NEW SHOW: The Goodwin Games

This comedy made my "maybe list" last summer, and I've been looking forward to its debut ever since then. The premiere got pushed back, the number of episodes was shortened, and things don't look good for this hilarious family comedy. Only seven episodes will air, and, although the series hasn't officially been cancelled or renewed, don't bet on seeing more of this fabulous sibling trio. That's right! I really loved the pilot, though I might be partial because I'm a board game geek, a trait I share with both of my siblings. As promised, the premise is intriguing, and it left me without the comparison to Wings that I feared. I look forward to finding out what the messages are on more of those VHS tapes, and just how any and every game possible might appear. And, I would question the concept's ability to last more than a season or two if it weren't being done by Bays & Thomas, who have been stretching the story of how Ted Mosby met the mother of his children for eight years. Let me know if you enjoyed this pilot as much as I did... it's hard to think about it without comparing it to the new trailers and pilots out for fall already, but I do think it can stand its own.

The Goodwin Games "Pilot" (S01E01): Mr. Benjamin Goodwin dies at the age of 72, just after completing the creation of his video will, which challenges his three children to come together and win $23M. The siblings (36-year-old doctor Henry, 34-year-old actress Chloe, and 32-year-old Jimmy, who was just released from a minimum security prison) have lost touch with their father and drifted apart, so they're shocked that their old man was worth so much. We quickly learn that Benjamin was a big fan of testing the kids to win various prizes growing up, and to keep the kids competitive, he's added a fourth, unrelated contestant, Elijah.

facebook.com/TheGoodwinGames

Elijah is at a disadvantage when he doesn't even know the names of the other players or their family history, but Chloe feels she's also starting below the water line because she was once BFFs with the will lawyer but dumped her for popularity as kids. [haha.] The game is Trivial Pursuit, but it's been modified so that the questions are about the Goodwin family. [how neat would that be?!? the summer after my first year of college, a friend and I made one another personalized crossword puzzles and they were AWESOME!] This leads to tons of flashbacks, and the siblings argue about whose fault it is that the family fell apart. [awww.] Chloe is close to winning when Henry and Jimmy quit, which means nobody won. The lawyer pops in another VHS, which awards the siblings $50 each while Elijah gets $1M. He heads for the hills but when Chloe picks up on the fact that there is Morse code in the video, she scrambles for the family attic, only to find a message laid out in scrabble tiles saying that Benjamin loved his kids. [awww!] It makes Chloe demand her brothers finish the game with her, for their father's sake. [sweet.]

They play at a bar, where a monk gives them a card that says to take a photo. They head to the photo booth but are greeted with a video from their father, asking them all to move home.

We also know a little bit about two side stories... the first is that Henry hasn't completely gotten over an old girlfriend, and she tells him to come see her in a month if he's still in town. also, Jimmy sneaks around to see his daughter, giving her a stolen pen as a belated birthday gift but later a giant teddy bear. [the guy is trying.]