In the US: Tuesdays, 10/9c, ABC
Lucky 7 sees a group of regular workers in a petrol station win big on the lottery. However, each has secrets and hey, guess what? Money don’t make you happy but if a group of people all share in a unique event, that group will end up closer together.
If that sounds familiar, it’s because as well as being a very trite message that’s been done dozens of times before, it’s basically the same as lottery-winners show Windfall, as well as shows like The Nine and Six Degrees.
Strictly speaking, though it’s an adaptation of the not very good BBC show The Syndicate, and if you’re familiar with that show, despite the changes and relocation to the US, you’ll be able to see a lot of the DNA still in it. There’s the “fat people are intrinsically funny and losers” message that grated from the original. There’s the mother who wants to hide her identity. There’s the workers who stage a robbery at their own store. And so on.
It’s improved in several ways. It’s more ethnically diverse than the original, which despite being set in Leeds, somehow managed to avoid having an Asian character in the line-up – something Lucky 7, while still dwelling on the arranged marriage, Indians become doctors or work as cabbies, etc, aspects that all US series tend to have, exceeds considerably by having an entire Asian family front and centre. It looks like the anthology series nature of the original show, which focused on a character per episode, has been dispensed with, too. These characters are also appealing, unlike the original’s.
But this is a tired story and Lucky 7 doesn’t add anything to it. I can’t imagine wanting to watch the second episode, but you never know.
