Mr. Sunshine

Yeah, that’s some fun superlative, PeaCH, but it kind of falls apart when you consider every sitcom on UPN and the WB during their first few years. Coupling is another abysmal one.

I remember that one. The crazy part is that it was an almost line for line re-shoot of the British one (they probably substituted some Britishisms), but the energy just wasn’t there. It was abysmal.

I thought this was OK. Some of Janney’s scenes were the funniest moments of the episode, but on the other hand she also had some of the worst lines and clunkiest scenes as well, stuff that felt really forced or tacked on.

The interaction between Perry’s character and everyone else really makes the show, but that’s what Matthew Perry does best. Characters I’d like to see stick around include the guy from “Vegas” and Hurley form LOST. I could care less about the son, who’s character seemed to be some weird homage to Chris Farley in Tommy Boy. I also wonder if they’ll keep the strange assistant girl or turn that into a running gag with different oddball assistants every few episodes.

The scene at the end, which served only to setup a one-liner, was pretty bad. I hope that’s not the overall tone the show is going for, because with Perry as the lead I expect something a little smarter.

The assistant is part of the main cast, so no, they won’t be doing a Murphy Brown.

I said “that I’ve seen”. I sort of pride myself for not just falling for every shiny new TV show that comes along. That said, and against my better judgement, I gave it a chance last night along with my wife who was a big Friends fan. And to her credit she was right about Cougar Town which I happen to like. But this Chandler Bing II is full of fail for me. Even my wife didn’t like it… and this sort of sit-com is right up her alley.

So, is anyone else still watching this?

Feels like a bit of a one-trick-pony and its getting a bit boring… Getting the feeling this show isn’t going to last too long.

It may not, but less due to ratings than due to ABC having enough sitcoms going into next year. If they decide to expand their sitcom offerings by another hour for 11-12, Mr Sunshine and Better With You may get picked up. As it is, it gets better ratings than renewed shows like The Middle and Cougar Town.

I actually enjoy it. I enjoy that the main character isn’t meant to be at all likable. On the other hand, you’re meant to like the people in Perfect Couples, but each of them deserves to die screaming. It helps that I like Matthew Perry, though his hair on this show is getting out of control.

Matthew Perry is trying, but the material is pretty bad. It feels like ABC smuggled a bunch of multi-camera scripts out of CBS and shot them single camera to cover their tracks. Actually, it’s more like an unproduced Suite Life with Zack and Cody spin-off about kids who run a sports arena that was adapted into a Matthew Perry vehicle.

To me the show feels like a Better Off Ted knock off. I’m enjoying it, not quite as much as BOT but in the neighborhood. What the show needs are fake event commercials similar to BOT’s Veridian Dynamics stuff. And they need to stay away from things that happen outside the workplace. Ted was best after we stopped following Ted home. Stick to the office, hold outlandish events and have the employees hatch unrealistic outlandish plans and schemes. This week had a flash of the sign outside showing that the Smurfs on Ice were this week and next week was Porn! with some sort of Adult Entertainment show… If the next episode doesn’t take place during the Adult Entertainment show, the writers have failed.

I actually liked tonight’s episode more than I have the other ones-- Perry’s line delivery was spot on, and it was kinda cool to see his character weirded out by/undergo the process of becoming more human.

I don’t get the Better Off Ted comparison (or, as I like to call it, Not as Good as Andy Richter Controls the Universe) outside of Andrea Anders; Ted was actually a likable, sympathetic character. Ben’s supposed to be a self-absorbed, narcissistic jerk, and Ted was never played that way. Furthermore, Ben is showing signs of actually evolving, which is something Ted really never did.