new show review: Gary Unmarried
September 25th, 2008 by screenwriterguy
Long story short, it’s a solid B-grade sitcom. Nothing amazing, but not a waste of your time. Jay Mohr, as always, delivers the needed charm. The character quirks are (more than) defined, and the script offers a few solid laughs without being overly joke-y.
Best aspect: The cast. Flat jokes aren’t oversold. Characters feel full, even where they are 2-D in the script. Of course, give some credit to legendary sitcom director James Burrows for his involvement (although he didn’t direct this particular episode.)
Worst aspect: A contrived and truncated scene in which Mohr’s character and new love interest receive unsolicited couples counseling over their one-day-old relationship.
Verdict: I might check it out again. I probably rate this show about equal to its hourmate, New Adventures of Old Christine. That is, it’s a reasonably fresh reinterpretation of old-school sitcoms. It’s not hip enough to belong in the company of 30 Rock or The Office. To this show’s credit, while I would have a hard time getting my dad to watch either of those to shows, I be he’d laugh along with Gary Unmarried. But he’s a lot more willing to hear yet another joke about a putupon father dealing with a shrill ex. Wait… was that a compliment?
Odds of success: As I mentioned in my review of Worst Week, this year represents and effort by CBS to push from 4 time slots offering sitcoms to 6. The two new shows will BOTH have to bring in decent ratings and/or reviews for it to work. (Here’s hoping they succeed! Please, please, let there be more comedy writing jobs in the world) CBS’s four existing half-hours are all successful, by some measure or another, and the two new shows are both good enough to compliment them. Given a chance to find their feet and their audience, I could see CBS’s attempt working.
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