Review: "Mixology" Series Premiere

Rachel Smith ’16 / Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer

The new ABC comedy Mixology was advertised for weeks before its series premiere on February 26^th. The commercials seemed to reveal the entire episode, however, so why watch? Many are still searching for that reason, even after watching. The pilot episode was less than impressive on all levels. The cast is also not very recognizable, so they don’t have an original fan base to save them.
Mixology a buddy comedy that follows four messy story lines in the 22 minute episode. The most central character is the sad, awkward, newly single Tom, played by Blake Lee. He is introduced at a bar, which is the scene for most of the season, with his friends Bruce (Andrew Santino) and Cal (Craig Frank). Bruce and Cal are exhaustively portrayed as the funny friends trying to bring Tom back into the dating world. Bruce acts as the narrator for the show and resident overconfident jerk, who, within the show, is accurately nicknamed “Danny Bonadouchey.”
One example of Bruce being the stereotypical awful guy is his line “The higher the heels, the looser she feels.” This comes after Tom proposes talking to a girl who is wearing flats. Both Bruce and Cal are wholeheartedly against women in flats. Hello, feminists of the world. You’ll hate this show.

Then the audience is introduced to Kacey, played by Stick It star Vanessa Lengies. She is a waitress who is pining over the bartender, who doesn’t even know her name. She “breaks up” with him at the beginning of the episode, and he couldn’t really care less, so of course, they end up sleeping together by the end of the episode. Kacey is annoying in every sense of the word.
The other female standouts include Jessica (Alexis Carra) and Maya (Ginger Gonzaga). Jessica is the “older” woman who is trying to find a new husband through online dating. She has potential to be a likeable character, but she doesn’t get a lot of screen time. Her biggest scene is when her online date introduces himself by throwing up in her clutch purse. He then explains that he is drunk because he just lost millions of dollars. This might sound interesting, but they don’t go into his back-story or explain his money woes further. Instead, the show focuses on Jessica continuing her lonely, single life, and leaves the date making out with another girl, who is engaged, outside the bar.
Maya is the strong, working female that is emotionally inept. Her father raised her as a son, so she has a tough mentality. This makes her a great lawyer, but also, more importantly, a bitch. She decides that it is okay to cheat on her boyfriend, a pro-football player (surprise guest Keyshawn Johnson), and is newly single.

Maya proclaims that all women want a nice guy but need a “real man,” and that Tom is a “bitch” and that’s why his fiancé left him. Who would want to hang out with this gem?
Apparently Tom does, because after Maya calls him a bitch, he suddenly realizes why his fiancé left him and is okay with it. He then asks Maya for her number, which she gives him, but only out of pity. Take your guesses now on if they live happily ever after, if the show lasts long enough to see a conclusion.
There were too many story lines that belonged to too many unlikeable characters. The jokes are immature or just not funny in general. There’s no one to identify with or root for, so what’s the point of continuing to watch? ABC encourages viewers to stay tuned by ending the episode with Bruce saying, “The night has just begun.” Perhaps the pilot was a misrepresentation of the rest of the season, but it doesn’t seem that many people are going to stick around to see.
Overall Grade: D