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Cox is on a perfect vehicle for herself; she is the primary character yet the other cast members are talented enough that they can easily share the weight of the stories. This was the issue Perry faced with Mr. Sunshine. Despite the marvelous surrounding talent, the first three episodes placed too much focus upon him. Based upon its description, my expectation was that Go On would be a similar situation. I am pleased to report that my expectations were subverted repeatedly even as Perry was involved in every scene.

Go On is the latest attempt by NBC to create a clone of The Office to anchor the schedule for years to come. This is particularly important given that The Office is in its final season. Amusingly, NBC has had the perfect show on their schedule for a while now; for whatever reason, Community was never embraced by the network. This created a self-fulfilling prophecy wherein it has not been embraced by mainstream television viewers, either. Parks and Rec is similarly eclectic yet also struggles to exist beyond niche programming. And so the quest continues with Go On.

The premise for Go On is a cheat. Perry portrays a recently widowed man facing a company mandate to complete grief counseling. Coping with loss is the most fragile aspect of human nature. Anyone suffering from such emotional trauma is vulnerable and thereby more appealing. This is the reason why men in romantic comedies are almost always widowed rather than divorced.

If Tom Hanks is a single father trying to overcome adversity, he is worthy of Meg Ryan’s blind devotion. If Hanks is divorced, he’s presumed single because he banged a stripper, his secretary, the nanny or all three (and then some). Every character in Go On is Tom Hanks in Sleepless in Seattle, especially Matthew Perry.

Through a brief but wonderful montage, Go On reveals the hidden pain that drives all of the supporting players on the show. We discover early in the pilot that Perry’s wife has died within the past month. The reveal as to how and why is deftly saved for later. Rather than leave this character, Ryan King, alone with his grief, the sports talk radio host is thrust into a group of similarly suffering individuals.

King quickly befriends them by creating a March Sadness tournament wherein everyone compares their war wounds to determine who has suffered the most. On the surface, this sounds terrible and yet the scene is poignantly humorous from start to finish. There is even an upset to embrace the tournament brackets format. Through this bonding exercise, the grieving widower has stumbled into a room comprised of his new family, the people who will help him enter the next phase of his life and vice versa.

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