The Single Guy

When this was on it was one of my favorite shows. I guess I identified a lot with the Silverman character (people say I look like him, only taller and with a gut… oh, and less cute). Silverman is a struggling author trying to find love while surrounded by married friends and that wacky doorman played by Ernest Borgnine. Few remember that the Borgnine character was a flashy cross-dresser in the first three episodes but test-markets showed this was not working so they dropped it (in an episode near the end of the first season, the Borgnine character made a reference to his "garters" that surprisingly made it past the censors!) The show would have probably been a big hit had it not been for the character Sam Sloan, Jonathan's best friend. This guy was supposed to be the wacky, fun guy as the foil to Silverman's straight man but he quickly turned into a catch phrase machine with writers trying like mad to create a catchy phrase. Some of the things he uttered were "Yeah, like an emu!", "Enjoy the veal", and "We'll make millions for sure!" None of these caught on. My personal favorite episode is when Illeana Douglas guest starred as, I kid you not, a female alien who came to earth for superior breeding. Of course, Silverman thought she was a kook and did his best to stay away from her.

This show had a lot going for it. Good actors and good writing. Every episode made me break out into laughter. For those reasons, I really can't understand how this show got cancelled. This was a show that was short lived and really didn't deserve it. At least reruns can be seen on USA.

This was one of many mediocre shows that tried to ride the Seinfeld/Friends, photogenic, funny, off-kilter, character train in the mid 90's. An ensemble cast that never really gelled, focusing on the trite, relationship foibles of a hipper, slightly less neurotic version of Woody Allen. Annoying, clichéd characters such as the whinny, geeky, best friend who is married to a totally hot, intellectually superior and socially comfortable dish (yeah, that would happen in real life... you know some guy who was a total nebish in high school wrote this!) - nerdy geek marries hot shiksa! because he's so sweet and smart!; doesn't tend to happen in real life unless the guy is rich, rich, rich. Thirty minute filler material between Friends and Seinfeld, kind of like A Different World was between Cosby and Cheers... A grade or two below Caroline in the City, which wasn't exactly a huge Emmy award winning laugh fest either...

Once again, just like "Almost Perfect", this is another show that had all the makings of a great sitcom in season one; It was funny, entertaining, with a great cast that had great chemistry. Joey Slotnick and Ming-Na Wen were great together. Sam (Slotnick) had plans and schemes that would backfire and Trudy (Na-Wen) was there to keep Sam in check or pick up the pieces when things went wrong. Janeane (Jessica Hecht), Jonathan's childhood friend and her uptight-yuppie husband Matt (Mark Moses) were good as well. Although sometimes Matt could be a little obnoxious, but he was likable nonetheless. Then there was Ernest Borgnine as Manny the doorman; He was great.

At this time cannot remember the actress' name, but, she played Janene's older sister, who Jonathan couldn't stand because she would torment him as a child and nicknamed him "Nibbles". Even when they brought her on the show, she would continue to torment him, but a sexual tension developed between the two and they would end always end up in bed having sex. Both were great together.

After season one, the show was tinkered with and Janeane and Matt were gone as well as Janeae's older sister. They added Olivia D'Abo and others. To me, the original cast was wonderful and when you make changes like this, it can either be like "Law And Order" where things don't skip an beat, or it can mean disaster. The latter happened which was too bad. It could've had a good run if they didn't mess with a good thing they had.

This show is quite funny, although it can become a little predictable with the jokes of the other cast members. Silverman plays a struggling writer in NYC and trying to find love at the same time. He can't seem to do both at once. Just recently I've become a regular watcher and seem to be wishing that he gets it on with the girls in each episode! Watch out for Ernest Borgnine as an apartment worker!