Welcome to a new Wildcard Wednesday! This week, I’ve got another Sitcom Potpourri, where I briefly discuss several of the short-lived comedies I won’t have a chance to highlight in full — offering brief commentary that culminates in the selection of an episode (or episodes) that I think best represent(s) each series at large, based on what I’ve seen. For this post, I’m looking at five mid-2000s multi-cams with some affiliation to Two And A Half Men…
TWINS (Sept 2005 – Mar 2006, The WB)
Premise: Twin sisters take over running their parents’ undergarment business.
Cast: Sara Gilbert, Molly Stanton, Christopher Fitzgerald, Mark Linn-Baker, Melanie Griffith
Writing Staff: David Kohan & Max Mutchnick, Mike Sikowitz, Chris Kelly, Wendy Goldman, Dana Klein, Christopher Vane, Barry Wernick, Daisy Gardner, Adam Lorenzo, Larry Reitzer, Hillel Abrams, Ned Goldreyer
Thoughts: Another “odd couple” comedy about two adult twin sisters who are nothing alike, Twins has a solid setup via a funny pilot – by Will & Grace’s creators – which does a great job contrasting the women and indicating how they can be funny, especially in relation to their two parents, who also reflect an oppositional discrepancy. However, after a second episode that reiterates the premise but endeavors to make those parents – played by Perfect Strangers’ Mark Linn-Baker and movie star Melanie Griffith – more integrated into the action by having them return as regular participants to the workplace (where the pilot was predominantly set), the show struggles to play to its “situation,” instead devoting much more time to the two senior members of the cast, and in turn giving less direct exploration to the bond between the sisters. Oh, yes, they do still exist together in story – sometimes even A-stories – and the last few episodes try to tweak the premise again by having the girls move in together (like Empty Nest realized in its first season it needed to do with its two sisters), but that speaks to the very problem regarding Twins’ inability to honor its initial design, which was workplace-focused and suggested a little more freshness than the “mismatched roommates” hook. Accordingly, I think this was a sitcom that had trouble being what it first promised to be, getting distracted by shiny objects and then falling into more clichés – without comic writing that could truly elevate such un-imagination – all after a pilot that, however by-the-numbers already, at least indicated a strong foundation with comedic character-driven potential. In fact, if the show stayed workplace-focused and developed what it had there, it might have been more narratively interesting – and the parents still could have been a big presence, they just didn’t have to dominate.
Episode Count: 18 episodes produced and broadcast.
Episodes Seen: All 18.
Key Episode: #1: “Pilot” (09/16/05)
Why: As noted above, the pilot actually shows promise that goes unfulfilled when the show decides to split its focus and then has trouble playing to its initial identity in weekly story.
FOUR KINGS (Jan 2006 – Mar 2006, NBC)
Premise: Four twenty-something guys, all childhood friends, share a swanky New York pad.
Cast: Seth Green, Todd Grinnell, Shane McRae, Josh Cooke, Kate Micucci
Writing Staff: David Kohan & Max Mutchnick, Julie Larson, Lester Lewis, Jonathan Goldstein, Bill Daly, Jonathan Green, Gabe Miller, Katy Ballard, Laura Gutin, Dan Fybel, Rich Rinaldi, Daniel Hsia
Thoughts: A “hangout comedy” about a quartet of guys in New York City, this was one of NBC’s many attempts to find another Friends in the wake of its departure and the multi-cam format’s slow decline, and like Twins above, it was also helmed by the creators of Will & Grace, so it boasts a Friends-adjacent Must See TV rom-com pedigree. Indeed, as with so many sitcoms from this era, it was derisively compared to Seinfeld and Friends (and referred to as a male-centered Sex And The City), with several critics voicing disdain for its structural unoriginality. As for the characters, the four leads are not as well-defined as those on the aforementioned Sex And The City or even The Golden Girls (which also had the premise of four pals living together), and although all the stars are basically funny and these scripts are basically comedic, stories have to rely less on their characterizations than they should, instead hoping for hilarious episodic notions to drive appeal. That is where the series’ lack of originality proves to be an impediment to quality, for nothing here feels like something we haven’t seen before – or couldn’t see on a variety of other sitcoms — which goes to say… I wish the characters were more immediately well-crafted so they could more readily influence the chosen narratives and prove Four Kings, however derivative, to be special. In 13 episodes, it never gets there.
Episode Count: 13 episodes produced, only seven broadcast.
Episodes Seen: All 13.
Key Episode: #1: “Pilot” (01/05/06)
Why: Nothing here is great, so there was nothing to choose, but the creators’ pilot script is polished and delineates the four leads better than the rest of the season.
COURTING ALEX (Jan 2006 – Mar 2006, CBS)
Premise: An attorney who works with her father goes against his wishes and dates a bar owner.
Cast: Jenna Elfman, Dabney Coleman, Josh Randall, Hugh Bonneville, Josh Stamberg, Jillian Bach
Writing Staff: Rob Hanning, Seth Kurland, Eileen Conn, Steve Armogida & Jim Armogida, Nancy Cohen, John Peaslee & Judd Pilot, Amy Welsh, Justin Spitzer, Aury Wallington, Jeremiah Leibowitz
Thoughts: Seemingly designed – by a former Frasier scribe – as an MTM-esque work/home sitcom that follows a put-together but unlucky-in-love lawyer as she moves between the law office where she works with her disagreeable father, and her charming apartment where she hangs out with her upstairs neighbor, this vehicle for Dharma & Greg’s Jenna Elfman is actually a rom-com couple show about what happens when a Type A personality falls for a Type B, in the form of an easygoing bar owner of whom her dad disapproves. That is, it’s like Mary Tyler Moore but with a reverse Dharma & Greg at the fore – all of which is familiar but potentially fruitful, especially if the leads are well-defined. Unfortunately, the characterizations are a bit murky outside of the structural givens, mainly because the barman is mostly used to contrast against the uptight and non-spontaneous coworker that the father wants his daughter, Alex, to date, and the barman doesn’t have a lot of clear comedy-making traits on his own, while Elfman, playing the opposite of her distinctive Dharma, is, frankly, less convincing in this role, which thus gets diluted throughout the brief run. Accordingly, these regulars are not yet as realized as they need to be, and with the rom-com story engine overtaking both the work/home construct and even the father/daughter bond (which should be equally seminal), Dabney Coleman feels underused (which is a CRIME) and the inherent potential of the MTM workplace format is squandered. What’s more, the series’ rom-com bent allows scripts to be more sentimental than funny, which is disappointing, for ultimately, I know Elfman and Coleman are strong comic performers… and Courting Alex just doesn’t give them many chances to prove it. So, it makes sense why Alex was buried in an early winter run, scheduled to air after Two And A Half Men (a show with which it has little in common), in a slot where it performed worse than the two other series tested there that season: the well-received The New Adventures Of Old Christine (coming here next year), which premiered in the spring and (if nothing else) gave its star bigger comedy, earning a renewal because of its good numbers, and the fall’s not-as-well-rated but much better written Out Of Practice (also by Frasier scribes), which sadly got the axe too but was always a much finer prospect than this Courting Alex, a letdown for its cast… and its audience.
Episode Count: 12 episodes produced, eight broadcast.
Episodes Seen: All 12.
Key Episode: #10: “You Compete Me” (syndication only)
Why: This episode creates a conflict in Alex’s relationship because of her competitiveness, which is off-putting to the barman’s easygoing friends – a rare story where a comedic trait of the eponymous central character is the reason for both the laughs and the dramatic tension. This is what we want from a low-concept relationship-based sitcom with a rom-com engine and an MTM-esque design. (If the father was integrated into their A-story, it would be ideal!)
LUCKY LOUIE (Jun 2006 – Aug 2006, HBO)
Premise: A part-time mechanic endures the daily grind of life in a tenement with his wife and their young daughter.
Cast: Louis C.K., Pamela Adlon, Mike Hagerty, Laura Kightlinger, Jim Norton, Rick Shapiro, Kim Hawthorne, Jerry Minor, Kelly Gould
Writing Staff: Louis C.K., Mike Royce, Kit Boss, Patricia Breen, Aaron Shure, Mary Fitzgerald, Greg Fitzsimmons, Dan Mintz, Jon Ross, Dino Stamatopoulos
Thoughts: Unlike Louis C.K.’s later and more successful half-hour series for FX, Lucky Louie actually endeavors to be reliably, regularly funny. Heck, it was touted as the first official multi-camera live audience sitcom to premiere on HBO, a leading perpetuator of the single-cam rebellion that was slowly becoming the critical standard. But making this a low-concept multi-cam was its own act of rebellion, as the cast and crew intended to bring this channel’s grittier flavor to a format widely seen as more traditional and traditionally sanitized. That means it would include lots of dirty words, occasional nudity, and frequently controversial subject matter… in a show otherwise filmed and designed to look like, specifically, The Honeymooners – one of TV’s first quintessentially blue-collar sitcoms, and an ambassador for the entire multi-cam aesthetic. Also, it was co-created by a former Everybody Loves Raymond scribe, someone familiar with writing the low-concept domestic comedy. This sense of tradition was paired with a deliberate desire to be shocking – both in validation of HBO’s adult brand and in honor of the identity that star Louis C.K. sought to instill within his series as a personification of his own ethos. In fact, the show also ended up resembling early All In The Family, another blue-collar classic that predicated its raison d’être on breaking taboos via its topicality. Indeed, Lucky Louie is similarly idea-led in this way – a huge part of its appeal is hinged on the notion that it’s not a regular network sitcom but an HBO effort that is deliberately crasser, with stories that are overtly sexual (even more so than Two And A Half Men’s), dialogue that is consistently profane, and a tone that is, well, often dark and rough-around-the-edges. Most of this, again, is an extension of the lead and a clear tenet of the situation, in the sense that the series attaches its mission statement to this sensibility – with the main characters all embodying the same tenor.
But, of course, in addition to this idea-led bent – thriving only when it can offer appropriately shocking stories – some of the series’ naughtiness ultimately feels gratuitous, specifically the cursing and the nudity, which doesn’t really enhance our understanding of the characters after a certain point and quickly stops being both surprising…. and amusing. This is bad, for it seems like the goal is to amuse – something I love, given Louis C.K.’s later Louie, which I believe helped further erode the sitcom’s standing because of how it allowed drama to invade the half-hour structure – while maybe also suggesting an enhanced degree of realism: another part of HBO’s brand that such grit is often supposed to imply… even though the heightened profanity ends up feeling just as stylized as the inverse. To wit, I think Lucky Louie probably kicks its heels up in rebellion a little too much for its own good as a sitcom, focusing on shock value instead of nurturing the elements of its situation, such as the characters… However, the show definitely improves in quality during its run, for although always dependent on its scandalizing stories, the characterizations do begin to crystallize, and the humor – one of the series’ strong suits – is maximized thanks to this emerging awareness. In fact, there are a handful of episodes that I find to be very funny – a testament to the show’s commitment to its comedy and how its scripts start trying to play to its idea-led identity while offering a greater focus on character. Oh, it’s never stellar or fully ironed out – sadly, it was picked up for a second season that didn’t come to be – but as a one-year wonder, it’s the only series in this week’s post that’s enjoyable and therefore worthy of examination as an example of the counterculture spreading itself in a unique direction by actually embracing the multi-cam aesthetic that was already being outmoded by flashier, “hipper” fare. Lucky Louie used this sense of traditionalism to simultaneously spark defiance and earn legitimacy, harkening back to iconic multi-cams of the past so C.K. could perhaps remind us of its special charms and restore some life to the slowly dying form. I don’t love it, but I appreciate it, and, again, there are several episodes that I truly enjoy…
Episode Count: 13 episodes produced, 12 aired.
Episodes Seen: All 13.
Key Episodes: #7: “Discipline” (07/23/06)
#8: “Get Out” (07/30/06)
#10: “Confession” (08/13/06)
#12: “Kim Moves Out” (08/27/06)
Why: #7 uses the kid – who is more a device than a character – in a story that presents a more unflattering and perhaps true-to-life (for some) view of parenting, which validates the series’ un-sanitized reputation and earns big laughs; #8 guest stars Emma Stone as the secondary couple’s awful teen daughter – she provides some memorably surprising moments that are funny; and #12 is a couple-focused entry that feels like something we might find on many of the early ’00s family sitcoms, but now with a much rougher edge in corroboration of the series’ chosen identity. That said, #10 is the best of the best – it boasts a rebellious story about religion that ends up being a showcase for both the show and C.K.’s ribald humor, and then turns into a genuinely well-done display of character, as the two leads reveal more about themselves to each other… and the audience. It’s the closest Lucky Louie comes to forecasting possible greatness.
TWENTY GOOD YEARS (Oct 2006 – Nov 2006, NBC)
Premise: A semi-retired surgeon moves in with his old friend, a judge, and together they plan to live the last few decades of their life to the fullest.
Cast: John Lithgow, Jeffrey Tambor, Heather Burns, Jake Sandvig, Judith Light
Writing Staff: Marsh McCall & Michael Leeson, Eric Zicklin, Michael Teverbaugh, Kirk J. Rudell, Patricia Breen, Robert Cohen, Samantha McIntyre, Sung Suh, Hugh Webber, Blake J. Williger
Thoughts: This “buddy comedy” co-created by an MTM alum for a pair of seasoned, talented sitcom vets sounds better than it is – with a low-concept premise that’s essentially about the relational dynamic between two best friends who are opposites: one more impulsive, the other more careful. Unfortunately, the show in practice feels underdeveloped – outside of the stars, who probably were pricey and precluded a big cast, there’s not much else to the situation: not enough other regulars with whom they can interact and too few places where stories can dependably arise. Accordingly, it’s hard to get a feel for how this setup can generate a whole series worth of episodic story that will be both funny and premise-validating, all the while deploying their characterizations and feeling somewhat fresh to the twenty-first century. What’s more, in such a brief run, the two stars don’t have a chance to develop real chemistry or a unique rapport, making it so the show’s potential just seems in doubt. Perhaps it may have evolved into something more with time, but there was a long way to go…
Episode Count: 13 episodes produced, only four broadcast.
Episodes Seen: All four broadcast episodes.
Key Episode (of Seen): “Pilot” (10/11/06)
Why: Again, there’s no good episode to pick, so I’m left to cite the pilot, which has a clarity of premise, character, and theme that the other aired entries simply lack. Oh, I suppose I could mention the second outing – it guests Jane Leeves as a woman who wants to have a threesome with the two pals – but it’s gimmicky and not as funny as hoped. So, I really have no choice!
Ultimately, I say… FORGET everything, except the study-worthy and enjoyable Lucky Louie!
Come back next week for a new Wildcard and more Two And A Half Men!