FOX is currently making two of its most promising new series available to watch OnDemand, on Hulu and online. This follows the successful path set last year by New Girl. This year both shows are comedies as well. They are the sibling comedy Ben and Kate and the Mindy Kaling starrer The Mindy Project. Because I prefer order to chaos, I decided to watch the show alphabetically. Though I fear I may enjoy The Mindy Project more than Ben and Kate.
Ben and Kate Fox are brother and sister who couldn't be any less alike. He's another man child, and she is a single mother. He believes in the grand gesture (his plan to break up an ex's wedding is very funny); she believes in looking before leaping (the "Kate-style" plan of breakup is rather dull). He enters and exits her life on a whim; she must be stable. He broadens her horizons; she stabilizes his world. Together there isn't anything they can't do.
Nat Faxon plays Ben and is quite good. He seems a little old in the role, but that plays nicely in counter to the immaturity needed. I've never noticed Faxon before this, and he is quite a find. He plays exasperation well and has two great car scenes to do so (one where he trying not to cuss in front of his five-year-old niece and another when he tries to do a u-turn). He also grounds Ben with a warm obligation to look after his sister when she makes emotional mistakes.
The rest of the cast in unexceptional. Echo Kelly fares the best; he plays Ben's friend Tommy who has a requited crush on Kate and is able to match Faxon's level of lunacy. Lucy Punch plays BJ, a co-worker at Kate's bar, and appears to just be channeling her stalker character Darla from Dinner with Schmucks but without any of the wit, nuance and charm. Dakota Johnson, daughter of Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith, is fine as Kate and brings a lot of genuineness to the role, but that belies a bigger issue with the pilot.
The comic rhythms of this show are far more traditional than most and require a slick quickness and sense of theatrical presentation. Faxon is a natural at this, as is Kelly. Johnson, though is far more naturalistic in approach, and while that sells the contrast between the title characters, it is better suited for the family drama approach to this story. Yes, there needs to be genuineness and heartfelt moments for the story to work, but in the pilot they seemed ham fisted in to make sure Kate had enough to do.
There is potential, though. Johnson is preciously awkward as she explains to BJ that before he daughter was born she was great at "crushing ass all of the time", and again when her shirt gets stuck. There's many funny bits in the script including a sight gag with opera glasses. The thing though that is the most interesting to me is seeing this Odd Couple relationship as brother and sister, where in any other series they would be married or lovers at the least. There's a storytelling fertility there that promises to make the show more than it currently is. I like that, and I like it's time slot. Sandwiched between the resurgent Raising Hope and last year's breakout hit New Girl, Ben and Kate is a perfect transition between the two shows. If The Mindy Project holds up, FOX may have mastered the perfect comedy block.
Ben and Kate premieres at 8:30 on Tuesday, September 25 on FOX. It is currently available to watch OnDemand, on Hulu and online.
Hiç yorum yok:
Yorum Gönder