In a world full of superhero dramas, NBC’s Powerless sets out to take on not only a different style as a workplace sitcom, but also a new focal point entirely. Instead of the heroes and villains leaping off of every comic book available, Powerless follows the every day folks caught up in the royal pain that is living in a city full of super battles.
Vanessa Hudgens leads the ensemble as Emily Locke, the optimistic, wide-eyed new head of R&D at Wayne Security – a company run by Bruce Wayne’s cousin and resident family disappointment, Van Wayne (Alan Tudyk). More concerned with getting out of the B-List (at best) Charm City and on to greener pastures than with actually helping people, Van sets himself up to be Emily’s biggest obstacle. Her new team, while clearly intelligent and creative, have had any motivation beaten out of them by corporate repeatedly shutting down their ideas.
Teddy (Danny Pudi), the chief design officer with a thing for colors, will likely prove to be Emily’s strongest partner eventually but for now sees her as just another boss. Ron (Ron Funches) is head of engineering and current source of physical humor as he tests their products designed to protect civilians from becoming collateral damage.
Rounding out the team is Wendy (Jennie Pierson), the lead software engineer, whose biggest contribution for the time being seems to be mean spirited commentary. The unsung hero and source of some of the best joke delivery is Van’s sarcastic and ‘done with it all’ assistant, Jackie (Christina Kirk). She acts as an audience surrogate, pointing out the absurdity of Van’s entire existence and bringing the overly optimistic Emily back down to reality.
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The premise is fresh and full of possibilities but the pilot suffers from premiere-itis (as many pilots do especially half hour sitcoms) where it doesn’t have enough time to really flesh out each character while also getting the plot ball rolling. For now, the characters seem to fall into stereotypes without having that extra hook making them stand out. That can easily be remedied through more episodes and spending time with each character so it is definitely too soon to tell.
The humor was very hit or miss through the entire premiere episode. With a cast full of talented comedians, the delivery of the jokes was always spot on even if the joke itself was a more generic beat. Hudgens and Tudyk establish a banter from the start which could prove to be a gold mine in future episodes.
Emily’s almost childlike wonder over being in a city full of superpowers adds to the comedy of the entire rest of the city’s bored annoyance for it all but in a show about every day civilians needing protection from the casual destruction of super battles, there is surprisingly little physical humor.
Hopefully, now that the exposition and first hoop to be jumped through have been taken care of, the show can really find its groove and use the comedic gold they have at their fingertips.
While the effects are not even in the same ball park as the kind of thing audiences would expect from a DC or Marvel movie, they don’t take away from the tone like they would in an action drama like FOX’s Gotham or The CW’s Arrow. If anything, the cheesiness of the effects and the absurdity of the super battle act as a reminder that in this world, it is all just another inconvenience to get around.
It is far too soon to say whether or not Powerless will be the next Parks and Recreation or if it will just slowly peter out but the seeds are all there for a truly original take on a workplace comedy. In a world where superheroes and comics are all over the big and small screens, Powerless could be the next step in the genre takeover if it plays out to its full potential.
Powerless premieres Thursday, Feb 2nd at 8:30/7:30c on NBC.