This show forgot to advertise. Always a red flag to me, I hate under-advertising almost as much as over-hype. So I went in without any high hopes. Just suddenly saw it in the guide after the new Night Court, so I gave it a shot, I'm watching the lead-in anyway. Starring Jon Cryer from Two And A Half Men fame and Donald Faison from Scrubs fame, both well liked funny entertaining shows (even if Men got a little formulaic and laugh-track heavy after Charlie Sheen's exit). COULD be promising, MAY be lazy, relying on the star power of these two and their credentials.
So I came in wary. But I've been pleasantly surprised. Cryer and Faison aren't just clones of their previous characters - a pathetic Hollywood trend to try to copy what works, instead of trying anything new and innovative and interesting like Firefly - they're new likeable characters. Cryer's Alan got to be very weaselly and a pure leech by the end of Men, nice to see him portraying a more confident guy who has the means not to be struggling financially all the time this time. Faison being the new husband of the ex-wife means they aren't trying to pair him with Cryer to mimic the Super Close Buddies dynamic he had in Scrubs.
And I've found the episodes genuinely entertaining. Fun, and largely skipping the usual warring exes/hated new beau dynamic that is rather tired by now. This show deserves WAY higher than the 4.4 or so it's averaging at the moment (so I inflated my score slightly, though I don't know any reasons I'd want to lower it anyway). The mostly comfortable separation Cryer and the ex-wife and her beau have is rather pleasant and a nice change of pace (such as from the similar trio from Friends, Ross with his ex-wife Carol and her girlfriend Susan, where Ross and Susan always openly showed hatred towards each other, leaving Carol in the middle. We've seen THAT dynamic plenty, THIS is refreshing).
So I came in wary. But I've been pleasantly surprised. Cryer and Faison aren't just clones of their previous characters - a pathetic Hollywood trend to try to copy what works, instead of trying anything new and innovative and interesting like Firefly - they're new likeable characters. Cryer's Alan got to be very weaselly and a pure leech by the end of Men, nice to see him portraying a more confident guy who has the means not to be struggling financially all the time this time. Faison being the new husband of the ex-wife means they aren't trying to pair him with Cryer to mimic the Super Close Buddies dynamic he had in Scrubs.
And I've found the episodes genuinely entertaining. Fun, and largely skipping the usual warring exes/hated new beau dynamic that is rather tired by now. This show deserves WAY higher than the 4.4 or so it's averaging at the moment (so I inflated my score slightly, though I don't know any reasons I'd want to lower it anyway). The mostly comfortable separation Cryer and the ex-wife and her beau have is rather pleasant and a nice change of pace (such as from the similar trio from Friends, Ross with his ex-wife Carol and her girlfriend Susan, where Ross and Susan always openly showed hatred towards each other, leaving Carol in the middle. We've seen THAT dynamic plenty, THIS is refreshing).