Manhattan Love Story is another show of stereotyped characters and cringe-worthy dialogue. This is one half of a dueling review. See the argument for Manhattan Love Story here.
First, let me say that I unabashedly love rom-coms. I’m a sucker for even the worst of them (I may or may not own Made of Honor on DVD), and usually am game for pretty much anything that’s guaranteed to end with a happily-ever-after – I stuck out HIMYM for nine seasons and refuse to accept the mother died. That said, Manhattan Love Story found my hate-threshold and just shattered it.
Oh, where to begin with this messy show. I suppose when I say ‘cringe-worthy dialgoue,’ I should say cringe-worthy internal monologues. The characters, Dana and Peter, alternate narrations dominate the pilot episode. During their first dinner date, they spend more time just looking at each other and talking in their heads – which we can hear – but if I were sitting next to them, I’d think they’re mind readers or something, sitting their silently.
In the opening scenes, we meet Peter, doing some ogling on the city’s sidewalk. Only, he’s not looking at bags or noticing any other accessories, but women’s bodies! Because men are shallow and only want one thing in this world. He doesn’t have a type though, no. He considers any young women, even an older woman and a fairly pregnant one.
Cut to Dana, navigating the city, eyeing the purses adorned to women and hipsters alike. Her eyes go doe-eyed for a messenger bag and she contemplates mugging someone, to which she shakes the thought out her head because that’s crazy! Her superficiality and embodiment of the stereotype of women is enough to make me turn this off, but I prevail. We’ll later find out Dana is our New York City transplant with starry-eyed dreams of making it in the publishing world.
How do these two meet? Thankfully, not a meet-cute as The Mindy Project is prone to do, but through mutual friends: Dana’s sorority sister Amy, and her husband David, who is Peter’s brother, fixed them up. David and Amy know Peter is serial dater and isn’t serious, so why they think fixing him up with Dana is a good idea is beyond me.
David convinces Peter to ask her out by telling him Dana and Amy’s raunchy stories from their college days. That’s all I say about that. Instead of Facebook searching Peter’s name, Dana accidentally makes it her Facebook status, then instead of texting him, she calls him. She’s a 20-something with a smart phone in 2014 – I’m not buying the technology-phobic shtick.
At aforementioned dinner, Dana mentions her New York City bucket list – visit the Statue of Liberty, take a pedicab – of typical (mostly) touristy things that only serve a purpose within the show, as far as I can tell, to give Peter and her a reason to date and for Manhattan Love Story to make more episodes around. They do get points for actually filming in New York City.
The over-simplification of these two characters, who might as well just be called Female and Male, they are so stereotyped, makes the show predicable and boring. After mocking Dana’s list and making her cry at dinner, Peter doesn’t feel sincerely sorry and I doubt there’s a genuine bone in his body. His friend, David, Dana’s brother-in-law, who set them up, is the one who forces him to apologize to her, by bringing her lilies.
It stars ATNM alum and Crazy, Stupid, Love co-star, Analeigh Tipton and Greek frat boy, Jake McDorman. Let me just state for the record, I love both of them and all the aforementioned projects, but they have zero chemistry in this show.
Check it out if you must, then let me know if you agree with me, or the pro-Manhattan Love Story reviewer, Kristen.
Manhattan Love Story premieres on Tuesday, September 30 at 8:30 p.m. on ABC.
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