Ground Floor: Skylar Astin Introduces Us To A Charming, Lighthearted New Workplace Comedy With Loads Of Potential

Last Thursday, a new sitcom premiered on TBS (Very Funny) starring Skylar Astin, who played 'Jesse' in Pitch Perfect, and John C. McGinley, Dr. Cox from Scrubs. The show is brought to us by the creator of Scrubs, and is similar in the sense that they're both workplace comedies, but of course, Ground Floor is a live audience Sitcom, whereas Scrubs was a closed set.

The premise is simple; Skylar Astin, who plays 'Brody', a successful banker working in the upper echelons of the Finance sector in San Francisco, and he comes across a beautiful girl who works on- you got it, the Ground Floor. The first episode establishes Brody's intentions pretty early on, which are pretty obvious if you've seen even a few seconds of the show's promos.

Astin's character is loveable, but he might the the first protagonist of a show who is actually quite detestable. Initially, his character is this pompous, holier-than-thou douchebag who believes he's above(Figuratively and literally) the girl he hooked up with the night before(Briga Heelan, who plays Jennifer, Astin's co-star), who works on the Ground Floor.

Of course this changes afterwards, McGinley's character, Mr. Mansfield, Brody's boss, figures she's a distraction, that Brody should be focused on his career. It's the way the story unfolds from here that had me invested in the show.

Astin's charming, likeable presence on screen pulls you in, though his performance is reminiscent of that in Pitch Perfect. Some variety could be introduced, though it's not detrimental to his character.

Ground Floor doesn't seem to be airing in the UK anytime soon, but if you're able to "visit the US and take a watch" you're likely not to be disappointed.

Though it's not the best show on TV right now, it's great for an easy watch.

 

 

 

Karan Dholakia

Films, comic books, video games, wrestling, writing, and a helluva load of other stuff are my interests. I write, watch films, and write some more. Also, Movieville is my child.