by rick grant rickgrant01@comcast.net
TBS is Ted Turner’s original channel from which he built his empire. The channel has languished in syndicated limbo, running movies and Law & Order episodes ad nauseam. Now, TBS has decided to produce original programming to compete with HBO, FX, USA, and Showtime. The two new TBS comedy shows, My Boys and 10 Items or Less are high quality productions that are well worth viewing. And yes–hallelujah–there are no laughs tracks on either show. Finally, TV moguls have gotten the message–laugh tracks are cliché–a leftover annoyance from the golden age of television. More significantly, these shows do not need laugh tracks.
Since past episodes of both shows are available on TBS.com anytime, it was easy for me to check them out. First, My Boys owes its concept to Friends, but it’s decidedly different and updated to today’s single scene. PJ (Jordana Spiro) is in her late twenties, happily single, and is a sports writer for the Chicago Sun Times. She’s pretty, intelligent, funny, and vivacious but feels more comfortable hanging out with her cadre of male friends–also single except her brother who is married, but he still hangs out with the group. She dates guys away from the group, and they have to check her suitors out to give her their blessing. She is part of their poker night, and they treat her like a guy. This causes her some trepidation since she has a feminine side when she’s with her girlfriends.
PJ blends in well with the guys and can rag on them but she can also take their abuse as well. Her brother, Andy (Jim Gaffigan) feels the tight tug of his wife’s leash and likes to feel like he’s single again, when in fact, he’s his wife’s monkey boy. Mike (Jamie Kaler) is a commitment phobic ladies man who works for the Chicago Cubs. Kenny (Michael Bunin) is a sports memorabilia store owner who strikes out with women regularly. Brendan (Reid Scott ) is a hard-rock DJ whose romance with his girlfriend is on-again off-again, which drives the other guys crazy. Bobby (Kyle Howard) is colleague of PJ–a sportswriter for the Sun’s competitor, the Chicago Tribune. And, PJ’s gal pal Stephanie (Kellee Stewart) is her female support when the testosterone level gets too heavy.
Spiro gets the snappy lines but the other characters are portrayed as bright, funny, and macho–even PJ, who, when she gets dressed up for a date, gets “her boys” attention. They tell her if she’s showing too much cleavage (too available) or not enough (too unavailable). It’s like she has her own male cheering section. She confides to Stephanie on a girls night out, “Sometimes I forget I have a vagina.” In one episode, the whole gang is going through a slump, including PJ. So they decide to go to a sleazy pick up bar and take whatever they can get. PJ goes along to help them. However, she interferes with their game and she ends up making friends with their potential one night stands. After that, she’s banned from their spawning expeditions.
10 Items or Less could be viewed as The Office set in a family owned supermarket called the Green & Grains. John Lehr portrays Leslie Pool, the owner/manager who inherited the business from his father. He’s a clueless idiot in the mold of Michael of The Office. Everything out of his mouth is inappropriate or stupid.
Leslie’s dysfunctional staff includes Carl (Robert Clendenin)–a sweet guy but not running on all cylinders. Leslie’s sidekick is Yolanda (Roberta Valderama from ER) She runs the produce department with an iron hand. And, Yolanda is pregnant with Carl’s baby which is not from a top of the line gene pool. Buck (Greg Davis) is the bagger and a joker. Ingrid (Kirsten Gronfield) is the loopy soft-spoken customer service rep who is into renaissance festivals. Richard (Christopher Liam Moore) is the effeminate cashier who dreams of becoming a professional ice dancer. And, Todd (Chriss Payne Gilbert) is the sexy butcher who sees himself as a NASCAR driver. In one episode, Todd is fired but gets a job across the street at the Super Value Mart.
A reoccurring character, Amy (Jennifer Elise Cox) manages the Super Value Mart and is sexually turned on by Todd. She dresses him in a tight butcher outfit and uses him as her secret weapon with the ladies. Todd is offended by her sexual harassment and goes back to Greens and Grains to be Leslie Pool’s sexy butcher. Then an image of Jesus appears in a stain on the wall, and Leslie exploits this “miracle” to bring in business. Amy brings in a priest to debunk Leslie’s marketing ploy, but he sanctions the Jesus stain.
Less is more with continuous laughter from the clever scripts and top tier acting. Both series are pathfinding shows that have taken the sitcom beyond its clichéd past with quality production values and exemplary writing–with no laugh track. Hurrah!
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