NBC's Sunnyside would be better off learning lessons from Community

The A.V. Club

Community offered the best sitcom example of a disparate, diverse group of people come together over the very flimsiest of reasons, says Sulagna Misra. The immigrant characters on Sunnyside show promise, but the pilot doesn't have real introductions. "Which brings us to the least effective member of this group: (Kal) Penn as Garrett," says Misra. "Penn’s tenure in the Obama White House provides an interesting meta element to the series’ political bent. But shows like Community and the bands of misfits they center on are usually able to rally around the main character, who is almost always a jerk—albeit a really charming one who starts to temper his nonstop bullshit and open up emotionally, which leads him to a freakout and maybe even tears. Although everyone from Garrett’s sister, Mallory (Kiran Deol, another delightful surprise), to Griselda insists that Garrett is a convincing, charismatic talker, those traits don’t really translate. Garrett does give a few speeches, but they’re the weakest part of the show, especially compared to how Community’s Joel McHale easily mixed sarcasm and sincerity in his lectures. Instead, Penn is goofy where he should be smarmy, and when he does sell the jerk element, it’s a little gross instead of funny. He (and the show) strain the most at these times; Penn’s best moments are when he steps back and reacts to the ensemble, especially because he has a natural warmth that comes across easily, like when he banters with his sister."

ALSO:

• Sunnyside shows promise with a heart in the right place, but it's an unexpected slog in the beginning
• Sunnyside's portrayal of political action is vastly more interesting than the holding of office
• Perfect Strangers, Head of the Class and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air inspired Sunnyside: Co-creator Kal Penn sought an aspirational show “in the vein of the stuff I grew up watching," adding: “The commonality of those types of shows is that when you turned off the TV, you felt really good. There are a lot of (current) shows that frankly don’t make you feel good."
• Joel Kim Booster's character was originally more of a Wall Street douchebag bro: "I was just like, “F*ck it, I’m going to give it this read because I know I can do this," he says of his audition. 'If they don’t like it, it’s just another audition, and if they do like it, great.' I got lucky because they liked it."
• Kal Penn says Sunnyside was never intended to be a political sitcom: “The topic of immigration goes back to the founding of our country. It is all of our stories," he says. “As long as we’re mindful of that, I’m not going to take anybody’s bait.”