The Goodwin Games Preview: Fox's Comedy Starring Becki Newton And Scott Foley

Sibling relationships is a common theme for two of Fox's new comedy series headed for the 2012-2013 primetime lineup. Headed to Fox this fall is Ben and Kate, a show about a single mom whose brother decides to stick around and help her raise her daughter. And set for midseason is The Goodwin Games, a series that follows three estranged siblings brought back together when their father dies and leaves them his fortune… with a catch.

Coming from Carter Bays, Craig Thomas and Chris Harris, The Goodwin Games (or Goodwin Games as we're all likely to refer to it) has Ugly Betty's Becki Newton (currently on How I Met Your Mother), Better with You's Jake Lacy and Felicity's Scott Foley (who can also be seen in the upcoming season of True Blood) playing siblings who don't really get along so well and never have. Below is the cast photo and Fox's full description for the series…

THE GOODWIN GAMES, the inventive new comedy from the executive producers of “How I Met Your Mother,” Carter Bays, Craig Thomas and Chris Harris, is slated for midseason. Starring Scott Foley (“Grey’s Anatomy,” “Felicity”), Becki Newton (“Ugly Betty”) and Jake Lacy (“Better With You”), the family comedy tells the story of three estranged siblings who return home after the loss of their beloved father (guest star Beau Bridges, “The Descendants”), and unexpectedly find themselves poised to inherit more than $20 million – if, and only if, they can adhere to their late father’s trivial wishes.

The trailer does a much better job of showing us what these people are about and the situation they're in, which may have them competing against each other (and some other guy) for their father's money.

It really seems like the show is set up to feature a lot of flashbacks. I'm either saying that because it comes from the creators of How I Met Your Mother, or because, like HIMYM, the set-up for the series has the characters poised to do a lot of looking back, with a trivia game designed to focus on the siblings' history. Whether we see a lot of flashbacks remains to be seen, but there are some in the trailer. So, I see a connection here and one I actually really like, but hope doesn't paint the series into a corner in the way HIMYM has somewhat, with everyone waiting for Ted to meet the "mother" (a plot I'm more or less indifferent about by comparison to the appealing dynamic of the group of friends and their story). Goodwin Games looks like fun, though. I'll be looking forward to seeing this one on the Midseason line-up, assuming Fox doesn't manage to find a place for it sooner.

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View Fox's full 2012-2013 Fall lineup here.

Kelly West
Assistant Managing Editor

Kelly joined CinemaBlend as a freelance TV news writer in 2006 and went on to serve as the site’s TV Editor before moving over to other roles on the site. At present, she’s an Assistant Managing Editor who spends much of her time brainstorming and editing feature content on the site. She an expert in all things Harry Potter, books from a variety of genres (sci-fi, mystery, horror, YA, drama, romance -- anything with a great story and interesting characters.), watching Big Brother, frequently rewatching The Office, listening to Taylor Swift, and playing The Sims.