About: Traffic Light

I finally sat down and watched Traffic Light, it's been on for 3 weeks now and I kept missing it because of the black hole between Glee and Traffic Light known as Raising Hope. It's not that Raising Hope is terrible, it's just not a show I enjoy, so I usually turn the channel after Glee and inevitably forget to change it back for Traffic Light. So, in case there are others out there like me I thought I'd write up some first impressions of this smart show.

After watching this week's episode of Traffic Light "All the Precedent's Men" I went back and watched the Pilot to get a feel for how the characters had developed. The chemistry between the cast is good from the first episode which is something that is not true of many shows. For me, it usually takes a couple of episodes to get a feel for the characters and their relationships but Traffic Light was seamless in the way it introduced itself. The characters are still a little more shallow than I'd like but I think that less detail in the first few episodes makes sense and smooths the transition. The show is only half an hour long so I appreciate not having tons of characters or plot threads shoved in my face in the first episode (*cough *cough Glee).

Traffic Light also has great balance representing three different phases of life. Mike has been married for six years and has one child, Adam is just moving in with his girlfriend in the pilot and Ethan is an eternal bachelor who probably loves his bulldog Carl more than any woman he's been with. And even though these men represent such different phases of life, their friendship makes sense because they each have something different to offer.

I'm excited to see these characters develop and hopefully learn a little more about their past. We know they went to college together and that at one point they had a fourth Chumbawamba-loving friend who has since passed away. I was a little unclear about the details of his passing and I hope that doesn't go unexplained. I am also looking forward to a little more development of the female characters; Mike's wife Lisa and Adam's girlfriend Callie. We're only three episodes in so I'm sure that's in the works.

At this point a lot of scenes take place in the car via speakerphone and three-way-calling. So far I Really like this aspect of the show. It has facilitated a few fun plot threads that wouldn't have worked in a more conventional setting, including "This is my say anything moment" which I found hilarious.

Traffic Light is an enjoyable comedy and and I'm excited to see where it goes so if you haven't checked it out, please do! It's on Fox Tuesday 9:30/8:30c