Tonight NBC kicks off the hilarious new comedy Champions. Brothers Vince (Anders Holm, The Mindy Project, Workaholics) and Matthew (Andy Favreau, Angry Angel) live in the apartment above the New York City gym, Champions, that they inherited from their father. While Matthew loves his job as head trainer, Vince, who was nearly a pro athlete before taking over the family business, is getting tired of the job and is secretly planning to sell the gym and move to Florida. However, things suddenly get more complicated when Michael (J.J. Totah, Glee, Jessie), the teenage son Vince never met, arrives on his doorstep. Michael had lived all his life in Cleveland with his mother Priya (Mindy Kaling, The Mindy Project), Vince’s high school girlfriend, unaware that Vince even existed. Now that Michael has been accepted to a performing arts school in New York City, but has no place to live, Priya decides it’s finally time for Vince and Michael to meet. However, Vince knows nothing about being a dad, and Michael is used to limited rules and always getting his way. But the two are stuck with each other in this crash-course on being a family. Other regular characters include gym employees Ruby (Fortune Feimster, The Mindy Project, Life in Pieces) and Shabaz (Yassir Lester, Making History), and Vince’s on-again/off-again girlfriend Britney (Mouzam Makkar, The Vampire Diaries).

I checked out the first three episodes of the series and absolutely love this show—I would have binged even more had the episodes been available. It is a fun mix of both workplace and family comedy that’s almost like a modern day My Two Dads. I really enjoyed this story of a guy struggling to become a father for the first time, while his son is also learning how to compromise and be part of a family. The cast is excellent and play really well off one another. The dim-witted Matthew is easily my favorite character—he constantly had me laughing out loud. I love how gung-ho and excited he is to be an uncle, and how he tries to impart his “wisdom” on Michael, completely oblivious to the fact of how stupid some of his comments are. Meanwhile, Vince tries to juggle both being a good dad as well as the crazy issues that pop up at the gym. This is one of my favorite new shows of the spring, and I can’t wait to see more of it.

In tonight’s premiere, “Pilot”, Vince is living every bachelor’s dream, until his high school fling drops off his estranged son.

 
Tonight I’ll also be watching/recording Grey’s Anatomy, The Big Bang Theory, Young Sheldon, Life in Pieces, Superstore, A.P. Bio, Will & Grace, Gotham, Arrow, and Top Chef.

For additional suggestions on what to check out tonight, including Chicago Fire, check out the If We Controlled Your Remote… 3/8/18 post at TVisMyPacifier.com.