Like Michael J. Fox and Sean Hayes and their shows at NBC, Robin Williams also made his grand return to television this year with CBS’s “The Crazy Ones.” However, unlike Fox and Hayes, Williams might be sticking around for more than just one season if his show continues to improve the way it has in the past three weeks.

“The Crazy Ones” is centered around the advertising agency of “Lewis, Roberts & Roberts,” run by the charismatic Simon Roberts (Williams) and his straight-laced daughter Sydney, played by Sarah Michelle Gellar. 

Gellar is also returning to television after leading the unintentionally-comical “Ringer” two years ago. The two work together to create campaigns for some well-known brands with the help of some celebrities. For example, the pilot features Kelly Clarkson recording a jingle for McDonalds, and Josh Groban guest-starred in the seventh episode.

The rest of the creative team includes James Wolk as art director/office flirt Zach Cropper, Hamish Linklater as copywriter Andrew Keanelly and Amanda Setton as Lauren Slotsky, the office assistant who might just be a distant cousin of Gina Linetti (the administrator in Fox’s “Brooklyn Nine-Nine“).

As I said above, the show got off to a rough start. The first three episodes were forgettable and the jokes did not click. The show reached a turning point in episode four, where the group is stuck in the firm overnight trying to come up with a pitch for a meeting the next morning. It was in this episode we got to see how much chemistry the cast has with each other.

It would be interesting to know what lines are in the script and what is adlibbed on set. I am pretty sure the writers just give Williams free reign to do whatever he wants during a scene and have the other cast members react to it. (Wolk is always game for playing along. In a scene that had to have been improvised, he and Williams transform themselves into Southern belles and sashay towards a client.)

“The Crazy Ones” can be entertaining, but it is not a “can’t miss it” show, at least not yet. I had not seen it until I had to write this review, as I tend to withhold watching new shows until the network orders additional episodes. (After losing “The Unusuals” and Wolk’s gone-to-soon “Lone Star,” I cannot handle the disappointment.) I will continue to watch episodes while working on homework, but it is not something I am going to make time for in my already-packed primetime television schedule. If it gets a season two pickup, maybe I will be able to pencil it in.

3/5