- Network: NBC
- Series Premiere Date: Sep 20, 2021
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Critic Reviews
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An ambitiously sentimental gem. [11 - 24 Oct 2021, p.10]
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Wolk is likable, but so far, the show is so heavy on concept – what would life be like if you made different choices at a crucial moment? – that it skimps on characterization. Will I watch it again? Yes, to see if the show can move beyond its premise, and get into some actually absorbing drama.
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A pleasant (yet terribly titled) exercise in "What if?" storytelling elevated by a leading man who has yet to disappoint.
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Where “Lone Star” was cold, “Ordinary Joe” is warm. ... It’s too soon to know if the show’s writers can sustain this premise but the pilot episode is a winner.
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"[Sliding] Doors" has a "be careful what you wish for" message embedded in its plot, but "Joe" doesn't appear to be moralizing in any particular way. The show is a thought experiment come to life, and so far it's interesting enough to keep thinking about.
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While executive producers and showrunners Russel Friend and Garrett Lerner have gone the extra mile to make sure the series is as easy to understand as possible in the beginning, one does have to wonder what Ordinary Joe will look like week to week, and how it can sustain the complex “what if?” scenario of its premise.
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For the time being, the series lands in the sweet spot where it’s just out-there enough to attract curiosity, and yet familiar enough to qualify as comfort viewing. ... It all works well enough for now, in large part because Wolk makes for such an eminently likable lead.
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It's certainly an intriguing rumination on roads not taken and how small decisions can have big consequences, clearly positioned as a possible heir to the "This is Us" mantle, with the disclaimer that this sort of concept-heavy setup can grow tiresome fast. For now, "Joe" is above the ordinary. The trick will be keeping him there.
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The show lays out the three story lines with sufficient clarity and moves among them fluidly, and there’s the brainteaser pleasure of sorting out the different relationships and courses of events. ... Once you’ve figured out the plots, though, you see that they’re all generic dramedy setups (at this point, anyway), and the triple plotting doesn’t give the actors time to build real characters.
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"Joe" has promise and heart but — at least just yet — not nearly enough of everything else.
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We don’t fault any of the acting on Ordinary Joe for this show’s issues; the actors are doing the best they can, but are stuck in a premise with a limited shelf life and already signs that it might collapse under its own weight or get too clever for its own good.
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Transitions between the trio of Joes often don’t land, only emphasizing the stagy unreality of the show’s three worlds. There’s raw material here on which the show may yet improve, but in its pilot, at least, “Ordinary Joe” feels a bit too high-concept for its own good.
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The concept is clearly drawn from NBC's massive five-season hit This Is Us, in which the story of a single troubled family is traced through constant flashbacks. Unfortunately, NBC's clueless programming execs failed to notice what any viewer could have told them: The success of This Is Us is due not to gimmicky chronology but an outstanding cast and piquant screenwriting, none of which Ordinary Joe has.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 0 out of 4
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Mixed: 2 out of 4
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Negative: 2 out of 4
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Sep 20, 2021Ordinary Joe might not be the worst show of the year. It might be the worst show of all time.