Last night, Fox welcomed a new show to its Tuesday night line up as "Weird Loners" took to the small screen for the first time.
As far as pilot episodes go, "Weird Loners" did a good enough job pulling in viewers, but only to a certain extent. It was mildly comical, but it felt like a show we’ve seen many times before, a group of 30-something-year-olds in New York trying to navigate through the woes of life and love. First there were the six "Friends," then a group of five in "How I Met Your Mother," now there are the four diverse "Weird Loners."
The pilot opens up with brief introductions of each of the main characters in which they undergo an incident that will lead them to the other three.
The first to come on camera is Caryn Goldfarb, played by Becki Newton or Barney’s temporary fiancée, Quinn, from "How I Met Your Mother," if you need a refresher. Caryn is desperately seeking a husband, or at least a serious relationship, as she believes her clock is ticking fast. Her desperation slips through each one of her endeavors, making for interesting situations.
Of course, they then threw in the exceedingly attractive ladies' man, because what is a sitcom without one? Stosh Lewandoski, portrayed by Zachary Knighton, recently lost his job, and his company-funded apartment, for having inappropriate relations with his coworker’s fiancée.
Next come the final two characters, artist Zara Sandhu and Eric Lewandoski, Stosh's cousin. Zara just left her boyfriend, and nerdy tollbooth attendant Eric recently lost his father, leaving all four characters at a crossroads.
When Stosh loses his apartment, he goes to live with Eric, who just happens to live right next door to Caryn. On a day out and about, Eric meets Zara and buys one of her paintings, which she agrees to deliver. Zara stays for a while in Eric’s home afterward, bringing all four characters to the same setting seamlessly.
The only reason I was left with any intrigue at the end of the episode was the evident direction that Caryn and Stosh will be some sort of romantic escapade.
As Caryn is cooking dinner for her recent fiancé, who in all actuality she has zero feelings toward but agrees to marry for stability, Stosh, hearing her smoke alarm sound, comes to her rescue.
He saves her from her cooking woes and comes onto her quickly … a little too quickly if you ask me, but alas, Caryn breaks off her engagement because of the passion of a complete stranger. How convenient.
Soon, all four characters end up crashing a wedding, where drunken Zara and Caryn agree to live together, thus bringing all four friends in very close quarters, just like when Joey and Chandler were right across the hall.
Although the sitcom seems mildly intriguing, it doesn’t seem like it will excel. According to TV Line, the pilot earned just 1.9 million viewers, which one might assume is credited to the fact that it came on right after "New Girl."
Despite the less than groundbreaking storyline, the actors did play off of each other fairly well, which is the most crucial element to a sitcom of this nature. Because of this, "Weird Loners" did pull me in enough to tune in next week, as some glimmer of potential shines through the expected storyline.
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