“PILOT” Airs Wednesday, February 9 at 9:30 PM on ABC
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On Mr. Sunshine, Matthew Perry stars as Ben Donovan, a self-involved manager of a San Diego sports arena, the Sunshine Center, where curious mishaps and bizarre requests are nothing more than ordinary. Working alongside him is his boss and arena owner Crystal (Allison Janney), attractive, powerful and highly erratic; Alice (Andrea Anders), the cute, tomboyish marketing director and Ben’s friend with benefits; Alonzo (James Lesure), a former basketball player, handsome and unbelievably happy; Ben’s assistant, Heather (Portia Doubleday), pretty, sweet, but terrifying because she once lit a boyfriend on fire; and Crystal’s son, Roman (Nate Torrence), sweet-faced, clueless and Ben’s newest employee.
In the premiere, on what would have been just a typical day at work — trying to get rid of a hockey rink that won’t melt so the circus can go on that night, looking for an elephant lost in the building and arranging an impromptu press conference to repair one of his boss’s PR nightmares — Alice ends her casual relationship with Ben to commit to another man. This happens on Ben’s 40th birthday, just as he’s realizing he doesn’t want to be alone.
I’m normally not a fan of or even interested in American half-hour comedies, but a show co-created, co-written and starring Matthew Perry sort of demands at least a look at the pilot. So, what did I think? Pretty inspired and very, very funny. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that the always wonderful Allison Janney also stars and Jorge Garcia makes a cameo appearance, but, still, this is a funny show. Refreshingly, there is no annoying laugh-track indicating where you should and shouldn’t be amused, but there are plenty of laugh-out-loud moments and many chuckle-inducing scenes in between. My main complaint is that Mr. Sunshine is only thirty minutes (well, twenty minutes and change with commercial breaks factored in) as it felt a little rushed. I’m not sure that the premise exactly lends itself to a one hour format, but I think it could have benefited even more from expanding on some of the bits here and there. Regardless, Mr. Sunshine is a bright new star in the weekly line-up of TV and should be quickly promoted to a coveted standing on your must-see list.
