NBC (Thursdays, 10 p.m. ET)
BY TOM GLIATTO
DRAMA
The crush of May finales, as crammed as partyers trying to strain their way through a revolving door, is over. During this lull comes Windfall, quiet and slight and, even though its characters are united by a celebratory event, lacking in effervescence. This ensemble drama stars Luke Perry as a working-class family man who happens to be one of 20-odd people, mostly friends at a party, who kick in a few bucks for lottery tickets and hit the $386 million jackpot. They're liberated zillionaires—a pizza-delivery girl who can't pay the rent, a teenager eager to break free of his father. "It's like we're our own species now," says one woman. Well, yes, the rich are different from you and me, but they never stop being human. Everyone here will be tripping up on potholes of drama. It's a gauge of how much reality programming has changed TV that I kept thinking that Mark Burnett could come in, push some situational hot buttons and produce a better show—a winner, even.
[STARS 2]
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