âThe Grinderâ TV pilot review
By Lauren Paulsen, Senior Columnist
2/5
The Grinder is about Dean Sanderson (Rob Lowe), who has just finished his career as a lawyer on a television show called The Grinder. He feels lost now that the show is over, and envies the life that his brother, Stewart (Fred Savage), has as an actual lawyer with a family.
After sitting through one of Stewartâs cases, Dean decides that he wants to be an actual lawyer, but seems to think that all of his time acting as a lawyer gives him the qualification to jump right in.
This show wasnât as bad as John Stamosâ Grandfatheredâanother new family-centred showâbut I still found it really lacking. It seemed to me that pretty much the only person on this show with common sense was Stewart. Everyone else was so into âThe Grinder,â a.k.a. Dean, taking on a real case that they seemed to forget that he wasnât a real lawyer.
I also found the acting to be over-exaggerated and not really believable. It tried to be heartwarming at times but fell short because it didnât really give me any reason to invest my feelings into the characters. It didnât make me care enough about them.
Dean is arrogant and too full of himself to realize that acting as a lawyer doesnât mean it qualifies him to be a lawyer (thatâs why thereâs law school). Stewart has more common sense, but he whines all the time. Their father always sides with Dean, no matter what stupid idea he comes up with. Really, the negative aspects of their characters overshadow anything good.
