Young & Hungry - 1.01 - Pilot - Review: Goodbye, Lily. Hello, Gabi.

OK, I’m going to start this review off with a confession. I’m not a huge fan of sitcoms. Sure I watched How I Met Your Mother faithfully for all nine seasons and there was a time in the not so distant past that I use to be obsessed with The Big Bang Theory. But before those shows came along I haven’t had comedy scheduled into my TV rotation for quite a while. If I had to guess I’d say I haven’t been into sitcoms since Seinfeld signed off and the cast of The Nanny took their final bow.

But when I was younger I would rush home to watch re-runs of Who’s the Boss, Golden Girls and I even got up early every morning so I could watch I Love Lucy (Lucille Ball to this day is still one of the people I admire the most in show biz) before I went to school. I can honestly say they just don’t make comedy like they use to. I have no idea how a show Modern Family gets all the awards and yet a show like Community trudges on in practical obscurity and fights tooth and nail for every single season renewal.

I say all that to say that deep down I’m a cheesy, hokey nostalgia driven kind of gal. So ABC Family comedies tend to be right up my alley filled with all the actors of my youth that I thought I’d never see again. I love Melissa and Joey and while I was initially skeptical about Baby Daddy being a Raising Arizona knock off I've grown to really like that show a whole lot as well. Heck I even liked State of Georgia starring Raven Symone back in the day.

But Young & Hungry is by far the comedy on ABC Family that I have been the most excited about to date. It reminds me of The Nanny with a little bit of ‘The Help’ thrown in for good measure. This show seemingly had a recipe to hold my attention span. For starters I love Emily Osment. I’m also a huge foodie. Throw in the fact that I’m a wee bit obsessed with puns, especially food puns (and you just know there are going to be plenty of those) oh and the backdrop for the story is San Francisco which is my one my top five favorite US cities. Right from the start I saw myself easily falling into heavy like with the show.

The premise for the show is a fairly classic one. You take one down on their luck character who has a chance at a getting hired for a job that could change their life. Throw in a some sexual tension and a don't forget to add some colorful side characters and violá instant romantic sitcom recipe. The game changer for this show is that they cut right to the chase of the will they or won't they question in the pilot and the answer is they do. I was shocked that this fact was just given away so freely in the promo for the show.

It's just so easy to tell that Gabi and Josh are meant for each other, I mean geez, they karaoke to the same Tegan and Sara song for crying out loud. I did enjoy their talk over dinner about Julia Child. Josh is already coming across as a little too wishy washy for me and I'm already rooting for another suitor to come and sweep Gabi off her feet.


Even though I’m not the much older than Emily Osment for some reason I feel like a proud parent. She is finally getting the chance to step out the shadow of the character of Lily from Hannah Montana and be a lead in her own show and it just makes me super happy. The character of Gabi is one of those adorkable girls you just can’t help to root for and I think Emily really sells that sort of character with ease. I thought that Jonathan Sadowski who plays Josh was a) a little too old to be playing tech genius boy wonder and b) a little stiff. My biggest hope for this show is for it to find its own way and not rely so heavily on done to death sitcom stereotypes such as ‘the sassy black maid’ played by Kym Whitley and ‘the sassy gay Asian male assistant’ played by Rex Lee that they've set up. The only POC actor on the show who wasn't made into a cliché was Aimee Carrero who plays the character of Sophia Rodriguez and to be honest she was the biggest highlight of the episode.

My finals thoughts are that the show has all the ingredients to be pretty good. ABC Family comedies are not meant to be groundbreaking. They are meant to be tongue-in-cheek cheesy fun with a dose of nostalgia. I think Young & Hungry is very much on target for the demo that ABC Family is after and if given a little leg room will do just fine.

Grade: B-


Awards
Character of the Night
• Sophia

Best Character Interactions
• Gabi & Sophia

Most Memorable Moment
• Gabi & Josh sing a Tegan and Sara song

Line of the Night
• Gabi: I wanted to make tarts NOT be one.
• Elliot: No one has it harder than a pretty blonde girl.

Scene of the Night
• Gabi calls Sophia and Sophia gives a Hunger Games inspired pep talk.

The ‘Welcome Back’ Award goes to Rex Lee. I love Entourage and I love the character of Lloyd Lee even more.


Miscellaneous
The Ratings Game – Young & Hungry pulled in 1.09 million viewers for its inaugural outing.

Fun Fact: This show is loosely based on the life of a real San Francisco food blogger also named Gabi Diamond.

Style Spotlight - I liked Caroline's outfit. It very much screamed west coast socialite to me.


Connect with the Show
Facebook
Twitter - @YoungandHungry
Show’s hashtag: #YoungandHungry

Be sure to tune into Young & Hungry every Wednesday night at 8 pm on ABC Family.

What did you think of this episode? Will you be tuning in again? As always, feel free to sound off in the comments. You know I love you for reading…