New Show: House of Lies

Neither of us were too inclined to watch this show. One blogger just had little interest in the topic and show in general, because she knew that it would have lots of pointless, gratuitous sex (she was right, by the way). Also, she heard that it would be hard to find characters to root for. These people lie to and screw over other people who lie and screw people over. The other blogger was wary of how Showtime would handle her actual (future) career. The presence of Kristen Bell and Don Cheadle won out though (mainly because Leeard misses Veronica Mars on a near-daily basis).

As a pilot, the episode basically served its purpose: we were introduced to the characters and got a glimpse into who they are.  Marty Kaan is a womanizing management consultant with a cross-dressing son (Roscoe), nosy father (Jeremiah), and competitive ex-wife (Monica). Marty works with Harvard alum Doug, goofy Clyde, and awesome Jeannie (Kristen Bell). Presumably, since their firm, Galweather & Stearn, got the contract and afterwork, we’ll be seeing MetroCapital’s Greg Norbert again.

What happened: Roscoe auditioned for, got, and subsequently lost the role of Sandy in his school’s production of Grease; Marty brought a stripper on a business dinner who then hooked up with Greg Norbert’s wife in the restaurant bathroom; and Marty won over the client by finding them a way to get what they want while saving face. Also, we found out that Monica works for a rival consulting firm, which failed to get MetroCapital as a client.

What we liked: Kristen Bell and Don Cheadle. They have great chemistry, and we love them both in almost anything. Also, Roscoe is adorable. We can definitely see him getting annoying in the future, but for right now, he’s enjoyable. One of us also really likes the concept of the show; the business world is fascinating, and consulting is rarely on television.

What we didn’t like: The breaking of the fourth wall. It reminded one of us of the first season of Sex and the City, and not in a good way. SatC realized it didn’t work, and hopefully House of Lies will too. We assume that once they’ve explained most of their terminology, the asides will be minimized. Also, there’s no way a management consultant would wear her hair like Jeannie does. This is a nitpicky point, but it jumped out at us as inauthentic. Consulting is an image-based business, and while Kristen Bell is always beautiful, there’s no way a consultant would have hair that sloppy, especially when trying to land a client as big as MetroCapital. 

Verdict: We hear it gets better, but right now, it’s not must-watch TV. We’ll give it a few more episodes until we decide to drop or keep it.

Episode Grade: B-