Romantic comedies are totally having a TV moment
There was a time, not so long ago, when traditional romantic comedies seemed to have lost their way with viewers. As New York Magazine’s Claude Brodesser-Akner wrote in 2012, “audiences seem to be falling out of love with the genre.” Maybe the box-office wasn’t proving our love of rom-coms, but that didn’t mean we were ready to give up on them.
It’s possible that the romantic comedy just needed to find its true medium—the television screen. Based on the fresh crop of romantic comedies currently running or set to premiere on network and cable, it was only a matter of time before the genre found its footing again. After the successes of early frontrunner How I Met Your Mother as well as later hits like New Girl and The Mindy Project, our television screens have thankfully swarmed with weird and cute new rom-com options. Here are four new series that prove the genre is making a comeback, TV-style:
1. Manhattan Love Story (ABC)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqrA3G4p9Fc?rel=0
Who else is excited to see Jake McDorman (aka Evan Chambers from Greek) back on TV? And this time he’ll play the romantic lead opposite Analeigh Tipton. In this NYC-set love story, audiences listen to the voice-overs and questions that plague all of us from the start of a relationship through the thoughts of main characters Dana Hopkins and Peter Cooper . The show premiered in late September, and the pilot is now available to stream on ABC’s website.
2. Selfie (ABC)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQqozmwlE00?rel=0
John Cho is finally getting the chance to show off his romantic chops in this modern interpretation of My Fair Lady. Selfie features Eliza Dooley (Karen Gillan), a young woman obsessed with finding Internet fame through social media. She requests the help of Henry Higgs (Cho), a marketing guru who tries to rebrand Eliza’s image. We all know where this one goes, but we’re still interested in seeing the modern results. Check out the pilot here.
3. A to Z (NBC)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FKlRDYy_7o?rel=0
This new show already features one veteran of the “television romantic comedy” form in Cristin Milioti, the “mother” from How I Met Your Mother. The other lead, Ben Feldman, is the cutie from Mad Men and proto-television romantic comedy, Drop Dead Diva. On A to Z, the couple’s romantic timeline is chronicles literally from A to Z. With a superstar from the comedy world as executive producer (Rashida Jones from The Office and Parks and Rec), we’re especially pumped to see just how this chronological love story will play out. The pilot is currently available on NBC’s website.
4. Marry Me (NBC)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcrFbqubt2Q?rel=0
Marry Me is sure to be the wackiest of the new bunch. Starring the much beloved Casey Wilson and Ken Marino and created by David Caspe, the creator of Happy Endings, Marry Me follows a long-time couple on the road to the altar. Knowing the comedic stylings of all three involved, Marry Me is rife with promise, proving love is not as clean and picturesque as we see on the screen. Marry Me premieres October 14. Previews are available here.
