ABC tonight replaces one star of “Friends” – Courtney Cox, star of “Cougar Town” – with another, Matthew Perry.
Perry not only stars in “Mr. Sunshine,” The new 9:30 sitcom about the manager of a 17,000-seat San Diego arena dubbed The Sunshine Center, he’s (alongside “Rules of Engagement” vets Alex Barnow & Marc Firek) its co-creator and one of its writers. He’s brought along a few actors he worked with on Aaron Sorkin’s “West Wing” and Aaron Sorkin’s “Studio 60” – Alison Janney, Nate Torrance and James Lesure.
The project’s Sorkin-esque workplace vibe comes from the Sorkin actors and perhaps also Perry’s appreciation of Sorkin’s work, and certainly from Thomas Schlamme, a director-producer on “Mr. Sunshine” known for partnering with Sorkin since their “Sports Night” days together.
The show also stars Andrea Anders, who was the hot blonde on ABC’s “Better Off Ted” who wasn’t Portia DeRossi. Jorge Garcia, killing time between his two J.J. Abrams island dramas, contributes a winning recurring performance as an arena underling.
I like Perry a lot; I always thought him one of the three funny leads on “Friends” and clearly he can still wrangle a punchline.
I like his new co-stars almost as much.
I laughed aloud a few times, and found other parts amusing. I feel there might be a quite a good comedy burbling just under the surface of this thing; I’d like to see more before I decide whether or not I want to move on.
… Certainly if TV stars are what you're after, you'll find no more appealing lineup than the group gathered for Mr. Sunshine. … What more could you ask? Sharper scripts, for a start, and a better sense that Perry's unhappy central character is strong enough to hold the center of the show. But there's enough promise here, and enough room to grow, that you can't help hoping Sunshine will follow the midterm-correction path set by the show it's replacing, Cougar Town. …
… It’s Ben’s two buoyant sidekicks who lift “Mr. Sunshine” as a comedy — their obliviousness to slight is charmingly counterintuitive and a source of bafflement and occasional irritation to Ben. … Unfortunately, too much of the material in “Mr. Sunshine” is predictable and even trite, including Crystal’s admission that she is terrified of clowns. Ms. Janney is a delicious comedian with superb timing, but the notion that clowns are scary, not funny, is an old and oft-used one in sitcoms; it would be funnier, particularly given Crystal’s whimsical, drug-addled persona, if she went against the grain and was fearless of clowns. …
… what they arrived at combines the extreme characters of a traditional wacky workplace comedy with the big-canvas naturalism of the Sorkin shows. As expressed in the pilot, it's not altogether an easy fit, but it shows promise. …
… exerts a whole lot of energy being only half-funny. … the riffs are fast, the digs are sharp and the laughing is entirely up to you. …
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says:
… Although Mr. Perry is the star of the show, the comedy is at its funniest whenever Ms. Janney's character is on screen. She pops pills, remains distant from her airhead son (Nate Torrance, "She's Out of My League"), reacts in terror at the sight of clowns and sings racially insensitive songs. In short, Ms. Janney's Crystal is a complete mess, and "Mr. Sunshine" is all the better for it. …
The San Francisco Chronicle says:
… Do we focus in on how unfunny it is in general? Or on how wince-inducing it is to see Allison Janney try to milk laughs as Crystal, a self-involved, pill-popping, racist owner of a San Diego arena? Or how you can't help wondering which is sadder: Matthew Perry's self-loathing sad-sack character or his attempt to make him appealing? …
… a show with a lot of likable performers, a solid creative pedigree, occasional laughs and a whole lot of room for improvement. …
… a sprightly comedy about a guy who wakes up on his 40th birthday and realizes he’s all alone. … Janney is a devilish riot. … could be midseason’s brightest ray of mirth.
… It’s not a complete disaster, thanks to supporting actress Allison Janney and a smooth single-camera tone. But it’s a quintessential “so what?’’ sitcom that practically begs you to damn it with extremely faint praise, mincing your words down to the blandest of neutrality. It forbids the reviewer the opportunity to get either staccato in outrage or gushy in adoration. The show just has no texture. …
… Without getting carried away, you can see the potential … Mr. Sunshine and Mad Love at least deserve a few weeks of attention to see if the promise they hold will pay off. …
… Perry might be the best-suited co-star of that one-time NBC titan to carry his own program, but this new series is an awfully thin construct -- the kind where a visiting circus inevitably unleashes a character's pathological phobia of clowns. Unfortunately for the pilot, no one need fear being assailed by excessive doses of mirth. …
9:30 p.m. Wednesday. ABC.
Sorkin’s Latest: $12.99/$16.99!!
