Fall TV Popularity Contest: Did You Enjoy Grandfathered or The Grinder?

When Dean, inevitably, has his time in court, the script throws together more legal-TV clichés. Lowe has played many intellectual roles over the years, including attorneys.

Nostalgia and a large marketing campaign did not have the same impact on Fox’s new comedies featuring 1980s staples John Stamos and Rob Lowe, which opened at half the ratings levels The Muppets did last Tuesday. His brother Stewart (Fred Savage), an actual lawyer, must once again deal with being overshadowed by Dean’s good looks and charm while helping him get acclimated to the family business. So I’m really looking forward to that. The decision to do the pilot was literally just about wanting to spend a week with this great group of people.

Lowe plays Dean Sanderson, a handsome but not particularly bright TV star whose most recent role was playing a tough lawyer known as “the Grinder“.

When Dean and Stewart have their inevitable mid-episode falling-out and Stewart persuades Dean to go back to Hollywood, Lowe gives the flawless reading to Dean’s line: “Congratulations, counselor”.

Rob Lowe and Fred Savage in “The Grinder“.

Off-screen, it’s a totally different story for the former child star and teen heartthrob who had never met before being cast. Like the Grinder himself, we may be in for a bit of an identity crisis before the defense finally rests, but I’m hopeful that Lowe and Savage’s combined efforts will be able to secure a winning verdict. That’s what’s making the show really special.

There’s plenty of potential for growth established in The Grinder’s pilot, and I’m excited to see how the FOX series builds on its strengths moving forward. Having a lead-in did not boost Scream Queens (1.4), which slipped -18% from its two-hour premiere. There haven’t been any talks about it yet, but anything’s possible.

The Grinder airs on Tuesday nights on Fox. For more with Fred Savage, continue reading. Here are three reasons you should check out both Grandfathered and The Grinder.

Does the Adam character remind you of Kevin in any way?

When I saw the pilot, I was like, “What could this possibly be?”

He quips, “Ironically I would have gone to law school!”

“And I have to work beside him”, Savage chimes in.

Those misgivings haven’t stopped Fox from throwing its marketing machinery behind the show, including “GILF” T-shirts (figure it out) that the network clearly hopes will be this year’s “Adorkable”. Is there anyone that you’ve worked with in the past, that you’d love to see come on the show?

I’m ashamed of nothing! It’s all fine. Stewart is somewhat implausibly mush-mouthed for a successful lawyer, but the reality of the show’s universe seems like maybe this can be overlooked. The length of the season, the limitations of the form, the penchant for corporate meddling, and the time it takes for a writing team to generate real chemistry all work against the debut of any sitcom actually being amusing right from jump street.

Well, filling out college applications is high stress! Its impossible for the actor to overshadow his days on The Wonder Years, given how relatively ideal that series was, but hes always enjoyable to watch, as needlessly nebbish as he can sometimes be.

“‘Full House’ was one of the earlier unconventional family shows”.

“I know what life is like on set, but the character is so good”.

I think that it was really one of those things that… we just lucked into.

Is there a chance Danica McKellar might guest star on the show, and would you be into that?

Little of what happens in the pilot would make much sense outside the borders of popular fiction. She’s better than just about anyone out there.