The Grinder Review: Pilot (Season 1 Episode 1)

I had high expectations for Rob Lowe on The Grinder. Because I love Rob Lowe. You love Rob Lowe. We all love Rob Lowe. Rob Lowe is funny. If anyone can pull of a lawyer comedy, or any kind of comedy, really, it’s Rob Lowe.

Except he doesn’t. Not really.

Not because the show isn’t good, because, so far, it is. Not because it’s not funny, because, again, it is. No, Rob Lowe doesn’t pull off this comedy because, as surprising as it may sounds, the best part of The Grinder isn’t Rob Lowe at all.

It’s Fred Savage.

Yeah, I know what you’re thinking. Crazy talk. Fred Savage hasn’t acted in ages. Rob Low is Rob Lowe. You’re hallucinating.

Give me a chance to explain .

The premise of The Grinder is pretty straight forward. Rob’s Lowe is Dean Sanderson, an actor who’s spent the last eight years playing a bad-ass lawyer on TV. Fred Savage is his brother Stewart, a small-town lawyer with a problem speaking in public and a tendency to go for the safe bet (Boring, boring, BORING). When his show ends Dean decides to come back home, and, after some time with his family, realizes that all he really wants out of life is to …well, to be a lawyer. Or to play one, just, not on TV.

Rob Lowe is magnificent as Dean, showy, handsome, able to command a room, and yet the jokes would fall flat without Fred Savage’s reaction to them. Because, while Rob Lowe could have made this show good, it’s Fred Savage that makes it great.

Every funny guy needs a straight man, after all.

In this particular episode, the straight man also needs the funny guy to teach him a lesson or two. Because Stewart is a good lawyer, a great lawyer even, he’s got all the knowledge, but none of the showmanship. And if there’s something Dean excels at is showmanship.

He yells, he takes selfies in court, he lies to the witness – he makes a grand production out of a little trial. And he almost gets away with it, too, until the other (well, the real) lawyer in the room points out his lack of qualifications. That’s when Dean takes over. Because Dean knows his stuff. He just doesn’t usually know how to say it.

The rest of the cast is underused in the “Pilot”, but there’s great promise there. Stewart’s wife, in particular, comes across as just the right mix between confused and loving. I’m very curious about how the interactions will change when it’s not just here and Stewart talking about Dean, but the three of them having to co-exist.

Because, we haven’t talked about this, but where is Dean going to live? I assume he has money, but he is staying at his brother’s house, so is that going to continue? Is that too much brotherly love for Stewart or is that just the right setup for this comedy to flourish?

We don’t know. But we’re really, really excited to find out. Just one episode in, but so far, The Grinder is a pretty nice addition to the FOX lineup, and definitively a show you need to watch.

Other things to note:

• Seriously, how big is Stewart’s house?
• How did Stewart even get clients if he’s THIS bad in court?
• Is their Mother dead, gone or just a plot device to be used later?

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What did you think of this week’s episode of The Grinder? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

The Grinder  airs Tuesdays at 8:30/7:30c on Fox.