TV show review: The Singles Table
I just watched a new pilot today for an NBC show called The Singles Table. It’s a comedy revolving around a group of strangers who meet at a wedding because they were all relegated to the table in the back at the reception.
John Cho (from American Pie, Harold and Kumar) is a recent divorcee named Ivan who runs into his ex at the wedding and finds out she has a new boyfriend. Of course, that doesn’t go well. As usual, Cho is hilarious and alone makes the show worth watching.
Also at the table is Eli, the groom’s boss and owner of a small business. He bonds with Ivan and flirts with Georgia, a doctor (also at the table) who feels too busy to date. Stephanie is the other female at the Singles Table. She seems like the second most entertaining character. A serial dater who falls for the wrong guys. Since Ivan starts drinking, hassling his ex-wife and generally making an ass of himself at the wedding, that’s who she’s immediately attracted to.
Rounding out the table is Adam. He’s a rabbi who feels like no one wants to hang around him because he’s a rabbi. He didn’t have much to work with in this episode but I’m pulling for this character because he shares my name and is played by Jarrad Paul, who is a Buffy the Vampire Slayer alum. (He played Marvin who was a part of the group of teens that wanted to be turned into vampires by Spike. It was the first episode where we met Anne, who we saw again in the episode where Buffy runs away to L.A. and later pops up several times in Angel as a friend of Gunn.)
While it’s not a great show, I thought The Singles Table was pretty funny. I think the show could be pretty funny, but we’ll see how it comes out. It’s not due to premiere until January, but I have a friend who works at 20th Century Fox (the studio that produced it) that just told me tonight that a massive reworking of the show was underway. That’s not usually a good sign.
The show has potential so I hope it’s able to be a decent mid-season replacement. I didn’t have a lot of laugh out loud moments where I have to pause of the TiVo or DVD, but it was worth watching. I’d put it on my second-string list of shows. I’ll give it a 4.
The Singles Table: due in January on NBC
