Mr. Sunshine

Like many other reviewers, I started watching this on to see Mathew Perry return to television. He's always been fun to watch and Mr. Sunshine is no exception.

Unfortunately, the show hasn't hit its stride yet. Four of the cast members are fun to watch and offer some decent laughs: Perry, Andrea Anders, James Lesure and Allison Janney. The two additional cast members however are one note jokes that wear flat almost immediately.

Nate Torrence's "I'm an idiot" shtick gets boring really quickly and elicits no laughter. Portia Doubleday has potential, but the show works the crazy angle so hard that it retreats into sitcom cliché instead of real character.

I'll still be watching the show in hopes it improves, but its going to need some work to stick around.

This show truly is joy.

With moments that pay tribute to Matthew Perry's best known character, Chandler, and the talents of Allison Janney, Andrea Anders and James Lesure, this show couldn't have a better start. The inclusion of Jorge Garcia only benefited the series premiere, with his clear comedic background that was showcased during his six-year role as Hurley on "Lost."

What "Mr. Sunshine" offers isn't a new, breath-stopping idea -- a lonely company man who decides to change his life. Movies were made based on this concept, but "Mr. Sunshine" offers to retell the story with a bunch of bizarre and colourful characters, that no matter how much medication they take, or how fast they cut themselves in the kitchen -- we cannot ignore our growing love towards them.

With 25-30 minutes that make up an episode, the pilot left me wanting more. Whether it was the sexual tension between Ben and Alice, or the hilarious insanity of Crystal Cohen (I can already predict an Emmy nomination for Allison Janney), "Mr. Sunshine" offers a refreshing new side to televised comedy: one that goes hand-in-hand with "Modern Family," and could very well be the start of a new, legendary comedy line-up.

When Ben uttered the words "Thank you" to one of his many employees for the first time, I felt like thanking the show creators as well. Sure, it was only the first taste of the show, but I could already feel that we're in for an hysterical journey,

Ben Donovan (Matthew Perry) is the harried manager of a San Diego sports arena. Crystal (Allison Janney) is the crazed interfering owner. Alice (Andrea Anders) is the cute marketing director love interest.

The group could never get the laughs going. Matthew Perry tried his best. Most of the laughs come from Perry. He is basically a one-man band. The Friends curse continues with the cancellation of this show. It did not last more than 13 episodes. They probably only filmed that many because of Perry.

This was my favourite show from this past T.V. season and I really hope it gets picked up for next year. It's a sharp, well-written sitcom with great comedic performances by virtually the entire main cast. The premise revolves around Ben (Matthew Perry), who is the manager of a major sports arena in San Diego, and his off-beat staff members and wacky boss (Allison Janney).

Janney really sinks her teeth into this quasi-insane character, who, despite being the owner of the arena, delegates most of the work and responsibility to Ben. I really enjoyed the season-long arc involving her awkward and contrived attempts to be a better mom to her 20-something son and new employee, Roman (Nate Torrence), who seems to have been neglected by her and is just looking for a healthy mother-son relationship. Actually, I liked any scene or plot line which involved Roman. Torrence is hilarious and charming pretty much every time he appears on screen and gets a laughs from me simply through his delivery. I've read some people saying they find him obnoxious and don't like him, but I just can't understand why that is, because to me, he's my favourite character.

Even though the performances are great, I think the real star of this series is the writing. I just watched the 'Celebrity Tennis' episode on NETFLIX and I was laughing consistently throughout. You can't find a lot of new shows with scripts this smart and so densely packed with humour. However, I have a sense that it may not have mainstream appeal, since there didn't seem to be a lot of buzz and fanfare for it.

I really hope people discover it on NETFLIX (The first 8 episodes are currently available) and a fan-base starts to develop that is large enough to keep it going indefinitely on ABC. I also think ABC should have been airing more reruns of the first season this summer to give it a chance to catch on, and I really hope this does not indicate that they are giving up on it.

I encourage you to watch it if you can (start with the first episode just to get a sense of all the main plot lines and relationships) and decide for yourself if you think it's as good as I do. Note, however, that this is one of those sitcoms without a laugh-track, which is an important feature of this show since I just can't imagine it working as well with one.

Season Rating: 3.5 stars out of 4

Now all he has to do is find a talented director. The character of "Mr Sunshine" is a tractor beam to all of the nervous nerdy types who look for direction in how to handle social situations in life... from their television. I am one of these people. Obviously, Matthew is putting himself out there... and coming on as a somewhat more animated Bob Newhart character... and it works.

Chandler Bing lives, indeed, in the character of Ben Donovan. This would be him some years later... after the young adult stage of marrying Monica, etc. He is the caring, passionate general manager of a sports stadium in San Diego. Fortunately for us, the audience... none of his staff or the owner gives a damn about their job! He is the one sane man in the character list of the show whose last nerve is being stepped on minute by minute by the crazies who surround him in his life.

Those who feel paranoid about life being out to get them will feel at home and identify with this man surrounded by demonized nutsoes who live to make his life hell! (Fortunately for us, again!) ...As Larry David responded to Jason Alexander of Seinfeld upon questioning the believability of the show scripts for Seinfeld, "Yes, this all can happen. I know...these scripts are based on true events from my life...I lived it!" Perry must be ADHD, as I am. The funny lines come so quickly you will really need to set your VCR to play this back again to see things that you missed.

My one criticism and caveat with the whole show is the direction. The verbal deliveries and timing of some of the lines is sometimes sloppy. Funny can be lost in sloppy editing and direction. A second or two too long in a shot after a line can destroy a good joke. Too quick of a response to a question by a character can destroy the credibility. Too low of a volume level on a punchline by one of the main characters can make a joke non-existent.

The writing is funny, and flawless. Kudos to Mr Perry and company. Translation to proper acting and character direction is crucial in getting "funny" across to the audience. The direction appears amateurish. I noticed on several occasions (with two episodes broadcast so far) that camera shots are too tight. In older classic sitcoms you will notice most of the time a tight shot does not serve comedy well. Tight face shots work well in drama and soap operas, not comedy. Witness the original sitcom of Perry, "Friends." It is much funnier to see the whole room of characters in a scene all respond to funny lines than it is to just see a tight shot of the character speaking. (Pull the cameras back a little.)

Comedy is a group thing because the moment we are laughing is usually because the character is in a situation where he is not laughing. There is tension and stress on the character... but we are convulsing wildly on the floor gasping for air. Would love to see a James Burrows or a James Widdoes directing this sitcom. The writing and brilliant creation of Matthew Perry here certainly deserves it.