CBS is taking a pretty big gamble on Mondays this season. They have moved the aging Two and a Half Men to Thursdays to shore that night up. In it's place they put sophomore sensation 2 Broke Girls, which last year became the most watched new comedy on television and the most divisive. Stalwart How I Met Your Mother is entering its ninth season, bigger than ever thanks to stripped syndication deals, but it is still looking towards its end game. Mike & Molly is an appreciated comedy that can't seem to attract enough eyeballs, losing a lot of its lead-in audience, and delivering a smaller number to the 10:00 show, Hawaii Five-O. They have sandwiched their only new comedy this fall, Partners, between HIMYM and 2 Broke Girls, hoping that it will catch on like so many other comedies haven't in the recent past. Now that they've aired their first full night, how was it? Not horrible but not anything that I feel obligated to watch every week.
The evening starts with my old favorite How I Met Your Mother. I have always found at least one thing to love in every episode, and there have been many times where I felt it was the best thing on. At one time I felt it was the natural inheritor of Friends. That time is long past. For eight years we have been teased, tricked and thwarted by Ted as he told the interminable story of how he met his kids mother. I thought I had long since given up caring about who the mother is, but then in this premiere episode I was immediately drawn in as we saw a more tantalizing glimpse of the unseen title character only to have my hopes dashed to the ground by that damn yellow umbrella. If you fool me once, I know it's shame on you, but if you fool me 43 times, what does that make me other than a moron? I am tired of the time jumps and the fake-outs, but then...then...there's something like Neil Patrick Harris recapping the entire show in one minute (complete with a countdown clock) or Marshall and Lily having zombie senses due to a lack of post-natal sleep. They always suck me back in. At one point a never before seen character tells Ted, "You're maddeningly inconsistent," and I dropped my pen and yelled, "Yes!" I can't imagine Mondays without HIMYM, even if it drives me crazy. I love these characters and I want to see them through until the bitter end.
I don't hate Partners, but I never have to watch it again. A fast and furious comedy about two architects (one straight and one gay) who have been best friends and now business partners is smartly directed, beautifully produced and filled with engaging performers. Michael Urie is Louis, the gay architect, and the part is tailor made fro him. He's so comfortable here that he is holding nothing back, threatening to overpower the subtle shadings of David Krumholtz and the entire production. Sophia Bush and Brandon Routh also star as the architects significant others but both are barely given a chance to register. The series is created by David Kohan and Max Mutchnick (of Will and Grace fame) and is said to be based on their real life. I fear for the sanity of Kohan and Mutchnick's loved ones if that's the case. Bush's character Ali says in the very painful stinger, "We need to realize that while there are four people at this table, there are three relationships." This would be obvious enough but then there's a middle school pun that everyone knowingly and congenially laughs about as the cameras fade to black. If this sounds old school, it is; the entire series is a throwback to the classic comedies of 15 years ago. CBS should be commended for trying to singlehandedly keep the classic sitcom alive. I just don't have to watch them all.
2 Broke Girls is another show that I don't have to watch, but I will undoubtedly check in on it every once in a while. I watched more of the first season than I care to admit; I stopped because I couldn't stomach the poorly written dirty jokes. The grotesque racial stereotypes were disturbing sure, but going blue just because you can I find unbearable. I was hoping that there was a little course correction over the summer but there wasn't. In the premiere there were jokes about a kindergartener breast feeding, golden showers, vaginal secretions and breaking hymens. So why will I check in from time to time? I love Beth Behrs who plays Caroline; she's terrific. I also like Kat Dennings a lot; she was very good playing the smitten kitten when she met Caroline's charming father, Martin, masterfully played by Steven Webber. I love their core relationship, and wish the show would focus on them more. They play the heartfelt moments so well and so realistically that it makes the crassness even more grotesque.
God, do I love Melissa McCarthy, and how I wish she was on a better show. Mike & Molly isn't bad by any stretch of the imagination, it's just that few shows would be able to match McCarthy's energy. She's unafraid of a physical bit and makes even the most innocuous line reading funny. She is also the most generous of performers with lots of warmth to spare and share. The rest of the cast does their best to keep up with her; she and Billy Gardell have developed an easy warmth, which has gone a long way to softening his performance into something unexpectedly nice. Swoozie Kurtz and Katy Mixon are the other standouts even if they go a bit over the top. I'm also fond of Louis Mustillo. There is too heavy a preponderance on ribald humor, but that is typical of the Chuck Lorre/CBS brand. Right now, adult romantic comedy is defined on television by Mike & Molly and FOX newcomer The Mindy Project. I'd certainly like to see this show be more successful because I like that genre.
I understand the appeal of the CBS Monday comedy block, and for the most part I think it is fairly good. It is a series of old school programs that appeal to a wider spectrum of the audience; I want to like it more than I do. I wonder if there isn't a better programming flow here. I'd like to see Mike & Molly and Partners switch places. M&M's warmth is a natural lead out of the mostly sentimental HIMYM. That would play into the strong emotional core of 2 Broke Girls. The broadness of both Girls and Partners would be a great pairing as well. It's nit picking I know, but maybe I'd just prefer to fill my 8:00 DVR hour with M&M, which also would make Partners easier to ignore.
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