Ground Floor filled with cheap laughs

TBS’ new workplace sitcom Ground Floor premieres Thursday. The show — created by Bill Lawrence (Cougar Town, Scrubs) and Greg Malins (2 Broke Girls, How I Met Your Mother) — centers on Brody (Pitch Perfect’s Skylar Astin), a 20-something San Francisco banker at Remington Trust who aspires to master the corporate world like his boss, Mr. Mansfield, played by John C. McGinley. Brody’s plans for world domination are thrown for a loop after a one-night stand with “ground floor chick” Jenny (Cougar Town’s Briga Heelan), a building maintenance worker who — like many of her ground floor co-workers — received only a modest education and pay.

So what’s not to love? The premise is promising but it remains to be seen whether the show can really capitalize on its young talent and whether the two central characters can go for more than just the easy laughs. Unfortunately, Astin doesn’t embody the effortless charm that his character so desperately needs.

The show does manage to steer away from the typical rom-com mold with beta male humor that is somewhat reminiscent of Ted Mosby from How I Met Your Mother and J.D. from Scrubs. Jenny is all for the casual sex while Brody has to trick her into going on a real date, and Brody shows his sensitive side before his serious one. Thankfully Ground Floor stays away from the hackneyed raunchy jokes that have become a staple of modern comedy, but the show’s attempt at subtle humor doesn’t always hit its mark.

Viewers learn how unfulfilling corporate life can be when Brody walks in late to his own birthday dinner — because he was at work, of course — to find his colleagues celebrating, taking little notice of the fact that he’s not even there. On the upside, Astin does break out his singing voice toward the end of the pilot with some quality Elton John. And even though Jenny seems content with her life, the show suggests both she and Brody could learn from one another. Office dance parties are fun, but what happens when the music gets turned off?

The supporting cast members, namely Jenny’s quirky ground floor co-workers, provide some interesting workplace comic relief. They call the tech guy — who himself has a creepy obsession with Jenny — “Harvard” because he went to a very prestigious community college. The show does a decent job portraying the ground floor workers in a way that makes them comparable in intelligence to the suit-wearing and grossly overworked bankers. The jokes grow funnier as the show goes on and we learn Brody wakes up at 4:30 a.m. to start “jugging” his hair. The show provides decent character development for Brody but he seems to waver between wanting a personal life and a professional life and his indecision makes him difficult to relate to.

The real comedic potential, though, seems to be the relationship between Brody and Mansfield. McGinley’s character contains pieces of his Scrubs character, everyone’s favorite mean man, Dr. Cox. Mansfield, however, is much quicker to show his sentimental side.

Though Astin is a decent lead and Heelan holds up her end of the bargain, McGinley is the real scene-stealer. He’s tough but honest and just a little overly involved in his employees’ personal lives. A touching moment occurs when he points out that he worked his butt off when he was younger and since then, never missed his daughter’s volleyball game. Sure, Mansfield has his flaws — but he’s the most fun to watch.

The show has potential. Some of the jokes — particularly those of a sexual nature — are a little overdone, such as when Brody shouts “Yahtzee!” when he’s sexually aroused.

On a network like TBS, Ground Floor isn’t likely to be a mainstream hit or grow a huge fan base like Scrubs, but it’s still worth tuning into and packs enough of a punch to survive for a few seasons at least. It’s modest but well-written, and though it’s not an all-star cast, there is some obvious talent in Astin, Heelan and McGinley.

The show will air two back-to-back episodes tonight. TBS has scheduled a 10-episode run with the season finale slated for Jan. 16.

 

Follow Kate on Twitter @km_guarino