Intelligence (2020)

While Intelligence’s first episode could have been a skosh funnier, Mohammed, Schwimmer and the rest of the cast do such a strong job of embodying their characters that we’re eager to see where things go.

As TV comebacks go, Intelligence doesn’t have anywhere near the same impact for Schwimmer as American Crime Story did, if only because he’s not really breaking any new ground as an actor. That said, the old ground he’s treading is still pretty damned funny.

Schwimmer and Mohammed, who plays a junior analyst often treated like an assistant, bounce off of one another well, finding a lively call-and-response rhythm as one man’s brand of idiocy tangles with the other’s. ... As for Intelligence itself: I’m not eager to watch more of it specifically, but I would be curious to see what else Mohammed—who is a funny and game performer, and gradually proves a limber writer—could do with a series that’s less freighted by unavoidable comparisons to a recent, iconic piece of work.

Schwimmer is what he is: calculatedly awkward and not all that funny when Jerry is blustering and oddly disarming when Jerry is vulnerable, which isn’t often. “Intelligence” is mild tea overall, but it’s an easy binge at just over two hours for its six episodes.

Stop me when you’ve heard this one before: a baseline functional workplace full of well-meaning misfits gets a jolt from a hotheaded new guy, hijinks ensue, lather, rinse, repeat.

Schwimmer, it must be said, tears into his Intelligence role without ever pandering for audience sympathy; he's the reason to watch the series, though it's probably an insufficient reason. ... It's not there yet. It's not there because none of the other supporting characters are funny, nor are the ways they're introduced.

Awful. ... An attempt at a cringe comedy but can't find any humor in its awkward, tasteless jokes, and no amount of scenery chewing from Schwimmer can save it.