Love Shack (2016 Television Series)

Love Shack is a 2016 american sitcom which premiered on October 3, 2016 on The CW. The series centers around Joshua Filler, a 24-year old male who starts running a hotel called "Love Shack". It originally belonged to his father, who is now dead after battling cancer for far too long. He meets Jess, a 22-year old woman who is fresh out of college. She helps Joshua run the hotel. They eventually fall in love and start dating. The series premiered to 1.84 million viewers and was met with mixed to positive reviews. The show is the third highest rated show on The CW and the fourth highest viewed out of 15 shows.

The show will return for a second season in 2018.

Premise

The series centers around Joshua Filler, a 24-year old male who starts running a hotel called "Love Shack". It originally belonged to his father, who is now dead after battling cancer for far too long. He meets Jess, a 22-year old woman who is fresh out of college. She helps Joshua run the hotel. They eventually fall in love and start dating. Joshua's BBF, Yara has a crush on him. Darrin is a friend of Jess and he has feelings for her.

Cast

Main

Jonny Weston as Joshua Filler

Teresa Palmer as Jess Philip

Andrew Garfield as Darrin Folk

Cobie Smulders as Yara Few

Recurring

Neil Patrick Harris as Marvin (4 episodes)

Bianca Kajlich as July Wednesday (3 episodes)

Emma Stone

Production

On March 17, 2014, The CW announced that they had a new series made by Arzaan Mazhar on their development slate. Later that day, Arzaan Mazhar shared the news on his twitter account that the show would air in the 2015-16 television season. On May 14, 2015, The CW announced their schedule for the season and Love Shack was noticeably absent. On May 17, 2015, The CW announced that they would not be moving forward with Untitled Arzaan Mazhar/The CW Sitcom but also said that the show could possibly come to fruition later on.

On September 19, 2014, CBS announced that the show would resume production and will be called Lovebirds. CBS cancelled the show just days before filming the pilot.

On May 22, 2016, The CW announced that due to the success of their rom-coms such as Jane The Virgin and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend , they would take another shot at, what was then under the working title of Untitled Arzaan Mazhar Rom-Com. The series was finally ordered on June 23, 2016 under the title of Love Shack. The CW ordered 10 episodes for the first season.

The show is filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

On January 8, 2017, The CW ordered a second season. On April 4, 2017, the second season was given a 13-episode order. On April 5, 2017, it was announced that Emma Stone would join the cast for season 2 as Yara's arch-rival.

Series overview

Season		Episodes	Originally aired
			Season premiere	Season finale
	1	10	October 3, 2016	February 13, 2017
	2	13	February 5, 2018	TBA

Episodes

Season 1 (2016-17)

• The first season will consist of 10 episodes.

№	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original airdate	Viewers (in million)
1.	"Pilot"	Arzaan Mazhar		October 3, 2016	2.14
Joshua is now running his deceased father's hotel. He hires a woman names Jess to help him out. He starts to develop feelings for her and he starts becoming awkward around her. She later starts suspecting that something strange is afoot and finally builds enough confidence to confront him about it. He denies anything that she says until she threatens to quit. He comes up with a lie and tells she. She believes him and moves on. Meanwhile, Joshua's BFF, Yara, tries to write a confession letter to him because she has feeling for him. However, she suffers from writer's block. She goes for a walk in the park and meets a guy named Marvin. They talk and eventually go for coffee. Absent: Andrew Garfield as Darrin Folk
2.	"The Bachelorettes"	Chuck Lorre	Arzaan Mazhar	October 10, 2016	1.81
Jess meets Yara and they hit it off. They go to a bar and hang out. 2 guys buy them drinks and they face the possibility of a foursome. Neither Yara or Jess feel comfortable and excuse them selves. They both go to the toilets and escape using the window. However, they get caught by security and they end up having to spend the night in jail due to a misunderstanding. Joshua goes on a blind date with a girl named Bridget. She makes it clear that she is not looking for anything serious. While Joshua is freshening up for Bridget before they possibly "do it", Jess calls him up to bail them out. He tries to explain the situation to the cops using information which he got from Yara but the cops don't believe him. Somehow, he ends up in jail with them after the cops learn he was driving under the influence. Jess tells Joshua to call a friend of hers, Darrin. He does so and Darrin bails them out. Guest Star: Bridget Mendler as Bridget, Rick Glassman as Waiter, Bianca Kajlich as Security, Ron Funches as Cop #1 and Chris D'Elia as Cop #2 with David Fynn as Cop #3.
3.	"Just A Crazy Love Triangle"	Chuck Lorre	Jon Blue	October 17, 2016	1.79
At work, Darrin confesses his love to Jess. She is surprised but overjoyed at the same time as she too has feelings for him. Joshua finds out and falls into a temporary depression. Yara invites him for drinks and when he arrives at the bar, she is nowhere to be seen. He goes to her apartment and she is there but she is on a date with Marvin. Joshua gets a call from Jess. She tells him that she knows that he has feelings for her. He is confused only to find out that Jess was joking but now she knows that he actually does have feelings for her. She goes over to his apartment and kisses him.
4.	"Bridge Between 2 Worlds"	Chuck Lorre	Arzaan Mazhar	October 24, 2016	1.74
Joshua and Jess go on a date and they find out how different they are. Meanwhile, Marvin & Yara go on their third date. Marvin proposes to Yara and she says yes. She asks Jess to be her bridesmaid and she asks Joshua to walk her down the aisle. Both of them say yes but think that she is making a huge mistake as she is getting married after only knowing Marvin for 1 month. Jess confronts her about this and they get into a big fight. Meanwhile, Darrin finds out about Joshua & Jess and he punches Joshua in the face and they too get into a fight. During their fight, Yara finds out that she is pregnant which causes her to freak out. She tells Jess and she also tells her that she might get an abortion. Jess tells her to keep the baby because if she doesn't, she will regret what she did. She eventually decides to keep the baby & she tells Marvin who gets excited & kisses her very passionately.
5.	"The Night of The Fights"	Chuck Lorre	Arzaan Mazhar	October 31, 2016	1.71
Jess decides to wear a couples costume with Joshua for Halloween but he tells her that he feels that things are moving way too fast. Jess thinks he's being ridiculous and they get into their first official fight. Jess takes the fight as a sign that they are just not meant to be together however, Yara tells her that she is the one who is being ridiculous. Yara invites Jess to her place to watch a new movie and Jess finds the confession letter that Yara wrote to Joshua. They once again get into a fight. Jess texts Darrin about this but by accident, she texts it to Joshua. When Joshua reads the text he is shocked. Yara finally tells Jess that she no longer has feelings for him. They make up and Yara finds out that she is having a girl. Absent: Andrew Garfield as Darrin Folk
6.	"The Parents Are In Town!"	Chuck Lorre	Arzaan Mazhar	November 7, 2016	1.68
Joshua apologizes to Jess and talks to Yara about her feelings for him. Jess thinks what he did was very nice and treats him to dinner. She also says that her parents are coming into town and that they want to meet him. He agrees to meet them and pick them up from the airport. Meanwhile, Marvin and Yara try to find a wedding planner but they cannot. Yara is left with no options except asking Jess to plan the wedding. Once she asks her, Jess gets hit by a wave of excitement. While picking them up from the airport, Joshua realizes that he has never traveled & decides to go to London. He asks Jess if she wants to go with him but she says no which makes him sad. Jess' parents find Joshua strange and don't approve of him. He says that their is nothing to worry about as he is going to break up with Jess. He says that they have been drifting apart due to their differences and that the fact that she is not going to London with him was the final nail in the coffin. Jess' breaks down and storms out. Darrin is there to comfort her and turns out to be her rebound.
7.	"True Love Stands Strong"	Chuck Lorre	Arzaan Mazhar	January 9, 2017	1.82
2 months after the breakup of Joshua and Jess, Joshua is now dating a woman named July. They are in a committed relationship and Jess is dating Darrin. Joshua finally has enough money to go to London and he plans on going there with July, however, she has to work and take care of her 7-year-old son who she shares with her ex-husband. He says goodbye to all his friends (except Jess) and he goes to the airport. Yara informs Jess about this who claims that she no longer has any feelings at all for Joshua but after thinking about it, she decides to go to the airport and make up with him. However, there is a lot of traffic so she could possibly not get there in time.
8.	"Time For A Leap of Faith"	Chuck Lorre	Arzaan Mazhar	January 16, 2017	1.75
When Jess arrives at the airport she tries to find Joshua but she fears it's too late. She checks if the fight has left and it has. She asks an air hostess if she had seen Joshua and she says that he is in the lobby after missing his flight. She finds him and confesses her love to him, however, before leaving he proposed to July who said yes. Jess leaves, heartbroken and empty. The next day, she is in her apartment, passed out after her scotch binge. She wakes up and hears the door bell. When she opens the door, she is shocked to find Joshua there. He takes her in his arms and kisses her. When she asks him what happened, he says that he broke it off with July but they are still good friends. Jess decides to delay her possible breakup with Darrin without Joshua's knowledge.
9.	"Love Pentagons Forming"	Chuck Lorre	Arzaan Mazhar	January 30, 2017	1.72
Joshua tries to come up with something romantic to do for Valentine's Day but he can't so he asks Yara to help him. Jess goes on a date with Darrin. She acts strange which makes Darrin suspect something. He puts together some evidence and puts together a theory that she is pregnant. He starts treating her very well which makes Jess feel special so much so that she decided to once again, postpone her breakup with him. Yara tells Joshua to tell Jess that he loves her but he claims that he's just not that into her which makes Yara happy as she might still have a shot with him if her marriage to Marvin does not work out.
10.	"Time For The Cold Truth"	Chuck Lorre	Arzaan Mazhar	February 13, 2017	2.01	It is the day of Yara's wedding. Jess & Joshua go together. Yara gets cold feet and needs Jess' support and Joshua tells Marvin that he has been offered a job which is overseas. Jess comforts Yara and she finally gets married. After the reception, Joshua tells Jess about the job offer. She expresses mixed feelings which makes Joshua unsure if he should take the job. He decides to take it and says his goodbyes to everyone.

Reception

The series was met with mostly positive reviews from television critics. On Rotten Tomatoes the season has a rating of 79%, based on 8 reviews, with an average rating of 6.8/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Love Shack sadly fails to recapture the feeling of last year's freshman rom-com, No Tomorrow however, it does hit it out of the park with most of it's jokes and it's main couple have strong chemistry." On Metacritic, the season has a score of 62 out of 100, based on 23 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews reviews"

Awards and Nominations

The show was nominated for Best Series - Musical or Comedy in the Golden Globe Awards 2017. The series was nominated for three People's Choice Awards, the first being Favorite New TV Comedy, but lost to the critically hated, Man With A Plan . Teresa Palmer was nominated for Favorite Comedic TV Actress but lost to Sofia Vergara & Cobie Smulders was nominated for Favorite Actress In A New TV Series but lost to Kristen Bell. For the Kid's Choice Awards 2017, the show was nominated for Favorite Family Show but lost to Fuller House.