First Impressions: Fall TV Pilots 2016- NBC Comedies

Fall TV Pilots 2016 (NBC- Comedies)

Which comedy series will NBC 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.

A Bronx Life

This series follows Vlad "the son of a Dominican immigrant who wants to carve his own path in life, which proves difficult as his father has no desire to change their extremely co-dependent relationship". This series sounds like many other ones including two other pilots on this NBC list (Grand Junction and Sebastian). It doesn't stand out enough for me to even be interested in it.
Will This Series Be Picked Up? Doubful as there are three similar shows on this list.
Will It Be Successful? 50/50 as it depends on how funny it is and how well it's written.
Was My Guess Correct? Yes, this series was not picked up.

Dumb Prince

First things first, this title is awful and needs to be changed. This series follows "black sheep Karl" who "after years of partying returns home to compete with his brother for the family throne". Although this series will be co-executive produced by Amy Poehler, it's sounds kind of terrible and boring.
Will This Series Be Picked Up? Doubtful
Will It Be Successful? Doubtful
Was My Guess Correct? Yes, this series was not picked up.

The Good Place

My favorite thing about this comedy series is Kristen Bell who I've been obsessed with since her TV series Veronica Mars. This series centers on "a woman from New Jersey who comes to realize that she hasn't been a very good person" and "she decides to turn over a new leaf by learning what it actually means to be "good" or "bad" and then trying to make up for her past behaviour". As Bell currently stars in Showtime's series House Of Lies, I'm just not sure this series will be better than that one but if anyone can bring greatness to this leading role, it's Kristen Bell.
Will This Series Be Picked Up? Yes, this series has been picked up.
Will It Be Successful? I hope so but it's too early to tell.

Good Fortune

This comedy series focuses on "a hyper-structured young woman whose life is upended when she starts taking advice from a mysterious fortune teller". I'm really not to sure about this series because CBS just recently failed with their Jane Lynch comedy Angel From Hell with a similar premise of the angel giving advice. I think a different network like Freeform or Netflix would be much better suited for this series than NBC.
Will It Be Picked Up? 50/50
Will It Be Successful? Doubtful as NBC is the wrong network for this series.
Was My Guess Correct? 50/50 as this series was not picked up.

Grand Junction

This series is "loosely based on Matt Hubbard's life, the comedy tells the story about a guy learning to manage the expectations and strong cultural traditions of his in-laws after he moves his family to his wife's hometown." I have no idea who Matt Hubbard is so the fact that it's loosely based on his life means nothing to me. I think this could be an okay comedy which sounds kind of like ABC's series Fresh Off The Boat, except they move from their hometown to a city. I think this series will really depend on how funny it is considering most cultural shows tend to make a lot of cultural jokes and it might be hard for the average viewer to get them. Plus I'm not too keen on the title as it reminds me of Petticoat Juntion, which I would prefer to watch over this.
Will This Series Be Picked Up? Possibly as NBC's probably hoping it will be like Fresh Off The Boat. 
Will This Series Be Successful? 50/50 as it completely depends on how funny it is and how much of the humor is based on cultural jokes.
Was My Guess Correct? No, this series was not picked up.

Great News

I am super excited for this series which focuses on "an already inseparable mother/daughter relationship becomes more complicated when mom accepts an internship at her daughter's workplace" for several reasons:
1) I am completely in love with the lead daughter Briga Heelan (Ground Floor)
2) There are not enough good mother/daughter relationships out there. I hope this series is able to mix the styles of Rory and Lorelai from Gilmore Girls and Christy and Bonnie's from Mom.
3) This concept is actually pretty believable as the economy right now is terrible and when it comes to jobs, you really have to take what you can get.

This is one of the comedy series's that I am most excited about for fall.
Will This Series Be Picked Up? It damn well better be!
Will This Series Be Successful? I think it could be.
Was My Guess Correct? Yes, this series was picked up.

Imaginary Friend

This series revolves around "an intelligent yet unmotived woman who discovers a special and unexpected way of dealing with her mediocre life" sounds super similar to ABC's currently untitled Adam Goldberg project about an imaginary friend. It's interesting because every year something different becomes mainstream. One year it was witches, then vampires, than the devil and apparently this year will be imaginary friends. I don't even think Sean Hayes as a co-exective producer will be funnier than Adam Goldberg (who already has a hit comedy on ABC titled The Goldbergs).
Will This Series Be Picked Up? I can't imagine so
Will This Series Be Successful? No as most viewers aren't willing to watch to different shows on two different networks with pretty much the same premise.
Was My Guess Correct? Yes, this series wasn't picked up.

Marlon

This series is "loosely inspired by Marlon Wayan's life, this mulit-camera comedy centers on an inappropriate but loving father who is committed to successfully co-parenting with his polar-opposite ex-wife". Well Damon Wayan's had an ABC series titled My Wife and Kids so it makes sense for his brother to follow along in his footsteps. Though it would have been hilarious to have titled this series My Ex-Wife and Kids, I think this series could do all right as long as the comedy style isn't too over the top.
Will It Be Picked Up? Probably
Will It Be Successful? 50/50 as it really depends on how over the top or toned down the comedy style is.
Was My Guess Correct? Yes, this series was picked up.

Me & Mean Margaret

Although I'm super excited to see this series feature Stockard Channing, the premise is an "unlikely-buddy comedy that follows a fiercely candid and often offensive legendary actress and the ambitious 27 year-old lawyer forced to babysit her". The NBC network will not be able to deliver the "fiercely candid" and "offensive" character that this premise would suggest. Maybe this show would succeed on a network (like Netflix) which is able to push the boundaries. I also think that this series might need a title change as when I read it, I think of Margaret from the Dennis The Menace series who was annoying and always trying to get him to play house.
Will This Series Be Picked Up? I'm leaning toward no but Stockard Channing is a pretty big name.
Will It Be Successful? 50/50
Was My Guess Correct? Yes, as this series wasn't picked up.

Powerless

This series "set in the DC comics universe full of superheroes, villains and people just like us, Powerless is an office comedy about the exceedingly average employees at an insurance company and their quest to find their own power". I'm so over any and all type of superhero series as the market is currently flooded with them. Although this one says its "set in the DC comic universe" I don't actually know if these employees will have any actual powers. So if they don't have any extraordinary powers and they are just average employees who live in a world with other superheroes and end up finding their true power comes from within, then I'm okay with it. However, if they start out as regular employees and gain superpowers (like Heroes), I'm out.
Will This Series Be Picked Up? Probably with the cast listing both Vanessa Hudgens and Alan Tudyk
Will It Be Successful? Hard to say as people (besides myself) are obsessed with superheroes but might be less interested if they don't actually have any real powers.
Was My Guess Correct? Yes, this series was picked up.

Sebastian

As excited as I am to see Tony Danza's name associated with this series I'm also skeptial as it follows "Sebastian's old school values, instilled by his opinionated Italian father, are constantly put to the test by his new wife, her family and the absurdities of the modern world". This is another cultural series that could go the way of Black-ish or Fresh Off The Boat or ABC's recent cancellation of Cristela.
Will This Series Be Picked Up? 50/50
Will It Be Successful? Much like my opinion of Grand Junction, the success of this series will depend on the humor and how much is based on cultural jokes.
Was My Guess Correct? 50/50 as this series wasn't picked up.

Sunset PPL

This series follows "a group of millennial friends who struggle with their made-up rules for personal and professional success". NBC is not the right network for this series and it would do much better on Netflix or Freeform who are more often frequented by millennial viewers.
Will This Series Be Picked Up? Doubful
Will It Be Successful? No, it will be an epic fail on NBC
Was My Guess Correct? Yes, this series wasn't picked up.

Time Crunch

This "hybrid game show/comedy intercuts between a real game show and the scripted workplace that centers on an up-and-coming producer trying to wrangle the volatile host". Wait, WHAT?! This has got to be one of the strangest concepts that I have ever heard of for a TV series. In no way, shape or form does this sound like a good idea with real game show cutting into a scripted workplace series. It's seriously the most absurd thing I've ever heard. I'm at a loss for words so I will just sit here and bang my head against the table.
Will This Series Be Picked Up? Bloody well hope not
Will It Be Successful? I honestly can't see how mixing a real life game show into a scripted workplace series would work!
Was My Guess Correct? Yes, this series (which changed it's title from Time Crunch to Crunch Time) was not picked up. Thank God!

The Trial

This "serialized comedy following a young big-city lawyer and his oddball defence team during a high profile murder trial in a small southern town" sounds like snoozeville to me. As excited as I am to see John Lithgow's name attached to this project I have to ask, how many lawyers shows do we need on TV?
Will It be Picked Up? 50/50 as lawyer shows are popular but there is already a number of them on TV.
Will It Be Successful? I'm going to say no.
Was My Guess Correct? 50/50 as this series was picked up.

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