash. Nonetheless, he is still hoping to break that spell with a second book about his crazy family that includes his sister Sarah (Caitlin McKee), a lesbian therapist trying to make ends meet for wife Denise (Sasheer Zamata) and Connor (Jimmy Tatro), a likeable but egotistical brother who flaunts his wealth daily while reminding everyone that he now resides in actor Matt Damon's former digs. The siblings, of course, are the show's central focus and the brunt of one liners and comic mishaps we've seen time and time before. But they are never dull. And neither are Denise or Tom's wife Marina (Karla Souza).
The funniest of the five main characters, however, is Connor, who, as played by Tatro gets the best dialogue, the most screen time, the best sibling role and the best jokes and one-liners that the actor invests with the right charm and dazzle that makes his performance flawless and the ideal comic centerpiece for "Home Economics." Grace, a master at deadpan and comic execution, exhibits the right chemistry and balance, but the character of Tom needs some laugh-a-minute potency from the writers to fully make his mark.
McKee, Souza and Zamata, in turn, are cheery, refreshing and gleeful, but their characters are also in need of some fine tuning by the show's writing team. Regardless, all five performers work particularly well with one another. They are also very right for the roles they are asked to portray.
In a lot of ways, "Home Economics" sort of works. Going forward, it needs to find its footing, its beats and rhythms, its comic pedigree, its atmospheric surface and finally, a checklist of amusing banter and dialogue that would make it well worth the visit week after week.
"Home Economics" airs Wednesdays on ABC from 8:30 to 9:00 p.m.
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