Sixteen years ago, President Bill Pullman showed himself to be a great leader. He united the world in our battle against the alien forces that could easily be defeated with computer viruses and a drunk Randy Quaid in a crop duster. He led the attack from the ground while Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum kicked tires and lit fires. Thanks to President Pullman, we did not go quietly into the night. We did not vanish without a fight. We lived on. We survived. We celebrated our Independence Day.
Now, President Pullman only has to worry about losing a tennis game and keeping his slacker son from burning down The White House.
Oh, how the mighty have fallen on 1600 Penn, another attempt for NBC to show that through broad humor, they too can reach a larger audience with their comedies. Not content with the ratings from their already great comedies like Community, 30 Rock and Parks and Recreation, NBC continues to trot out shows like 1600 Penn, which along with other freshman series The New Normal and the already-canceled Animal Hospital, go for a much simpler and much less interesting level of ambition.
It’s easy to imagine what the one-line sell of 1600 Penn was: “imagine a sitcom…IN THE WHITE HOUSE!” Pullman is President Dale Gilchrest, who has to deal with his family, which is filled with character that he seems to lack. Besides an overpowering patriotism and dedication to his family, little else is shown of what makes the president an interesting character. His son Skip, played by Book of Mormon’s (and show co-creator) Josh Gad, has been in college seven years and after a prank goes wrong, is brought back to The White House to stay. Gad provides almost all of the humor here, as he plays Skip as a Farley-level buffoon.