Matthew Perry's Mr. Sunshine Fails to Give Us That Sunny, Funny Feeling
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Whitney Jefferson — Last night after Modern Family, ABC premiered Matthew Perry's new comedy Mr. Sunshine. It was supposed to be loved by Studio 60 fans, a possible break in the "Friends curse," and most importantly—funny. So how was it?
First up: title credits. A short, less-than-enthusiastic start to the show. I guess that kind of says it all?
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Enter Andrea Anders as Alice (who was great on Better Off Ted, by the way.) She plays Matthew Perry's love interest—or so we thought. In the beginning of the episode, she and Ben are coworkers who are hooking up casually. During the episode, she decides that she'd rather be with Alonzo (who happens to work at the same place) than Ben. Seems odd that they'd squash a possible love-triangle so soon in the series, but maybe the whole point is to dangle Ben and Alice's past love in front of audiences until they get back together in a season finale someday.
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Enter Allison Janney as the head of the Sunshine Arena, who's got so many similarities to Arrested Development's Lucille Bluth that I couldn't help but love her. In fact, the scene above was easily the highlight of the episode and felt very Mitch Hurwitz-inspired. Still, it was funny.
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Then of course there was Jorge Garcia's part of the show, which wasn't half as funny as his stint on How I Met Your Mother. He's supposedly not a recurring character, so what's the point? Still, it's always nice to see Hurley show up on TV.
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Finally, there's this kid. Roman, played by Nate Torrence, wasn't really likable, relateable or even funny. It seems like a bit of a miscast—why not go with Nick Swardson? Or if you're going to borrow from the Arrested Development format, a Michael Cera type? Anyway, no likey.
And as you can tell in each of the clips, Matthew Perry plays a self-centered guy who's struggling with his lack of relationships. The storyline seems to be going down the "bad guy redeeming himself" route, but why not keep him a snarky asshole? Seems like a better fit.
Did you tune into the premiere? What did you think? Do you think it'll survive more than a season? Weigh in below!