In Boston, Michael Bergen (Ryan Reynolds) and Pete Dunville (Richard Ruccolo) are best friends with Sharon Carter (Traylor Howard) since meeting her as freshmen. Michael and Pete live as roommates and Sharon lives upstairs. Initially Michael is a directionless slacker until he takes pre-med. He's a fun playboy while Pete is a more uptight architect student. The boys work at a local pizzeria which changed in later seasons. Sharon starts out as a high powered corporate sellout who hates her job.
This show had many changes over the years and even changed its name. In the first season, Jennifer Westfeldt plays Pete's girlfriend Melissa and David Ogden Stiers is the delusional Mr. Bauer who confuses his life with various movies. Westfeldt is a limited comedic actress. Although she supported the comedy, she never really is the center of the comedy. Bauer is an one-joke character and he stops being funny after awhile. Along with pizzeria owner Bill, they are all dumped.
In the second season, the show added Johnny Donnelly (Nathan Fillion) as Sharon's love interest, Ashley Walker (Suzanne Cryer) as Berg's rival/love and Irene (Jillian Bach) as the crazy neighbor. Donnelly is a much needed addition. The first season had the problem that the threesome is rigidly platonic. It's a very odd setup that is solved by tying the boy-crazy Sharon to one guy. Sharon's kiss with Pete is rather awkward. Walker is a good character to battle Berg and pick on Pete. I always love a crazy cute girl on a sitcom and Irene is a fun one. The addition of the fun young characters and jettisoning of the older ones gives the show new life.
It finally reaches its top gear at the start of the third season. 'Sunday in the Apartment' is my favorite as the show becomes non-stop hilarity. The Halloween shows are also some of my favorites and I like that they go off on a tangent. Through it all, there's always the great Ryan Reynolds doing Van Wilder. Richard Ruccolo is a solid sidekick and I love his fights with Suzanne Cryer. Traylor Howard lands a few good punches and I like her chemistry with Nathan Fillion. Although their money fights get a bit tiresome. Jillian Bach is hilarious and I laugh so hard. Tiffani Thiessen is a bit stiff and doesn't quite have the same wacky comedic skills like the others. Also I could do without the Germ character. If only this show had the right cast from the beginning, this could have been another Friends.
This show had many changes over the years and even changed its name. In the first season, Jennifer Westfeldt plays Pete's girlfriend Melissa and David Ogden Stiers is the delusional Mr. Bauer who confuses his life with various movies. Westfeldt is a limited comedic actress. Although she supported the comedy, she never really is the center of the comedy. Bauer is an one-joke character and he stops being funny after awhile. Along with pizzeria owner Bill, they are all dumped.
In the second season, the show added Johnny Donnelly (Nathan Fillion) as Sharon's love interest, Ashley Walker (Suzanne Cryer) as Berg's rival/love and Irene (Jillian Bach) as the crazy neighbor. Donnelly is a much needed addition. The first season had the problem that the threesome is rigidly platonic. It's a very odd setup that is solved by tying the boy-crazy Sharon to one guy. Sharon's kiss with Pete is rather awkward. Walker is a good character to battle Berg and pick on Pete. I always love a crazy cute girl on a sitcom and Irene is a fun one. The addition of the fun young characters and jettisoning of the older ones gives the show new life.
It finally reaches its top gear at the start of the third season. 'Sunday in the Apartment' is my favorite as the show becomes non-stop hilarity. The Halloween shows are also some of my favorites and I like that they go off on a tangent. Through it all, there's always the great Ryan Reynolds doing Van Wilder. Richard Ruccolo is a solid sidekick and I love his fights with Suzanne Cryer. Traylor Howard lands a few good punches and I like her chemistry with Nathan Fillion. Although their money fights get a bit tiresome. Jillian Bach is hilarious and I laugh so hard. Tiffani Thiessen is a bit stiff and doesn't quite have the same wacky comedic skills like the others. Also I could do without the Germ character. If only this show had the right cast from the beginning, this could have been another Friends.