A shrill, hacky laughtrack sitcom from writer-producers David Kohan & Max Mutchnick (“Will & Grace,” “Four Kings”), "Partners" follows partners in an architectural firm -- a homosexual fellow and a heterosexual fellow -- who have been friends since childhood.
It stars David Krumholtz (“Numbers,” “Serenity”) and Michael Urie (“Ugly Betty”), with Brandon Routh (“Superman Returns”) and Sophia Bush (“One Tree Hill”) as their significant others.
I judge “Partners” less accomplished than any of CBS’ other current sitcoms, and worse even than “Shit My Dad Says,” the writers’ last sitcom for CBS. I will say, though, the great Krumholtz does work manfully to sell some pretty poor material.
Interestingly, Fox in 1995 also aired a sitcom titled “Partners,” also directed by James Burrows, and also about two architects who find their longtime friendship strained after one of them decides to marry. The Fox “Partners” (which starred Jon Cryer and Tate Donovan) was created by Jeff Greenstein, who went on to work for Kohan and Mutchnick on “Will & Grace.” But both architects in the Fox version were devoid of any gay.
... This appears to be the re-animated corpse of a tired, schticky comedy pilot from 1996. … just a tiresome collection of hacky scenes and lines …
Some shows need a script doctor. The new sitcom “Partners,” based on the working relationship of its creators, David Kohan and Max Mutchnick, calls out for a couples counselor. Maybe he could explain why this celebration of friendship feels so sour and joyless.…
The San Francisco Chronicle says:
... The style of humor is as old as vaudeville: Krumholtz is the straight man in more ways than one, but his Joe gets off a few nicely deadpan lines as a counterpoint to Louis' stream of hysteria. … If "Partners" is to find an audience, it will do so by making us like the characters - not just find them somewhat likable and occasionally funny. We not only have to feel affection for them individually, but together as well. That, and find more current cultural references for the one-liners.
... Kohan and Mutchnick haven’t moved forward or backward since their “Will & Grace” days, which is perhaps why the show feels old before its time. …
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says:
... This comedy is full of stock jokes, stock characters and even a stock premise. "Partners" isn't the worst new sitcom of the season -- NBC's "Guys With Kids" earned that title hands down -- but it is disappointing. …
... witless, predictable and much closer to creepy than funny. …
Grade: D ... The young actors portraying fifth-grade versions of Joe and Louis (Sloane Morgan Siegel and Corey Fogel-manis) have more chemistry than their adult alter-egos. …
... what an irritating show! Almost every line is a bad joke! It’s like reading a series of sentences that all end in exclamation points! “Partners” is ham on a shtick … the stubbornly conventional scripts, the overfamiliar characters, and the old-fashioned, machine-gun comic timing undermine any possibility of freshness. …
... Partners may be many things, "funny" isn't one of them … What you also have, unfortunately, are three couples without a shred of chemistry in any of their configurations. …
... the tone and emphasis on double entendres suggest "Partners'" aspirations are limited. Indeed, the pilot's only moment that didn't feel completely predictable involved a quote from "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance." …
8:30 p.m. Monday. CBS.
