Some of My Best Friends

I was lucky enough to catch this on it's debut considering this didn't last long on CBS, as it appears to have been dropped or cancelled.

I originally saw the movie this is based on and didn't care for it. The TV series is far more better thanks to Jason Bateman and the actor who plays the next door neighbor (Earl?). I really had some good chuckles and it was the first time in a long time that I made the effort to catch a new episode the following week.

I hope that either CBS will continue to air it or maybe another network will pick it up.

Some of my best friends is very entertaining and funny. Intelligent script, it makes sense. The humor is light with an emphasis in real life situations. The characters are pretty close to what I have seen in real life. I feel that we need more programs like this one full of light funny humor that anyone can watch and not be offended. It is my observation that now days most people are exposed in their daily lives to similar situations so the writer is not so far off when exposing certain issues such as the ones I've watched. I really think they did a great job. I would like to see more of it and have told all my friends about it.

It had an undeserved short run back in 2001. The big problem was the network kept changing the nights and times for it. After episode 2 I couldn't find it!

Anyways, it was good (especially the premiere) and Bateman and Nucci really worked well together. Also, they didn't shy away from showing off Nucci's great body--he's in a towel halfway through the first episode.

So, it was a good little series--too bad it wasn't given a chance.

I've seen seven of eight of the filmed episodes and found that I wasn't laughing as much as I did with the Pilot. I think I found it a bit offensive to stereotype when it first came out but now that Bateman, Mapa and Nucci are all in other things, it's fascinating to watch them hone their skills. Bateman does his self-discovery/I thought I was smarter than this thing which is present in almost every episode of ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT(and I think he's much cuter as he gets older); Alex Mapa is working hard at one liners but is funnier in his moments in character, looking at Frankie for the first time or climbing in the window with a smile and a quip; Danny Nucci is about to be big in the WORLD TRADE CENTER movie but here, he's a Guido - a good looking Italian young man, still a little too green around the ears for his own good but likable (and he plays well off of Bateman). The situations were more than a bit sitcom, but the surrounding cast were just starting to be interesting when it ended. There's not a lot you can do in 22 minutes but they managed quite a bit. If it comes out on DVD, rent it, or see it on LOGO.

I recently saw this accidentally and devoured all 8 available episodes several times. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. As far as sitcoms go, this is definitely one of my all time favourites, and it saddens me deeply that it didn't get a decent run. Personally, I think it's funnier than Friends and Will & Grace put together.

For me, the appeal of this show is the way it questions and deconstructs stereotypes and prejudices, instead of just enabling jokes at people's expense through them. Every episode imagines another scenario in which people's expectations and prejudices of one another lead to wrong assumptions and casual hurtful judgments of each other (as well as to hilarious misunderstandings). What I am most surprised about is how well this has aged, considering the subject matter.

And it does all that without being annoying about hitting you over the head with a "moral". The scripts are absolutely hilarious from start to finish. They have a classic screwball or comedy of errors feel to them, and jokes are built up and layered in a way that is worthy of one of my other favourites, Frasier.

The cast have great chemistry and fit their roles perfectly. You immediately like all of them and there is even some well drawn character development, as they get to know each other and grow closer and learn from each other, which is unusual for a sitcom. Alec Mapa has some of the best comic timing I've ever seen.

Overall this show is a heartwarming gem, and I shall return to its woefully short 8-episode run again and again.