1600 Penn: “The Skiplantic Ocean” (Episode 1.02)

As is evident in the title of 1600 Penn’s second episode, “The Skiplantic Ocean,” the president’s obnoxious, slacker son is ever-present in the proceedings once again. It’s never a good thing when the most frustrating part of your show is the main character. Skip isn’t as overwhelming as he was in last week’s episode, but you know it’s bad when Skip spends half of the episode in a pool and you can’t help but think that the show might be better off if he accidentally drowned.
It’s not that Josh Gad, who plays Skip, isn’t talented; it’s just that the role he is portraying is so over-the-top, so frustrating and so irritatingly distracting. The best excuse for Skip is that he is being used as a distracting from the bland writing that screams, “we’re a kooky First Family!”
While Skip is the biggest problem in 1600 Penn, the rest of the cast isn’t much better. Most glaringly awkward is Bill Pullman as President Dale Gilchrest. He doesn’t pull off the lines he’s given that are supposed to be funny, and makes the president look more incompetent than the most powerful man in the world with a humorous side.
Some of the show’s largest flaws are apparent immediately with this episode. Becca, the president’s daughter, has been discovered to be pregnant by the press. Becca and stepmom/First Lady Emily, played by Jenna Elfman, come clean to the president before the press can get to him.