NEW SHOWS: “Big Day” + “My Boys”
With all of these comedies coming out, I kind of don’t know what to do with myself. I’ve been complaining for months (years?) that the situation comedy has all but vanished from the nightly lineups, and then what do they do but go and release three of them in a week (I thought My Boys premiered last night, but it turns out that it was actually last week. More on this later).
Big Day is a holdover from the fall, that finally gives Help Me Help You a companion piece during ABC’s nine o’clock hour. The premise is: half-hour sitcom about a couple’s ZANY wedding day meets 24’s real-time storytelling motif, but without the quad-boxes and creepy clock (Big Day’s clock is quite charming in its whiteness and lower-thirdness).
The show itself is really what a situation comedy should be (i.e. comedy derived from situations, not jokes). It isn’t hilarious so much as it is fun, though I will say that I laughed out loud a couple times when Wendy Malick’s character said, “Caesar, is a ridiculous salad!” I don’t care who you are, that’s funny. The show is also a solid improvement over Help Me Help You, which has yet to really impress me outside of its casting Judd Apatow in the role of one of Ted Danson’s psychiatrist friends. ABC has been exclusively known for its dramas for the past three seasons (and its dancing stars)– perhaps this January, once Knights of Prosperity premieres, it might be fully back in the comedy game (though According to Jim doesn’t help).
TBS’s second (or first) new comedy this month is My Boys, a charming tom-boy-meets-boy story set in Chicago. After the jump I’ll tell you more…
With 10 Items or Less, My Boys gives TBS a solid foothold as a more adult alternative to Comedy Central (not to be confused with adult contemporary). The series itself is occasionally funny, and while it definitely falls into the comedy category, its really just more of a good show. Single life, plus dating, plus quick-witted friends has been done to death, but here things feel considerably more natural than in most early-thirty-something worlds. Perhaps its because the show takes place in Chicago. I feel like Chicago is good for sitcoms because you can actually believe a sports-writer (or teacher, or bartender) could have a well-decorated, spacious apartment. New York City sitcoms want us to believe that three non-professionals can live in a luxury loft furnished by Crate and Barrel. This is not the case. In Chicago, maybe. It’s the midwest. There’s space out there. Seriously. Lots and lots of space.
The magic recipe for My Boys is that it’s a show created by a woman, told from a women’s perspective, and yet surrounds the main character with men and baseball. I don’t know if there’s a better way to nab a cross-gender audience. The biggest complaint is it’s yet another show where the main character narrates her own life. If we’re smart enough to realize TBS has original programming, we’re smart enough to not need voice-over exposition.
November 30th, 2006 at 5:11 am
My Boys is Love Monkey with a chick and baseball…
December 2nd, 2006 at 11:12 am
My Boys is definitely a little bit overnarrated (they are obviously going for the sex and the city audience) . . . but I am interested in watching the show again. I think that the shows strongest point is Jordana Spiro who comes across as really natural and comfortable in the lead role.
December 9th, 2006 at 1:14 am
I feel like the lessons the main girl in My Boys learns every week should have been learned a long time ago given her age and situation. And thus, I feel like the show is designed for someone we will call “Miss Stupid.”