I did not start watching the pilot episode of The Paul Reiser Show with an unbiased point of view. I was a big Mad About You fan and always thought he was much funnier than Helen Hunt who wound up winning all those Emmys and Golden Globes instead of Reiser.
And because of my fondness for Reiser, and the many years I spent watching Mad About You, I’m willing to give the awkward and unfunny Paul Reiser Show some latitude. Repeat: Some latitude.
There were elements of the show that I liked, such as the satirizing of the hovering helicopter parents who do their child’s school projects for them and wind up using those projects as a way in which to compete against one another. Given that this week I attended a grade school event where it was clear that some of the science projects were not done by fourth graders but by 30- and 40-year-olds, this particular subject resonated with me … though we never got a chance to see anyone’s kid in this episode, which I found odd.
The whole at-home dad who doesn’t know what occupation to list on the school contact forms because he’s no longer working outside the home and thinks all he does is tell his kid to wear a jacket, that was okay too … could have comic potential.
But the bit about Paul auditioning to be a snarky/good guy game show host (the scene with the agent and Mark Burnett went on way too long), the Larry David/Curb Your Enthusiasm-esque sarcastic repartee, his “dad” friends who have the time in the middle of the workday to just hang out in the studio parking lot … eh … not so much.
Among the sidekick dad friends, Habib was somewhat amusing with his “portable” glue gun filled with super-adhesive foreign glue. I could see him potentially becoming an entertaining character.
Nevertheless, I’m prepared to give this show a few episodes to find its comic legs, not because the pilot was funny — it wasn’t — but because I liked Reiser in Mad About You, and that’s what I think the folks behind the show are banking on. But that nostalgia for Reiser as Paul Buchman won’t keep viewers sticking around for very long if The Paul Reiser Show doesn’t step it up.
Clacked by Meredith O'Brien 
on Apr 15, 2011 @ 12:48 EST5EDT
I didn’t think it was possible to have a show worst that Perfect Couples, guess I was wrong.
The show was horrible, beyond bad.
I recorded it because of Reiser but the clip I saw wasn’t good. I will check out a few episodes.
As it started, I thought, “this is like a dumbed down Curb.” Later on, we see Larry David. It made me think that this the producers way of confirming my thoughts.
The show has potential. It is really hard to judge a comedy based on the pilot. Even the classic sitcoms weren’t good until they were well into their first year. Proof of this can be found in Seinfeld and Friends. Those shows would not have lasted in today’s market.
Larry David was the best part of this episode. Really, this show only made me want more Curb.
I’m still wondering why they went with this one and not the first three episodes. I too was coasting on my fondness for Mad About You and really wanted it to get funnier. Schindler’s List was funnier. And is there a market for a show in 2011 centered on a guy who did so well a decade ago that he doesn’t need to work again? Actually, that part I like better than the typical comeback/down on his luck story.