CHANDLER BING AND KITTY SANCHEZ RETURN TO OUR TV SCREENS: I wanted to talk a little bit about two new sitcoms--Mad Love and Mr. Sunshine--which are different in tone (Mad Love wants to be a fairytale/love story, Mr. Sunshine is far more cynical), style (Mad Love is modified multi-camera in the vein of HIMYM, Mr. Sunshine is single camera), and premise (Mad Love is a pretty blatant HIMYM clone, while Mr. Sunshine wants to be The Office if a more cynical/bitter Jim Halpert were the lead)--but have the same central problem--a bunch of likable people involved that they can't seem to figure out what to do with.
I thought the first Mr. Sunshine was better than the Mad Love pilot, if just for "Allison Janney hopped up on painkillers," which is on my list of "things that are never not funny" (prior evidence), but Mad Love may have more potential--the pilot went through major tinkering, with Sarah Chalke replacing Minka Kelly (trade up in acting ability) and Judy Greer replacing Lizzy Caplan (which requires rethinking the character from "sarcastic outsider" to "self-sabotaging bundle of nerves")--so susbsequent episodes may find better ways to use those two in particular. I'll give both at least a couple of more episodes off the goodwill I have for the cast involved and because of goodwill for their respective leadins. Based on Twitter, seemed a lot of you quite liked Mr. Sunshine, but didn't hear much about Mad Love. Talk amongst youselves.
I watched both premieres, found parts of both enjoyable, but not at all to the point of "I'm never missing this show again!" Definitely agree with those who say these are likable performers (in both shows) but the writing needs to cohere more around them -- even if it's, as I believe Sepinwall suggested, only to aspire to the ensemble-comedy-about-hanging-around-as-an-ensemble that Cougar Town has become. Also, I think both pilots had to do a LOT of setup work constructing and explaining the relationships (Mad Love by necessity, since the relationships ARE the concept) -- maybe from the second episodes forward, the shows can get to work on actually mining humor from the relationships.
ReplyDeleteThere is no choice. I can't not watch Allison Janney if she's on my TV. I will be watching every episode of Mr. Sunshine that airs, especially if it airs after Modern Family.
ReplyDeleteI didn't watch Mad Love, but it's possible I will in the future. I usually just leave CBS on after HIMYM because my husband likes comedies and I'm waiting for him to go to bed so I can watch DVR'd dramas.
Mad Love was a real thing? I saw the beginning of that last night, and thought it was some weird show-within-a-show on HIMYM. We watched some PBS documentary about elephants instead.
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed Mr. Sunshine and will keep it in the rotation for a while. I'm with Christy - it's Allison Janney, so I'm in.
ReplyDeleteDidn't try Mad Love. Didn't look like anything beyond a conventional dull sitcom, and most reviews didn't even give it that "promising" label. If it turns out to be good, i'll catch up this summer.
Like Christy, I watched Mr. Sunshine for Janney (and for Perry, who I will always have a crush on -- and for those on twitter, he's there too @langfordperry) and didn't watch Mad Love. Mad Love didn't have enough about it to make me want to add another show to my Tivo. Mr. Sunshine, I'll stick with, and depending on how it improves, it may end up higher in my priority list, but for now I think I'll save a few up, and watch them when paying bills or doing other around the house chores that could use some entertainment in the background.
ReplyDeleteGuest was me. Oops.
ReplyDeleteMr. Sunshine was a pleasant surprise. Enough good laughs to make me forgive the early "finding-its-way" troubles that seems to plague almost every good new show (off the top of my head, Parks and Rec, Cougar Town, The Office U.S. to some extent). It seems if there's enough funny in the shows that aren't quite working, a writing team can eventually hang around long enough to rediscover itself and become stronger. In Mr. Sunshine's favor, my wife pointed out that the original concept behind Mr. Sunshine (guy working at an arena and crazy stuff happens around him and to him) is better than that of Cougar Town (woman likes to date younger men... which was dropped to be "funny group hangs around and antics ensue").
ReplyDeleteOut of curiosity, let's say Mr. Sunshine is a moderate success. The Middle and Modern Family are locks for Wednesday. What happens to Cougar Town, which has had a decent following and was only moved so they could try out the new show? Does ABC go the route of NBC Thursdays and make a 3-hour block? I'd hate to see Cougar Town canceled when it was so funny...
Ditto to everyone above. Allison Janney means I'm in for the haul, unless it becomes painful to watch. But seriously, "clowns with axes" is going to stay funny for a very long time.
ReplyDeleteI didn't watch Mad Love either, because I don't have enough love for any of those actors to think they could do a HIMYM rip off.
Cougar Town has already been picked up for another season, so renewal isn't in question. I expect it's going to get slotted somewhere new next year, potentially paired with Mr. Sunshine (if it stays up in the ratings) or Better With You (another show that has a cast that's better than the material it's given).
ReplyDeleteThe photo on A.V. Club's review of Mad Love had me convinced Tyler Labine guested on How I Met Your Mother. Are they using the MacClaren's set or did they build a whole new one?
ReplyDeleteI hear Janney and Perry so I'll stick around. The pilot was funny enough.
ReplyDeleteI don't know why we find so many occasions to quote "What is Toby doing in Foggy Bottom?" in my house but we do. And it's funny every time.
That was supposed to be "I heart" not "I hear."
ReplyDeleteI prefer the original Mr. Sunshine, a mid-80s ABC sitcom with Jeffrey Tambor as a bitter, blind college professor.
ReplyDeleteYou can't really mean that. A mediocre but promising sitcom in 2011 would be one of the funniest things on television in 1985. Jeffrey Tambor was great in AD and pretty good in Larry Sanders, but he's also been in some steaming piles of shit (the Ropers?). Without ever having seen Mr. Sunshine, I would stake a lot on it being completely unwatchable.
ReplyDeleteIt's almost certainly the HIMYM set rearranged, as well as Jason Biggs's/Ted Mosby's apartment.
ReplyDeleteThe scarf-flip by the co-star. Oh, 1980s. You are the AOL of decades.
ReplyDeleteI'll bet I could write a pretty good bad pitch for a sitcom called "You Again?," though it would be hard to top "Jack Klugman's wife ran off with another man and took his kid, then gets pissed because his kid comes back; let's get John Stamos to do something."
Sledge Hammer!
ReplyDeleteI was only 10, but I'm pretty sure I'm not exaggerating when I state that this was the Greatest Thing of All Time.