Some TV comedies measure greatness in terms of jokes per minute. For instance, funnier equals better for Tina Fey and company on "30 Rock," even if it means cutting corners when it comes to plot and characterization. Other comedies can be good without being laugh−out−loud funny. "Scrubs" (2001−10), although it certainly had its humorous moments, was always at its best when it threw more serious dramatic elements into the mix.
Unfortunately, "Mr. Sunshine," the new Matthew Perry vehicle on ABC, doesn't fall into either camp. Despite a strong cast and promising premise, the jokes largely fall flat and there isn't much substance to otherwise prop up the show.
Perry plays Ben Donovan, the operations manager of a San Diego arena aptly named the Sunshine Center. He channels his inner Chandler Bing, delivering almost exactly what you would expect from a Matthew Perry performance, which works for the most part. His sarcasm and exasperated tone hearken back to his days on "Friends" (1994−2004) and contrast nicely with the other arena personalities.
At this point, though, Ben is too thinly drawn for a lead character. He comes off a bit egocentric, but not as much as the show wants us to think. Other people describe him as a "preening, self−centered narcissist," but most of the evidence to support that claim comes from the fact that he wanted to be wished happy birthday and to be thanked for his 10 years of service at the arena. The moniker "Mr. Sunshine," while obviously a play off the arena's name, is also supposed to ironically apply to Ben, but so far there's not a lot to back that up. It feels more like an attempt to be clever, but a weak one at that.
The supporting cast is filled out to varying degrees of success. Allison Janney of "The West Wing" (1999−2006) is mostly a miss as Crystal, the owner of the arena. Janney must repeatedly receive notes that say "crazy!" and "politically incorrect!" because they are the only two traits she seems to have, even if they're not particularly funny (although her repeated over−the−top winking does draw laughs).
Andrea Anders of the late, great workplace satire "Better Off Ted" (2009−10) fares a bit better as Alice, the marketing director and Ben's one−time flame. Her surface−level liberalism has potential, especially when paired with boyfriend Alonzo's (James Lesure) optimism, but I'm afraid she'll be relegated to the role of love interest, despite Anders' proven comedic chops.
The biggest laughs come from Roman (Nate Torrence), Crystal's son and the newest employee at the Sunshine Center, despite a marked lack of interests or skills. Torrence plays the dimwitted character with so much enthusiasm it's hard not to smile, but he'll have to be careful not to push his character into annoying territory by going too broad.
As Ben says in the pilot, the Sunshine Center does "political conventions, sports, rodeo, lingerie, football, motocross" and, as we see later, circuses and rock concerts, too. There is certainly no shortage of ways to bring in interesting guest stars and conflicts. But only one of the three episodes I've seen, involving Nick Jonas as a demanding teen star, delivered on the show's potential — and even that was only one subplot.
Pilots are often necessarily rushed. They have to make a good first impression to keep viewers interested while introducing the main characters, setting a tone and telling a good story. And with so much going on, pilots are sometimes not the best indicators of what a show truly is.
For example, the pilot and subsequent handful of episodes of "Cougar Town," which stars Perry's former "Friends" co−star Courteney Cox, was based on Cox's character's desire to sleep with younger men. It has now notably transformed into a goofy ensemble comedy with little left from its early iteration.
I have seen two episodes past the "Mr. Sunshine" pilot, including tonight's episode, however, and things don't change much. I hope the show is merely taking a little time to find its footing because I like a lot of the elements individually. Perry, Janney and Anders are all great comedic actors and there are plenty of supporting characters to eventually make a solid ensemble. The premise has a lot of promise and the Sunshine Center has the potential to become a distinct setting with strong character.
So far, though, I can't say I'm dying to see a fourth episode. I'll keep watching because I want it to improve and I believe it has the potential. But if a sitcom is clearly aiming for laughs over gravitas and it's not getting them out of me, something's not working.
