The Grinder (TV series)

The series follows television actor Dean Sanderson Jr., who returns to his hometown of Boise, Idaho, after his long-running fictional television series, The Grinder, ends after eight seasons. Though Dean is not a lawyer, he believes that his experience playing one on television makes him qualified to practice law. He decides to join his family's law firm, Jefferson, Sanderson, & Holt, much to the chagrin of his younger brother Stewart, who is an actual lawyer. Stewart and a new hire named Claire are the only people who seem to comprehend that Dean's television experience does not qualify him for a job at a real law firm. ==Cast==

Main • Rob Lowe as Dean Sanderson Jr., an actor who played the role of attorney Mitch Grinder on the long-running fictional legal drama series The Grinder • Fred Savage as Stewart Sanderson, Dean's younger brother who is a real life attorney Recurring • Steve Little as Todd, an attorney of questionable skill who works at Jefferson, Sanderson, & Holt, and is also a huge fan of Dean's • John Owen Lowe as Joel Zadack, Lizzie's boyfriend, they eventually break up after becoming more comfortable hanging out with her family • Jason Alexander as Cliff Bemis, the creator and head writer for The Grinder TV show, whose constant disagreements with Dean led to Dean leaving the show • Kumail Nanjiani as Leonard, a prosecuting attorney who gets humiliated by Dean in the courtroom • Timothy Olyphant as a fictionalized version of himself who becomes Dean's nemesis; he assumes the starring role of Rake Grinder on The Grinder: New Orleans after convincing Dean to quit the show, and then begins dating Claire • Maya Rudolph as Jillian, Stewart and Dean's therapist, who later becomes Dean's girlfriend, much to Stewart's chagrin • Matt Hobby as Pat Landy • Kenny Lucas as Cory Manler, a former Sanderson & Yao client who sues the firm for malpractice • Keith Lucas as Rory Manler, twin brother of Cory Manler ==Episodes==

Critical reception On Rotten Tomatoes the season has a rating of 93%, based on 57 reviews, with an average rating of 7.4/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "The Grinders humor is buoyed by Rob Lowe and Fred Savage's chemistry as a hilarious new odd couple." On Metacritic, the season has a score of 71 out of 100, based on 23 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". As the first season progressed, the show began to become more popular with critics. Many critics compared The Grinder to shows such as Arrested Development, Community, and Better Off Ted, all of which were shows that had small audiences in their time slots on broadcast television, but received largely positive critical reception because of their characters and writing. Accolades ==References==