Here’s the thing about the late Fox sitcom The Grinder: It was really, really funny. Sure, there are plenty of shows that fit that description, but far fewer that do so while taking such a high concept and molding it into something that seemed completely logical and at ease in its own skin.
One of the biggest reasons for the show working as well as it did was the performance of Rob Lowe, who proved he could be funny in aged movies like Wayne’s World and Tommy Boy, perfected his sense of comic timing — specifically within the confines of a sitcom — on the classic Parks and Recreation. He then expanded it, reaching some kind of strange level of virtuosity on The Grinder as a Hollywood actor who played a lawyer on a popular (fictional) TV show and figured he could just do the exact same thing after moving back home with his family of actual lawyers, led by the reborn Fred Savage as his weary brother.
Of course, the show was cancelled which was a real bummer. Lowe was really onto something with his character, Dean Sanderson, and it will be a shame to not see him continue to find new directions to take this strange, strange guy. Thing is, though, he really wants to keep The Grinder going in some way, shape or form. It is possible — cancelled shows get picked up elsewhere from time to time (see Nashville, most recently) and he’s 100 percent in, it would seem.
I will always be ready to continue to grind! https://t.co/4zprhu1kbT
— Rob Lowe (@RobLowe) June 13, 2016
Lowe also took his interest in keeping the party going to another level in a recent interview with IndieWire. He was asked what drives his ambition to keep The Grinder alive and pulled few, if any, punches in explaining himself.
My interest in The Grinder is with the understanding that this group will be hard to reassemble, if not impossible. The notion of a show as acclaimed, as original, with the level of talent in front of and behind the camera and that has done all this has done in its first year wouldn’t have a home anywhere on television, it seems a little outrageous. That it doesn’t have a home on network television tells you all you need to know about network television.
Strong words there. Time will tell if Lowe has the cache to make season two happen. Seeing as how few shows like The Grinder currently exist, it feels like it makes a lot of sense to see it get a second chance.
(via IndieWire)
