Primetime programming is cyclical and situation comedies are
hot right now. The big four network have
all busted a new batch and many of them feature strong female leads. It was not that long ago when nearly are sit
coms were darn near unwatchable but the networks seem to be putting more time
and effort into them as the sit coms are much cheaper to produce than
procedural dramas. They also tend to do
better in syndication and DVD sales.
Here is a look at just a few.
2 BROKE GIRLS (Mondays,
7:30 CST, CBS)
This program with the cherry spot in CBS’ powerful Monday
night lineup is probably my favorite and I think it has the most room to grow
into something long term. Its premise is
a new take on the odd couple pairing with Kat Dennings as the hard working,
blue collar, street-smart girl surviving by plowing away at two part time
jobs. Little known Beth Behrs is a
spoiled, naive, well educated, former heiress, fish-out-of-water waif trying to
find her way in a suddenly real world.
Dennings and Behrs have good chemistry and play well off each
other. Dennings delivers her lines with
acerbic wit and a small, sly, smile. Her
character has little faith in the world or her future. Behrs is bubbly and optimistic and is
fighting to remain upbeat after her fate took a cruel turn. The supporting cast is in need of upgrades
across the board for the program to grow.
The two main characters can certainly drive this show but they need help. CBS sticks to what they do best with the
classic filmed-in-front-of-a-live-studio-audience thing but I’m wondering when
CBS will join the new century and break out of this mold. With some tweaking in the cast, this show is
funny enough and likeable enough to survive.
Oh, one more note to the folks who produce this program – lose the horse
and the lame laugh track.
SUBUGATORY (Wednesdays,
7:30 CST, ABC)
If you love satirical comedy then Suburgatory is the one for you.
It serves it up by the plateful.
Jane Levy is a teenager being raised by single dad, played by the dry
Jeremy Sisto, and is ushered from the bright lights of Manhattan,
to the quiet life of suburbia in an effort to save her innocence. She drops into the fake, plastic world where
breast implants and botox are more common than aspirin. Think Desperate
Housewives without the drama. Levy
is funny and witty but I’m not yet sure Sisto can be funny. Cheryl Hines is a hoot, though, and plays the
flirty soccer mom with flair and enthusiasm.
She steals every scene she’s in.
The program has room to grow as the characters around the neighbor are
fleshed out. I laughed throughout the
first two episodes and it is a nice fit in between the underrated The Middle and the brilliant Modern Family. I’ve seen some complaints about the unwieldy
title but Subugatory is satirically
perfect with a terrific title.
NEW GIRL (Tuesdays,
8:00 CST, FOX)
Zooey Deschanel plays doe-eyed, quirky comedy like her
sister plays doe-eyed, quirky drama on Bones. Her character Jess has a generous degree of
naiveté and general weirdness. Jess catches
her boyfriend of four years sleeping with another woman and moves out
immediately but has nowhere to go. She
answers an ad for a roommate and ends up moving in with 3 guys, each with his
own set of problems. A couple of the
guys are overplayed, especially Schmidt.
If this show is to survive, the male characters need to be rounded out a
little better. Deschanel’s quirky,
crazy, innocent act is sweet and funny thus far, but I’m afraid it will grow
stale after a while, especially if the guys’ characters aren’t improved a
bit. Deschanel can carry this program
for awhile because she is absolutely is believable as this person so I’m
willing to give the show a chance to improve.
You should too.
WHITNEY (Thursdays,
8:30 CST, NBC)
This is by far the weakest of this bunch but not as bad as I
thought it would be. Whitney Cummings
seems to be a polarizing person but she is improving week to week as an
actor. The show is supposed to be taken
from her life and has shown a bit of promise.
The laugh track seems to be more intrusive than usual, though. I hate laugh tracks because I don’t like to
be told something is funny when it is not.
Let me decide what I think is funny.
The laugh track here seems to go off after every line, regardless at the
degree of humor and it is very annoying.
The boyfriend is played by Chris D’Elia and he is the most funny and
comfortable cast member. Again, the
supporting cast really seems to be forcing their lines and no real chemistry
has yet to be developed. I would love to
see some mass improvement here. Cummings
herself can be very funny so I am willing to giver her a chance to improve her
acting. Remember how bad Ray Romano was
the first season of Everyone Loves
Raymond? There is room for a lot of
growth here, but I will not be as patient here because the product isn’t as
good for me.
Take a peek at my sports blog at
jawssportsandstuff.blogspot.com and get twitter updates for both sites
@jawsrecliner
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