Angel From Hell Season 1 Review

One episode was provided prior to broadcast.

Hear me out, because I know by now you’ve probably already seen the cringe-worthy ads for Angel From Hell, or read some less-than-stellar reviews for CBS’ new comedy sitcom premiering tomorrow. The Jane Lynch-starring show is better than you may think, and at the very least, it’s decently far from being outright unwatchable. It’s got some pacing issues and suffers from a central conceit that’s been overdone in pop culture, but – and listen up, most other 2015 fall sitcoms – it’s genuinely funny.

Although, of course, that humor directly relates to your capacity for Jane Lynch’s cutting, bawdy shtick. But, I’m getting ahead of myself. First and foremost, Angel From Hell is about Allison (Maggie Lawson), an overworked dermatologist who’s just seemingly getting her life back together with a new boyfriend after the death of her mother. One day in a farmer’s market, she and her beau Evan (David Denman) stumble across a hippie-dippie street magician named Amy (Jane Lynch, coming off of Glee‘s big finale this past spring), who soon claims that she’s Allison’s guardian angel sent to correct the somewhat turbulent path her life may be careening down.

Created by writer/producer Tad Quill, the show is pure formula: Amy, the wacky underachiever with an underplayed alcohol problem, and Allison, the prim and proper thirtysomething obsessed with her work and on the path to becoming a doormat for everyone around her. But given life by Lawson and Lynch, there’s a certain winsome air to the show’s characters and dialogue and vaguely supernatural world.

Lynch gets top billing here, and she’s essentially what you’d expect in the lead role, nothing more or nothing less. Her dialogue is snappy and smart, managing to take Lynch’s esoteric rants from Glee down a few levels while instilling some of the familiar, reliable charm she’s presented in everything from Party Down to Hollywood Game Night. But she’s not as front-and-center here as you might expect, with the show sticking to its guns and implanting Lawson as the main character/audience stand-in with Lynch as the diabolical sidekick.