TV: A First Look At NBC’s New Comedy ‘A To Z’

There are two types to television shows for which I’m an instant sucker and one of them is romantic comedies, which means a show like NBC’s upcoming A To Z already gets more of a chance from me.

Part of NBC’s new fall lineup/schedule, A To Z is brought to us from executive producers Ben Queen (Drive), Rashida Jones (Parks and Recreation’s Ann Perkins) and Will McCormack (Will & Grace), all of whom have had a hand in successful television comedies.

A To Z is the story of the relationship between Andrew (Ben Feldman) and Zelda (Cristin Milioti), beginning with the day they met. Andrew is the typical guy’s guy on the outside, all sports and buddies, but he has a secret romantic tucked inside of him, secretly pining for a mysterious girl in a silver dress he spotted at a concert years ago. Zelda comes in for an interview at the offices of the dating website Andrew works for, and the sparks begin to fly.

A To Z has a very How I Met Your Mother meets The Goldbergs vibe to it, not just because Ms. Milioti played the titular mother of the former. By devoting its storytelling to the details of a relationship, there’s the implication of a clear direction and finish line to the show. It’s also a more open ended premise, as the life of a relationship could encompass a number of turns. A To Z also employs a popular device these days, that of a narrator over the events of the story, here voiced by the lovely Katey Segal.

With a genre as tried and true as romantic comedies are, there’s a real need to keep things new, fresh, and interesting. From the clips of the pilot below, A To Z looks up to the task of avoiding clichés while hitting all the necessary trademarks of the genre. Give it a glance and let us know if A To Z looks like a show you’d wanna spend some time with.

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