Review: A to Z (Premieres Tonight on NBC)

As if Thursday night television wasn’t crowded enough, NBC premieres two new sitcoms, Bad Judge and A to Z, tonight within the 9PM hour.

One isn’t that great while the other is delightful. Here, I choose to spotlight the delightful one.

As I’ve mentioned in some of my previous pieces about the show, A to Z is a romantic kind of show on the outside, but it’s a fun ensemble underneath. A lot of that weight is carried by the series’ two leads, Ben Feldman (Mad Men, Drop Dead Diva) and Cristin Milioti (How I Met Your Mother), who, in interviews, have that right kind of chemistry that also translates to the screen. As Andrew, Feldman plays a guy with a sensitive side (I mean, he listens to Celine Dion and believes in star-crossed romance) opposite Miloti’s very guarded Zelda.

There are pop culture references sprinkled throughout that I, as a viewer, really gravitated toward. I mean, there is a whole subplot about Back To The Future Part II’s hoverboards, which, again, Andrew has that romantic notion that they’re real, because that’s the kind of guy he is. Also, keep an eye on where Zelda lives – her apartment building’s exterior was used for the later episodes of a very popular Garry Marshall-produced sitcom starring one of his relatives.

If there is anything at all to dislike about A to Z – beyond the timeslot, which should be killer as Scandal keeps growing – it is that the opening structure and narration – “following a relationship from A to Z” – makes you feel like a concept like this could go 26 episodes, at the most. I don’t like this notion, because these are characters I’d enjoy watching a lot more.

A to Z premieres at 9:30PM TONIGHT (October 1) on NBC.