Unremarkable and Not Memorable

rhearob

I was initially excited to see this show. I even set my DVR for it. I was excited by the promised "realness" of the series.

First, the format. 30 minutes is WAY too short an episode length for a story of this pace. These are characters you need time to get to know and develop an interest in. The first episode should have been a double episode if you are going to keep it at 30 minutes.

Second - this isn't a comedy. At its best it is a dramedy. Is angst-edy a word? If not this show should trademark it. Thats what this show really seems to be, an executive summary of gay angst. I didn't expect it to be Big Bang Theory or Will & Grace. I didn't expect it to be boring and barely make me crack a smile either.

Jonathon Groff oozes a boyish charm off the screen almost effortlessly. It makes you want to know more about his character, like a fleeting eye contact with someone you find interesting. Unfortunaltely at the end of the episode I didn't even remember his characters name until I came here.

Dom I found interesting by reference. He reminded me very much of Michael Tolliver from Tales of the City. He seemed like where Michael may have been if I didn't have all of those other Tales of the City books to already complete Michaels story arc. That was really the only reason at the end of the episode that I remembered Dom.

The other one - Agustin? He's just parsley to the other two characters Protein and Side dish so far. You could take him completely away from the story and it wouldn't matter one bit. Oh yeah, he had some milquetoast threesome and the most sex of anyone on the show. So what?

To follow on a previous posters comments and compare to QaF. At the end of the first episode of that show, I had some sort of investment in the characters - love them or hate them. I wanted to see what happens next to them. Right now with Looking, not so much.

With only 7 episodes left if there's not some major developments, I see a one season run. Right now this is not "must see TV". Its not a show that I will care whether or not the DVR is set for. Its good background noise if I am working on something else. I was hoping for more.

score 3/10

rhearob 20 January 2014

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw2945642/