"Windfall": Does it hit the jackpot for NBC?
Against the advice of just about every TV critic in America, I watched “Windfall” Thursday. After all, it seems like a lot of the time, critics and I are watching different shows.
Sadly, this was not the case here.
The premise is a good one. A group of friends (and some strangers) contribute to a lottery pool at a party. Then, we see how their lives change after they win the $396 million prize. But the characters and their circumstances are so ridiculous, it’s impossible to care about them.
Almost before we’ve sat down, we learn that college professor Cameron (Jason Gedrick) and his wife Beth (Sarah Wynter) are moving and their friend, Nina (Lana Parilla), is not happy about it. Apparently, she and Cameron were once an item, but he left her to marry Beth; and Nina married Peter (Luke Perry). Though both Nina and Cameron appear to have moved on with their lives, on their trip to buy the lottery tickets, Cameron tells Nina that he’s still in love with her and that he’s no longer happy with Beth; but he’s going to leave town anyway to try and make their relationship work. It makes Nina so sentimental that she plays Cameron’s birthday on one of the lottery tickets. And of course, those numbers end up being the big winner. So, Beth decides that the money will allow her and Cameron to stay in town; and Nina tells Peter that he is the man in her wildest dreams (which he later doubts when he realizes the inspiration for the winning numbers). Meanwhile, a former student of Cameron’s shows up claiming that he is the father of her son. Cameron says she’s just interested in the money, but Beth insists he have a paternity test.
Sean, another winner, apparently harbors a dark secret that may involve murder. The secret prevents him from claiming the winnings, so he makes a deal with his one-night stand (a woman he stole from a customer at the floral shop he works at with Beth) that if she collects the money for him, they will split the winnings.
Damien, a high school student, is unable to claim his winnings because he is a minor. But opportunity falls into his lap when a family friend brings his Russian mail-order girlfriend to dinner (I wish I was kidding.). After seeing how badly she’s treated, Damien makes her a deal. They get married in Florida, making Damien an emancipated minor and she gets $10,000 to go back to Russia with. But just as Damien is striking up a flirtation with the daughter of one of the other winners, his Russian bride returns.
The most interesting story was Elizabeth, the single mother, who participated in the lottery when she delivered pizzas to the party. But because she didn’t put her name on the list of people who contributed, no one knew she was one of the winners until they discovered her name and number on her dollar. And by that time, she was so behind on her rent, she was moving out of her mobile home to live with her sister. It’s always nice to see a winner who deserves it. But next week’s previews show someone challenging Elizabeth’s claim, thereby ruining the best story of the show.
I realize this is a serialized drama; but it’s just too much. The love triangle would be enough for the two couples, but to throw in a paternity suit? And I was almost ready to buy the whole unrequited love thing with Cameron and Nina until I saw the age of Nina and Peter’s kids. Unless those kids are her stepchildren, she and Peter have been married a long time and that makes the whole scenario a little hard to swallow.
Jason Gedrick (who is probably best known for “Iron Eagle”) has starred in a lot of quality shows that didn’t get a chance to score an audience—including one of the best shows ever made, “Murder One.” But in this case, Gedrick picked a stinker.
This show was originally developed by FOX, who decided to pass on making the show. It’s easy now to see why.
