Remember how Full House was touchingly cheesy? Remember how Parenthood had us emptying our tissue boxes every week? Be prepared to return to these days if you plan on tuning in to NBC’s newest drama, This Is Us. The freshman series, helmed by Dan Fogelman (Crazy, Stupid, Love) is easily the most emotional new series this season. But does the show indulge in too much tear-jerking? Check out our review of This Is Us to find out.
Fall 2016 Calendar: TV Premiere Dates for New and Returning Shows>>>
The Plot
This Is Us is a series that follows a group of same-aged people, all born on the same day, as their lives play out in unexpected ways. Rebecca (Mandy Moore) and Jack (Milo Ventimiglia) are a happily married couple expecting a child when unplanned news from the doctor makes their upcoming parenthood a little more complicated. Jack (Justin Hartley) is a big-time sitcom actor who grows bored and depressed with his widely-successful TV show. His twin sister Laurie (Jill Johnson) struggles with weight problems and joins a support group.
Randall is a successful businessman with a great job and a wonderful family, who finds his estranged father years after he abandoned him. This group of strangers living in different places share more than just a birthday — they all are hitting a milestone which changes the course of the lives they had planned.
What Might Not Work
While it wasn’t the case in the first episode, there is definitely a chance that this series could become too much like a soap opera soon. We can already foresee a lot of drama for each character from the pilot. This is to be expected, as the series circles on the unexpectedness, tragedy and heart of life. That being said, if the series is excessive in tragedy and throwing too much drama into every scene, This Is Us will get tiresome pretty fast.
As the show progresses, it will be incredible to see how it balances on the line of satisfyingly heart-wrenching, while staying enjoyable. Of course, we’ve seen shows pull this off before, NBC’s Parenthood being the obvious first one to cone to mind. With that series coming to a close in 2015, NBC is definitely looking to this new Fogelman project to fill the void.
Why You Should Watch
This Is Us is exactly the kind of show we need right now. In a world full of cynicism and way too many superhero/crime TV shows, NBC is giving us a show about humanity at its core. This Is Us makes us feel something unlike any other current TV show. The way that it uses the formula of Crash to show us completely separate people’s lives all at once makes it appeal to a wider audience.
Everyone watching will find someone that they can relate to in this series. The problems these characters go through are all familiar. We’ve all experienced death, depression and body issues. We all have problems with our family. This Is Us puts a spotlight on tragedy and shows you the beauty of it. It takes real-life situations that every other show puts into a cliche, and flips them to mirror what would really happen. It keeps these situations authentic, while managing to keep it from getting too depressing. That being said, it doesn’t shy away from depression either. It embraces it. To put it simply, this show mirrors real life.
[VIDEOS] Sneak Peek: Dive Deeper Into the Emotional Mystery of NBC’s This Is Us>>>
Will you be watching This Is Us? Let us know why or why not in the comments below!
This Is Us premieres Tuesday, September 20 at 10/9c on NBC. Stay updated by following our This Is Us page on Facebook.
(Image courtesy of NBC)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
