First Impressions: Fall TV Pilots 2016- CBS Comedies

Fall TV Pilots 2016 (CBS- Comedies)

Which comedy series will CBS pick up? I'll dissect which shows I'm looking forward too and which shows will be successful based on first impressions. 
For the full list of Fall TV Pilots 2016, check out EW's article.

Kevin Can Wait

I've loved Kevin James ever since his underrated sitcom The King Of Queens and I can't wait to see him back in a starring role on TV. "Kevin James plays a newly retired police officer looking forward to spending more quality time with his wife and their three children". This concept has a ton of promise and if it's funny could be the breakout comedy of the season. I just hope that it stays away from the potty jokes that I loathe. I also love that Gary Valentine (Kevin James's real life brother and Danny from The King of Queens) will also be in the series.
Will It Be Picked Up? It's already been picked up!
Will It Be Successful? Yes, Kevin James is comedy gold.

The Great Indoors

For me (being a millennial), I think this could be a fantastic series if it's done right and avoids all those stereotypes people like to give us (like that we are lazy, or that we have a "sense of entitlement"). With Joe McHale leading this series I think it has definite promise. And unlike a lot of new series this days, I LOVE this fitting title being that Joe McHale's character is "an adventure reporter who must adapt to the times when he becomes the boss to a group of millennials". He likes the outdoors and the older generation are convinced that we "never go outside" so if the series is half as brilliant as the title, it's a done deal.
Will It Be Picked Up? Yes as I think this show will appear to the millennials as well as the older generations.
Will It Be Successful? I sure hope so.
Was My Guess Correct? Yes, this series was picked up.

Man With A Plan

There's both an upside and a downside to having two well know TV actors play in the lead roles. The upside is that they will draw in the fans that watched their previous work. Matt LeBlanc is known for playing Joey from Friends and Jenna Fischer is known for playing Pam from The Office. So if you're like me and a fan of both of these actors, you're going to tune in. The downside is that the fans tuning in remember their previous characters Joey and Pam, so if they if they feel to different some viewers might be turned off. Also if Matt LeBlanc and Jenna Fischer can make their on-screen husband/wife chemistry feel authentic, I think this series could turn out great. But if they can't make it work together, it will be doomed before it even begins.
Will It Be Picked Up? Yes, CBS will place their bet on this series with two big TV names.
Will It Be Successful? Only time will tell.
Was My Guess Correct? Yes, this series was picked up and given a title change from I'm Not Your Friend to Man With A Plan.

Superior Donuts

Amazingly, I loved NBC's series Superstore and I hope this series is similar. It's a plus that this series is based on a play and it follows "the relationship between the owner of a donut shop, his new young employees and their patrons in a gentrifying neighbourhood of Chicago" which is a solid concept. Between the owner, the workers and the patrons, this series could have an unlimited amount of stories and characters. As long as this show is funny, viewers will keep coming back for more.
Will It Be Picked Up? I hope so because the concept is solid and could give enough storyline for years to come.
Will It Be Successful? Again, I hope so.

Furst Born

My favorite thing about this potential series is Katey Sagal. My least favorite thing is everything else. I could completely understand a series about "a wife and mother who learns she was adopted" and I think it could have been a pretty good concept until "she learns that her birth parents are a flamboyant but loving family of drag car racers". The second sentence just makes me roll my eyes at a cheesy concept.
Will It Be Picked Up? Possibly
Will It Be Successful? Possibly but based on the concept it might come across more silly than funny.

What Goes Around Comes Around

NBC is currently airing a sitcom that is pretty much features the same concept of "parents who were wild and reckless teenagers" now "raising three teenagers of their own". If you change teenagers to young adults, you have the NBC series titled Crowded starring Patrick Warburton and Carrie Preston. This new series What Goes Around Comes Around features Jason Lee and Alyssa Milano but in order for this series to be successful, it's really going to have to raise the bar in the humor department or else it will just fade into the background.
Will It Be Picked Up? Possibly
Will It Be Successful? Possibly but it really depends on how funny it is.
Was My Guess Correct? No, this series wasn't picked up but that's probably for the best.

The Kicker

It was sucky that Geoff Stults previous TV series Enlisted didn't work out because I enjoyed that series. When I read the concept for this series that "an oddball athlete drives his family, friends and strangers insane after he unexpectedly finds himself cut from his professional football team" , the first thing that came to mind was "and...?" It just doesn't seem like a lot of premise for a series to be based on. On the other hand, I think they perfectly cast Geoff Stults as the oddball athlete and I'm excited to see how David Spade (Rules of Engagement but also Just Shoot Me) and Joanna Garcia Swisher (Reba) play into this series.
Will It Be Picked Up? I'm going to say possibly but only because it's co-executive produced by Tina Fey.
Will it Be Successful? I don't think so because this concept has been done time and time again and it would be hard to make an old concept fresh again.
Was My Guess Correct? No, this series didn't get picked up.

My Time/Your Time

Aside from the fact that the title is terrible, I think this series has promise but not on CBS. Jane Levy is fantastic and back on the TV screen after Suburgatory while her onscreen love interest Nicholas Braun is slightly more of an unknown. This series is "based on the web series 7P/10E" which already cultivated a small following but I feel like CBS is the wrong network choice for this series. NBC ran a "love story" series titled A to Z and ABC ran one titled Manhattan Love Story, both which failed within their first seasons. The "followers" for this series would more likely tune into other networks like CW or Freeform before CBS.
Will It Be Picked Up? Doubtful
Will It Be Successful? No. It will be cancelled within the first year if it gets picked up. I do believe it's fate would be completely different on a more suited network.
Was My Guess Correct? Yes, this series wasn't picked up.

Real Good People

The concept that a "small-town family is forced to reconcile their family values when they discover that their children's lives are less than perfect" honestly, this just sounds kind of boring. This is a comedy so the more unperfect their lives are, the more viewer laughs you will get because who wants to watch a family more perfect than their own?
Will It Be Picked Up? Doubtful
Will It Be Successful? Very doubtful based on the snoozefest of a concept
Was My Guess Correct? Yes, this series wasn't picked up.

Check back for more of my thoughts on the Fall TV Pilots for 2016 and follow me on Twitter @popculturedlife