Premiere Date: Wednesday, October 12, 2005 (Warner Bros. Television)
Network: ABC
Time: Wednesdays at 8:30 p.m.
Cast: Starring Freddie Prinze, Jr, Jacqueline
Obradors, Brian Austin Green, Mädchen Amick, Jenny
Gago and Chloe Suazo.
Introduction:
Movie star Freddie Prinze, Jr. is coming to television
for the first time! Following in his late father’s
footsteps, he will star in his own sitcom. It comes
from the creators of George Lopez and The Drew Carey
Show. Freddie is now a chef living in his own
bachelor pad in Chicago after living all of his life
with women family members. But now that will all
change once something happens. Well, two things—the
death of his older brother and the divorce of his
sister.
“Freddie” is inspired by Freddie Prinze Jr.’s real
life, growing up in a house filled with women (his
mother and Puerto Rican grandmother). His life-long
friend, Conrad Jackson, co-created this series with
Prinze, along with executive producers Bruce Helford
and Bruce Rasmussen. The friendship between Freddie
and Chris in the show is loosely based on their lives.
Prinze stars in the new sitcom, which he has
co-created and will write, and for which he will also
assume a role as the youngest executive producer in
ABC’s history.
Cast Details:
“Freddie” stars Freddie Prinze, Jr. as Freddie Moreno,
Jacqueline Obradors as Sofia, Brian Austin Green as
Chris, Mädchen Amick as Allison, Jenny Gago as Grandma
and Chloe Suazo as Zoey. Mircea Monroe guest stars
as Freddie’s date.
Freddie Moreno (Prinze) had finally escaped from the
raucous house of women with whom he grew up. Having
achieved some success as head chef at a trendy Chicago
restaurant, he’s ready for love and everything else
that single life has to offer, including hanging out
with his best friend and neighbor, Chris (Brian Green,
“Beverly Hills 90210”). Unfortunately, there’s one
slight hitch: After the death of his older brother and
the collapse of his sister’s (Jacqueline Obradors,
“NYPD Blue”) marriage, goodhearted Freddie took in his
impulsive sister-in-law (Mädchen Amick), his pragmatic
sister with her 13-year-old daughter (Chloe Suazo,
“The Comeback”) and their irascible grandma (Jenny
Gago, “Coach Carter”), who refuses to speak English
and only responds in Spanish -- even though she
understands every word. But while the members of this
unconventional brood may test Freddie’s patience
endlessly, they also support and take care of one
another, just as they always have. Now all Freddie has
to do is figure out how to maintain his thriving
bachelor lifestyle in a house overflowing with
estrogen.
Plot:
The start of this show was delayed. It was originally set to premiere
on October 5th, but was pushed back because of a repeat of the "Lost" season
premiere which moved back George Lopez's premiere. The "Pilot" episode is actually
airing as the second episode of the series. The episode which was originally
scheduled as the second episode is now airing as the premiere.
Rich Man, Poor Girl (airing 10/12/05) - Freddie and Chris go to the laundromat
to meet girls after a series of unsuccessful dates. At the laundromat, Freddie meets Gina, who wenmt
to Roosevelet High with him, and Chris meets Krystal who wears a "Psycho
Chick" t-shirt. Freddie takes Gina to meet his family after their date. Guest stars in
this episode include: Retta as Joan, Marisa Petroro as Trish,
Ana Ortiz as Gina, April Bowlby as Sydney, and Charles Fleischer as Adam.
Pilot (airing 10/19/05) - The pilot centers on the ladies of the family moving
in to Freddie’s apartment. Freddie has a date and
brings her in and bang the family is there waiting for
him--poor Freddie. Everything else that happens I
mentioned above in the cast section. Nothing else
really much happens.
Analysis:
Todd on both episodes: This show seems like a work in progress.
Freddie Prinze, Jr. is a talented actor, but I wonder if he is taking
on too much work by writing for the show also and if he will be able
to keep up with the schedule of shooting a sitcom. I'm not sure why
they switched the order of the episodes around. I would say the episodes were
about the same and neither of them particularly stood out, but the
episode they are airing first was a bit funnier. The grandma speaking in Spanish
is funny in small doses. Freddie Prinze, Jr. got his start on a sitcom: Family Matters. It
may take him some time to totally gain his comedy footing like his father.
Pavan on the Pilot: I didn’t find many laughs in this. It has potential,
but the pilot was weak. I liked the grandma speaking
Spanish (don’t worry subtitles are given), she does
speak English but responds in Spanish. The 13 year old
niece and Freddie have an interesting talk, but it is
nothing groundbreaking in sitcoms now. I think
Freddie’s best friend likes his sister.
Conclusion:
Pavan: I thought the pilot was sort of weak. Hopefully the
show builds on this because it wasn’t all that great
to me. I hope what I saw is not the final cut. It is
no where near as funny as George Lopez, which will be its
lead in. George and Freddie could be key to ABC since
the 8 p.m. hour is wide open. I doubt The Apprentice:
Martha Stewart version will make a big dent to the
hour. The Latino audience for this night should be
huge. George, Freddie and then they can catch Jorge
Garcia on Lost. I’m confident this show will become
better as it goes along. If not, goodbye Freddie!
Even George’s viewers won’t tune in if the show
doesn’t get better. My suggestion is to tune in for
the first few episodes, as one episode does not mean
much. The pilot is not all that great, but hopefully
the rest of the series will be. I’ve seen five ABC
sitcom pilots (Freddie, Hot Properties, Crumbs,
Emily’s Reasons Why Not and Sons & Daughters) and this
one was my fourth favorite, only behind Sons &
Daughters (and I don’t like that type of sitcoms).
Look for our reviews of Crumbs, Emily’s Reasons… and
Sons & Daughters closer to airdate this mid-season
2006. ‘Crumbs’ is a hoot! Back to Freddie, give it a
chance by watching a few episodes.
Todd: The cast of this show is good and seems to have
good chemistry, but I really think they need to improve on the
writing. It needs to be faster paced and have more, funnier jokes. I'm sure it will
be able to retain a lot of George Lopez's audience atleast at the start, but the
show still needs some fine tuning if it wants to stay around for a full season.
Freddie Prinze, Jr. has a big cult following, but this show will need to bring
in more people who have never heard of him as regular viewers. He has a lot of the charisma
and comedic timing that his father had.
Final Numbers (out of 5 stars):
Watchability: 3.5/5
Funniness: 3.5/5
Overall: 3/5
-- Reviewed by pavanbadal on 09/11/2005 and Todd Fuller on 10/10/2005.
