Not much fun in “Mr. Sunshine”
Matthew Perry of "Mr. Sunshine" - ABC Photo by Bob D'Amico
Being a “Friend” is a hard act to follow.
Former “Friends” stars Matt LeBlanc and Courteney Cox have had success at it recently, but Matthew Perry’s new show, “Mr. Sunshine,” doesn’t measure up to “Episodes” or even “Cougar Town,” which I find to be hit-and-miss funny.
Perry stars as Ben Donovan, a self-involved manager of a San Diego sports arena, the Sunshine Center.
Odd mishaps and bizarre requests are apparently nothing but the norm here, but if they’re supposed to be of the “wackiness ensues” variety, the incidents in the pilot aren’t really that wacky, nor that humorous.
Clichéd is probably the best word to describe the problems with this series:
Allison Janney has to deal with the clichéd role of Perry’s politically incorrect boss who has a clichéd aversion to clowns, and Perry’s role itself is the clichéd selfish 40-year-old male character just realizing he might want to care about someone besides himself.
And then there’s Andrea Anders as marketing director Alice, Ben’s friend with benefits, who ends their casual relationship to commit to another man, but seems to want to commit to Ben – yet another clichéd TV situation.
Janney, Perry and Anders are all good actors who deserve better – as does Jorge Garcia of “Lost,” who is wasted in a minor role in the pilot.
Surely Perry, also an executive producer and a co-writer of the pilot, can come up with something better than this.
Here’s hoping this is one of those instances where the show gets better as it goes along – or everyone mentioned above finds something more suited to their talents in the near future.
“Mr. Sunshine” premieres at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday on ABC.
– Melissa Hayer
mhayer@opubco.com
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