"Greek" is pretty much what "Mean Girls," "Old School" and (of course) "Animal House" have spawned, and for that alone they can all be condemned. Broad, shallow, and surprisingly caustic, "Greek" – WABC/7 at 9 - has a huge target that it manages to miss almost entirely. No one can dispute - least of all those who belong - that frats and sororities comprise (and pretty much always have been) the primal social order on many campuses: Lubricated by booze, for the most part, and logical extensions of the hierarchies of high school, that most tangled of jungles, they’re places where kids on the verge of adulthood don’t always make the smartest of decisions (yet still learn behaviors that they’ll manage to apply later in life anyway.) But "Greek" just feels dumb and dumbed down. It's so content to wallow in the clichés and excesses that there's little room for subtly here, though God knows, subtleties can be lost when tequila is consumed by the barrel. But even in its sober moments - one or two of them - "Greek" is forced and flabby. The series premieres on ABC tonight, but it's had its ABC Family Channel outing, so there may be fans out there already; heaven help ‘em. The overview: Rusty (Jacob Zachar) heads to Cyprus-Rhodes U where his sister, Casey - Spencer Grammer, daughter of Kelsey, and who affects a surprisingly good imitation of Missi Pyle - is the big woman on campus (and at Zeta Beta.) He's a nerd. She's cool. He wants to have fun. She wants to ignore him. He decides to pledge. She grudgingly accepts his presence. He sees her boyfriend cheat on her. She has a spiritual crisis (sort of.) Will she head back into the oily embrace of former boyfriend Cappie? (Scott Michael Foster) Will slick willy Evan (Jake McDorman) and BMOC/ Casey boyfriend turn out to be a complete cad? And so on. No one (by the way) goes to class. No one talks about homework or studies or life beyond the frat/sorority. Zzzzz
Must watch or must avoid: Avoid.
Spencer: Daughter of Kelsey, but does a good Missi Pyle in "Greek"
Comments (4)
Have you watched the second episode? Because if you'd noticed, people apparently DO go to class :)
Of course they wouldn't talk about schoolwork, etc. School hadn't even started in the first episode!
I LOVE THIS SHOW IT IS FUNNY AND I THINK JAKE MCDORMAN IS REALLY HOT AND SEXY
Having been in a fraternity, I've enjoyed seeing how this show's creator pokes fun at the absurdities of Greek life, while still maintaining a palatable storyline. Mr. Gay, this show is entertainment - how much time would you like them focused on HW and what is going on in engineering lectures?
I will say that I'm wondering why ABC put this on their ABC Family channel, because the only families who will be watching this together would be fraternity and sorority families.
For twentysomethings who were at a school where the Greeks played a major role, this show is good for many laughs. It can be cheesy and cliche, but it's worth watching.
This comment is a little late, but I've just gotten into the show. I think it's really entertaining, and this is coming from someone who was part of the Greek life in college-yes things are a little cliche, but a lot of that drama and that fun-all actually happens in Greek life. It's sad if you can't just watch and enjoy the show for what it is, and it's sad if you judge sorority and fraternity life as "logical extensions of the hierarchies of high school". It was really quite amazing, and this show is so fun! Unfortunately those people who are so bitter toward it are most likely just covering up the social rejection they felt in college by the Greeks ;-)