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On Television |
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 The cast of TBS' MY BOYS |
Cable's TBS rolls out two
new comedies this month
By DONNA J. PLESH
of TheColumnists.com
The thing about
comedies is that they are supposed to be funny. But, with few
exceptions (“My Name is Earl,” “The Office,”
“Everybody Hates Chris”) most comedies on television
today aren’t all that funny. Let’s face it, comedies
are hard to write and it’s much easier to crank out a script
for a police procedural (the “Law & Order” shows,
for example) than come up with the next “Seinfeld”
or “Frasier” or “Friends.”
Which brings me to two new comedies premiering this week on TBS.
Yes, the same TBS which brings us daily reruns of reruns of “Everybody
Loves Raymond” and “Friends.”
“10 Items” is a comedy set in a grocery store and,
according to the press information provided by TBS, it’s
filmed in a real, working grocery store that co-creator and star
John Lehr says “....actual customers are shopping around
us as we shoot. We’re all dressed in uniform, so people
are asking us where certain products are shelved.
Often this stuff gets into the show.” And that “stuff”
is the hook here--since the show is billed as part-scripted and
part-improvised.
The plot, such as it is, is simple: Leslie Pool (Lehr) returns
to his Ohio hometown after failing to make it in the big city.
He has inherited his father’s family-owned grocery store
and the dysfunctional staff that comes with it: the doofus stockboy,
the dignified cashier who dreams of becoming a professional ice
dancer; the butcher who wants
to be a stock car driver, the quirky customer service rep....well,
you get the picture.
Thrown into the mix is Leslie’s one-time high-school crush,
Amy (Jennifer Elise Cox), who now manages the big chain supermarket
down the street and wants to buy Leslie’s store. And she
doesn’t want to take no for an answer.
So how does this improv stuff work with the show? Lehr says he
and the co-producers “write detailed outlines of the show,
but they don’t show the script to the actors. The actors
get situations, but no lines. By taking away the script while
we shoot, the actors are better able to go down roads that are
off the beaten comedy path.”
OK. But does it work? For me, yes and no. I find Lehr and the
rest of the cast appealing...but I don’t see much of a plot
thread for future episodes. What we know for sure is that Leslie
has stood his ground and refused to sell the store to the big
chain. After that, who knows what will happen? But, I understand
this is the nature of improv-based comedy. It’s just not
my cup of tea.
My Boys, 10 p.m. (Eastern) Tuesday, Nov. 28 on TBS
“My Boys” is more of a traditional
comedy--scripted. that is. It’s about P.J. (Jordana Spiro),
a female twentysomething Chicago sports reporter who is “one
of the guys.” She hangs out with the guys in a bar, watches
sports with them, plays poker with them, and plays softball with
them. They are her family.
She’s just a regular sports-loving girl looking for the
right guy but doesn’t like playing the dating game. And
then one day she meets Bobby (Kyle Howard), a sportswriter for
a rival newspaper...and sparks fly.
Sort of. But will they or won’t they become boyfriend-girlfriend
is an underlying theme of the series.
Jim Gaffigan plays P.J.’s brother, Andy, and is one of the
boys (when he can get away from his demanding wife). The other
boys are Mike (Jamie Kaler) who works for the Chicago Cubs; Brendan
(Reid Scott) a love ‘em and leave ‘em DJ, Kenny (Michael
Bunin) who runs a sports memorabilia store, Bobby (Kyle Howard)
and P.J.’s girlie-girl girlfriend Stephanie (Kellee Stewart).
So here’s when I admit that I am a sports fan...I have known
and had guy friends like P.J.’s “boys” and I like
this show. Watching the first few episodes I began to feel comfortable
with the show and the cast.... mostly faces from numerous failed
TV shows. (Though Gaffigan is easily and instantly recognizable
from his many TV series roles.)
This is not a laugh-a-minute, in your face comedy--it’s
more low key and character-driven, and that works for me. Definitely
worth a watch--even if you aren’t a sports fan!
TV NOTES:
Fans of BBC-America’s “The Worst Week of My Life”
can rejoice...since the seven-part season two is coming Dec.
1 at 9:40 p.m. Eastern (10:40 p.m. Pacific). Howard (Ben Miller)
and Mel (Sarah Alexander) managed to overcome all the odds--
and obstacles--in season one and get married. Now it’s season
two and Howard and Mel are about to move into a new home and
are expecting their first child. But, like season one...it’s
not going to be easy. There’s Mel’s grandmother’s
funeral, a
disaster at their new home and a night in jail for Howard.
©2006 by Donna J.
Plesh. The cast photos are courtesy of TBS. This column first
posted Nov. 29, 2006.
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