The premise for the new CBS comedy, "The Class" is about as easy to swallow as a half pint of sour cafeteria milk. Ethan Haas (played by Jason Ritter, son of legendary sitcom star John) invites all his former third grade classmates to a reunion in his home. He plans on surprising his fianc?©, whom he met in third grade 20 years earlier with the big party.
The co-creators and producers of "The Class" are sitcom veterans David Crane of "Friends" and Jeffrey Klarik of "Mad About You," so people might start watching the show with high hopes. These hopes will be dashed within the first ten minutes of viewing when audiences realize "The Class" does not have the character or comedic strength of either one of its successful sitcom predecessors.
Things go horribly wrong at the party when poor Ethan is publicly dumped by his fianc?© due to her frustration with his thoughtful gifts and grand, loving gestures.
Actually, Ethan was probably dumped because of his hairstyle, best described as a side-parted, heavily gelled creation his mom would have made him sport on third grade picture day. It could be a tactical move by stylists to illustrate his inability to grow up, but it looks slightly ridiculous for a man nearing 30, and truth be told, is simply distracting. Ethan is painfully nice, and ends the episode on a sappy, contemplative note about how, out of all the kids in the class, he never thought he would be the one to end up unhappy.
Ethan's former classmate, Kat Warbler (Lizzy Caplan) is the only one at the party able to snap him out of it. Kat is artsy (in her first scene she's developing photos despite glaring white overhead light) and is meant to be the frosty, snappy bitch of the group. However, Kat already demonstrates clear signs that underneath her rough exterior lies a heart of pure gold. Caplan is good at giving sass; as she should be, after playing the teenage version of the same character in "Mean Girls" (2004).
Sexual tension between this unlikely duo will probably build up all season until they finally kiss in the finale episode to a crowd of manufactured, laugh-track "ooooohs."
But back to the uninspired plot; while Ethan sobs in his room, the guests mingle and hilarity ensues. This "hilarity" involves hackneyed gay jokes, a bit with a guy who still lives at home with his yenta mother and various other things we've seen before.
The guy with the yenta mom, Duncan Carmello (Jon Bernthal), regrets breaking up with his high school girlfriend Nicole Allen (Andrea Anders) when she arrives at the party with an aging NFL star on her arm.
Though this elementary school couple gets together at the end of the episode it seems likely that to draw this storyline out, Nicole will go back to her husband and wrestle with the idea of leaving him for her old flame all season.
Lina Warbler (Heather Goldenhersh), Kat's twin sister, is the token nincompoop of the bunch who, despite catching her boyfriend cheating on her, refuses to give up on love. Luckily, she finds her quirky match at the party in the nerdy Richie Velch (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) who, although depressed and suicidal at its start, finds a new lease on life due to his budding romance with Lina.
Lina is laughably stupid and Richie is laughably depressed, but neither character is actually funny enough to make anyone laugh. The audience will understand all the jokes on the show, and maybe muster a few mumbled "ha"'s to a few things, but generally nothing about these characters is particularly amusing or inventive.
Finally, there is Holly Ellenbogen (Lucy Punch), a newscaster who comes to the reunion to find her ex-boyfriend and give him a piece of her mind. She found Kyle Lendo (Sean Maguire) cheating on her with (gasp!) a man on prom night and has never recovered. In a one-two punch of laughs, we go from meeting her gay ex-boyfriend to meeting her very obviously gay husband. You see, that's funny because she repeatedly dates gay men without knowing it.
It's hard to tell how, or if, all of these characters will become friends. Clear pairings between certain characters exist but the idea of all of them hanging out despite their differing lifestyles, places of residence and interests seems just a bit contrived.
