Love Monkey

Having seen the pilot tonight, me and my wife have added another show to our TiVo list. Love Monkey is about a mid-30s major label A&R rep who is at a crossroads in his life. Without spoiling the plot of the pilot... basically, it involves the lives of main character/narrator, Tom Farrell (Tom Cavanaugh), his sister and his best friends, male and female. Clever uses of flashbacks are used sporadically throughout the show, but not overused. The music is great and REAL, not pseudo-represented by cover bands imitating well-known artists/songs as is usually the case with most TV shows for some reason.

The outdoor city filming locations used are actually in New York, not a set or stock footage - kudos for that. Also, some interiors are real locations (not sets) as well. The show's title, which primarily refers to the main character, is somewhat revealed or explained in the pilot. Some of the plot is predictable, albeit there are a few subplot twists, but yet it is still an enjoyable show, nonetheless. It (pilot episode) revealed many different stories that will develop along the way and hinted at a few others - due to its setting and cast of supporting characters, there is much promise for good future writing.

"Love Monkey" is just a nice, feel-good TV show with a just a bit of sex, some love, friendship and a whole lotta great music. Highly recommend for adults, young and old.

Ted in Gilbert, AZ

What a shame it is that great shows like Love Monkey don't hit home with more people. I understand that some people may think only New Yorkers or hardcore music fans (I am one of each) would truly enjoy this show, but a certain "show about nothing" consisting of 4 friends in NYC and was somewhat yuppie-ish did pretty well for 9 years. Tom is completely believable as a somewhat high-strung, neurotic protagonist, albeit one who has great morals and is the kind of friend any guy or girl would treasure. The development of the supporting characters, particularly Shooter and Brinn, is also something rarely seen in a series. The cameos (and supporting roles) by both famous as well as up-and-coming musicians really adds value to the musical premise of the show. Because of Love Monkey, I am going to see both Tedy Geiger and Aimee Mann play this summer, one added bonus of watching this masterpiece. I am clinging to the hope that VH1 will give this show another run next year, maybe 6 or 8 episodes? Even if only 1 or 2 million watch an episode, any cable network (especially one as committed to musical knowledge and development as VH1) can justify airing a show like this. I will buy this DVD the minute it comes out and try to get as many friends as possible to realize what they missed; hopefully they and I will get another opportunity to appreciate Love Monkey again.

Why the heck is everyone dissing Wayne! Just because he is like John Mayer dose not mean he is not an awesome guitar player, singer, songwriter not to mention actor!!!! He is great! He is also very cute as well!!!Lol...i really love this show..i watch it every Tuesday when i get home from my own guitar and band practice!!! Hello! I may be only a 15 year old girl but i know great guitar players and great singers when i see one perform!! Wayne is truly amazing and a cool kid. I also think the show has a great plot line and is very interesting. I think that this show will be a hit.... at least when everyone stops downing on Wayne....geezzz..

Recognising that this show had some potential, was it not painfully obvious to anyone else where the relationship with Tom & Brandy was heading? The most glaring aspect is the "best friend" relationship between the two characters.

Hmmm ... let me see - Tom's best friend is very attractive, has a great personality and he can talk to her about all his life problems and relationship issues. If you try hard enough can almost predict how this relationship would evolve had the show been allowed to continue. Here's my version of how it would have progressed through season 1;

1) Tom and Brandy both get involved in different relationships and have many talks about the issues there are having with the people they are dating and about their lives in general

2) Brandy eventually gets serious with a guy, and Tom begins to act like an over-protective "big brother". Worst of all, the guy Brandy is dating has horrible taste in music, and thinks that "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" is originally a Guns'N Roses song.

3)Brandy eventually has her heart broken by this guy and seeks solace in the arms of her best friend Tom, which results in a fairly awkward kiss.

4) The next time Brandy sees Tom he acts like a complete idiot, mainly because he is feeling awkward, and because the hot woman he works with at the indie record label is also in the room.

5) Feeling like a jerk, Tom shows up at Brandy's apartment the next day with a pizza and a kick ass mixed tape he made of his favorite songs, only to find her back in the arms of the guy who broke her heart recently. In reality, Brandy's ex was only coming by to pick up a few of his things and they were simply hugging goodbye, though Tom leaves before he can know this.

6) The next time Tom is out with his friends he is really drunk and is all over the hot chick from his record label, while Brandy is watching. She storms out in disgust, throwing a mixed tape she made for him in his direction.

7) Tom is later consoled by his drinking buddies, who affirm that he and Brandy were "meant to be together"

8) Tom realizes his folly, and gets a bunch of his cool musician friends to serenade Brandy outside of her window. She warms up to him, but claims that she wants to slow down because she is afraid of losing her "best friend".

9) Tom gradually gets comfortable with being Brandy's "best friend" again, and they begin to date other people. With the whole "isn't it great we are friends" tone to their conversations they begin to discuss their recent dating exploits with each other.

10) Brandy begins to get concerned when Tom starts to date a woman from a rival record label. She sees through it all, and knows this woman is just using Tom because he has "street cred" and is starting to connect with all types of cool up and coming musicians looking to get signed by a label.

11) Brandy confronts this woman while at a concert for one these artists, and they begin to yell over top the blaring music. This woman has a "so what if I am using him response" which she states loudly just as the musician up front finishes his song. Tom overhears and realizes he was hoodwinked.

12)After the concert Tom seeks comfort from Brandy and they sit and hold each other on a park bench while listening to street busker singing "You Are the Sunshine of My Life". Tom confesses to Brandy that he has always known that his other relationships are doomed, because he never has these moments like he does now with Brandy, when everything is "perfect" for that moment. He compares the feeling to the first time he heard the Beatles at age 10, and realized there was this magical world full of endless possibility.

13) On their way home they stop in front of Brandy's front steps. Brandy turns to Tom and says "I thought about what you said earlier, about those perfect moments .. and I am worried about those times when it is not perfect between us, when its not like that perfect moment in a Beatles song". Tom replies "Then we can sing the blues together, and it will be our song, our wonderful imperfect song.... and at least we can sing it together". They kiss on the front steps as the camera pans out.

Season 2 would be about their trials and tribulations as they attempt to navigate the pitfalls of modern day relationships and their own personal ambitions. At one point Tom will be on the cusp of signing a "big act" to his label, while at the same time Brandy will get an amazing job offer in Portland. Can their relationship survive?

If anyone else has their version, I would love to hear it!

Network: CBS; Genre: Drama, Comedy; Content Rating: TV-PG (some adult and sexual content, language); Perspective: Contemporary (star range: 1 - 4);

Seasons Reviewed: 1 season (3 episodes)

The real television fan is an embattled creature. Years of TV watching leaves you with one lesson: the excitement of discovering a great new show is always coupled with a growing sense of dread over the near certainty of its prompt cancellation.

"Love Monkey" ranks with the shortest of them at 3 whole episodes. In the future, real-time ratings will allow promising shows to be ripped off the air and replaced with a "CSI" rerun mid-way through their first airing. At 3 episodes we have little arc and stunted development, so we can only really determine it's potential. I'm put in the position of real television reviewers who watch the 3 episode tape they get and throw out a review that prematurely seals a show's fate.

Fortunately, "Love Monkey" is unusually well developed from the get-go. What it lacks in originality it makes up for with a strong, large, cast of characters and a nearly flawless execution. The series follows Tom Farrell (Tom Cavanaugh, "Ed"), a music snob with a pension for Top 40 and earphones embedded permanently in his ears, who vocalizes his anti-corporate, pro-artist view of music and is summarily fired by a big-time record label after an unfortunate slip-of-the-tongue about Hanson (the show is a little dated). He quickly lands at struggling independent label True Vinyl Records and with only one shot left to prove his golden ear-for-talent reputation he bets it all on a crooning John Mayer-type artist called Wayne (Teddy Geiger, singing his own real songs). Doubling as our narrator, Tom monologues about the music industry and relationships, but appears to know only about the former.

If you are now filling in your own "High Fidelity" and "Jerry Maguire" comparisons, you wouldn't be wrong. But outside of that inevitable familiarity, "Monkey" works first because Cavanaugh has enough charm and gosh-darn likability to fuel several shows and, secondly, because the entire rest of the cast is so colorful and well developed. Tom's basket-ball playing, sports-metaphor talking friends include Larenze Tate, Jason Priestly (post-"Tru Calling"), Christopher Weil ("Playmakers") and guy's-girl Judy Greer. At work, he crushes and feuds with striking Ivana Milicevic. The witty banter between the guys and a relationship story, that doesn't take the usual relationship-series, path all work to create a multi-layered and completely entertaining character dramedy.

In episode 2, Tom tries to steal a pop princess (thinly veiled for her real-world counterparts) from the corporate label that won't let her write her own music. In the 3rd episode, where we see how really great this show could have been, Nicky Katt ("Boston Public") guest stars as a pretentious independent film director who hijacks the reins of Wayne's music video.

Music snobs have already pegged "Love Monkey" for committing the ultimate sin of being un-cool. "Monkey" does have a whiff of mainstream pandering. It should be making exclusive music references for the 1% crowd, not trying to relate to Top 40 teenyboppers. "Monkey" should be too cool for the room, instead it seems to only be pretending to know about the music industry and its attempts to parallel real musicians are too transparent to be as clever. A poser.

But if you can make the leap that the musical bits are just a mechanism to explore the human relationships on the show, then it feels a little more organic. There is too much else going on here to just write this show off like the network did. Even though I largely find the network a total bore, unlike the other networks CBS has had a good reputation for supporting their shows. Now, they're on my radar. Since "Love Monkey" barely got off the runway, all we can do is judging its potential and, honestly, this show had the potential to be the best CBS series since "Everybody Loves Raymond".

Hopefully, the show will get a DVD release so I can see the remaining episodes.

* * * ½ / 4