Imagine my surprise (or don't, it's really underwhelming) when I find My Boys suddenly available on Netflix streaming. Now, in order to allay my guilt about splurge-watching a six year old series when I have so many other current shows stacking up on my hard drive, I decided it might be nice to do a little retrospective as I go along. I keep meaning to write about more than the three or four deeply flawed sitcoms I seem to be trapped with, but I can't quite seem to get on the ball as far as hour-long dramas are concerned. So maybe this can be a compromise.
Instead of a post per episode, I'm going to be doing a light overview of groups of episodes at a time. This'll either make things a little easier for me, or a lot harder.
So, when I first watched the show, I actually couldn't figure out if I liked it or not. Something was just off about it. I couldn't quite put my finger on it. The actors didn't seem to sync, and yet they all played off each other with aplomb (yeah, I just used aplomb. You wanna make something of it?). It took me a while to realize that nearly every other sitcom out there has a kind of predictable patter, a syntax made up of pauses and cadence and tone meant to maximize the comedic (or dramatic) effect of each line. Even single-camera sitcoms have their own pauses for laughter and mugs at the (invisible documentarian's) camera. My Boys doesn't pause as much, it doesn't stick to the familiar patterns, so watching it seems a little weird, at least at first.
And the only reason I make such a big deal about this is because it contributes to, what was for me, the first defining characteristic of the series: It's *really mellow*. The plots are just as interesting and engaging as anything you'll find in The Office or Friends (even in their better seasons), but because we're not being subconsiously setup for the "HAHA!" punchline or a mug for the camera, it feels more like watching a movie that a sitcom. It's a mellowness that extends down to the theme song, a fun breezy jazzy number that you barely notice started, like it's been playing all along. It goes along without any pop-ish hooks or any kind of building towards a climax. It's catchy, and fun but without the "OMG aren't we so cute" over-trying of the Friends or HIMYM themes (which I both love). It's kind of like "Hey, wanna chill out for a beer? You might like this show. If not, no biggie. It's cool."
...I've mentioned I've also not slept for more than four hours in like three weeks, right?
 |
| I took "I'll Be There For You" to heart
a little too much in junior high, and have blamed all my emotional disappointments on The Rembrandts ever since... |
Right. So... episodes.
The first three episodes are ultimately about setting up the base-level character dynamics. We meet everyone, how they all interact with each other, and what the primary conflicts of the show are going to be. It's kind of like the control portion of an experiment. Here's how things normally are, and then later on we'll get to play around with it. The fact that they manage to do this with three genuinely entertaning stories is also pretty amazing.
The thing is, for all the faults with chemisty and pacing one usually finds in the first few episodes of any series, they can also be among the strongest story-wise, because this is where the singular creative voice has the clearest picture of what story they're trying to tell.
Pilot:
PJ meets Bobby, the new Chicago Tribune reporter covering the Chicago Cubs. PJ is instantly attracted to him, and looks to pursue a relationship with him. They end up kissing, but Bobby admits that he doesn't know if he can actually date her, PJ is too much like 'one of the guys.' Brendan breaks up with his long time girlfriend, Wendy, and crashes at PJ's place. (Wikipedia)
Introduction in the literal sense. We meet PJ Franklin, a female sports columnist, whose closest friends are the titular Boys (Dibs on The Titular Boys as then name of my N'Sync dubstep cover band). There's Kenny and Mike, one of my favorite sitcom Odd Couples in television (Kenny's the quiet, nerdish one, Mike's the outgoing jock-y guy), Brandon her college buddy whose been dumped by his on-again/off-again girlfriend, her brother Andy (played by the always welcome Jim Gaffigan), and Bobby, PJ's new crush. We also get to meet Stephanie, who could've very easily become a shrill stereotype (female friend who says insists PJ act more "girly"), but instead comes off as reasonable and even keeled (up to a point).
The episodes main thrust is arguably that of the entire series: PJ finds dating and relationships much too complicated, and she prefers sports (her job, and not coincidentally, the main thread of commonality that binds her with all her guy friends). She spends the episode making complicated and tortured analogies of various things in her entire life to sports, and trying to find a way to become "girly enough" to entice Bobby, a new fellow sports writer she's taken a shine too.
 |
| I ... will have everything on that tray. How much for...spoon... |
Despite the relative strength of the episode itself (the dialog and plotting is top notch), in the larger context of the show this episode is already infamous for three things:
- Its insistence on really pushing the whole sports metaphor thing. I get that that was supposed to be the show's internal hook, but man some of those were tortured, and I don't even know which end of a baseball bat is up.
- Introducing Bobby. Having already seen the end of the series, I already know he's not going anywhere, but there is just something about that smirk I just really don't like.
- Making me hate Bobby with a passion, when he claims that PJ's straightforwardness is a turn off.
 |
| "What do you mean women have orgasms?!?" |
Let's harp on that last part again, because it's arguably the climax of the episode. PJ manages to be charming as all fuck and gets Bobby to bed (with one of the best deliveries of "Do you want to see my [blank], it's in my bedroom" I've ever seen), and then once things get hot and heavy, Bobby starts getting freaked out because she's not, I don't know, emotionally traumatized by impending sex? He literally says she should be saying things like "Wait! Why is this happening so fast?" and that she's acting like a guy. I should point out that she's not being a porny nympho or anything. And he's flipping out. And there's nothing in the plotting or pacing or editing of this episode that in anyway chastises him for not only being afraid of a sexually assertive woman, but being turned on by the prospect of pressuring a woman into sex. And this is our love interest, ladies and gentlemen. Douchechills.
Another thing I noticed in this ep was an odd, otherwise understated potential inverted instance of First Boy Wins when it comes to Peej and Brandon. The episode ends with them commisserating comfortably on the couch over their dating catastrophes. If that's not classic sitcom shorthand for "This is our secret couple", I don't know what is. Brandon also had a little extra bitterness in his voice during their argument about whether or not he should go back to his ex. Interesting...
Mixed Signals:
PJ and Bobby get their signals mixed up about their relationship, due to PJ's excessive use of baseball metaphors, so the guys don't find out about their previous relationship. Bobby ends up dating a new girl, Claire.(Wikipedia)
Aside from the fact that no one is apparently ever going to call Bobby out on his creepy behavior last ep, this one does a pretty good job of continuing to set up the foundational dynamics. PJ likes Bobby, Bobby's sticking around, their thing is going to be a "we are/were attracted to each other but we're friends now" dynamic. Again, putting aside the ridiculous events that brought us here, I really liked how true PJ and Bobby's titular mixed signals rang. Yeah, it was sweet of him to bring her the signed ball, but it's also completely understandable why PJ wouldn't want to flaunt a flirtation in front of everyone, especially in a boy's-club-esque situation as the bullpen. In turn, PJ's whole "underground restaurant" metaphor for keeping what happened just between the two of them managed to come off as both understandable and batshit crazy, so she's got some legimtate egg on her face here too. All in all, while you may still hate Bobby for last episode, and it would be tempting to hate him for his new girlfriend, this episode, no one comes off looking bad, though no one in particular seems like a winner. Except maybe Bobby, after all. His new girlfriend's a dancer.
 |
| I fucking hate you, Bobby. |
 |
| Seriously, not gay. |
We also get some nice foundational work on Mike and Kenny, which are probably my favorite [space reserved until I come up with a better word than bromance, ugh] since Joey and Chandler. We get to establish Kenny's general shyness via his snails-pace style with women versus Mike's more direct approach. In addition to their wonderfully understated approaches to both characters, what this subplot really did was give us, in the span of two episodes, an entirely new dimension to their dynamic. Based on last episode, it would've been fairly to define Kenny as the straight man, normal and reasonable, compared to Mike's crazy wacky sleazy guy. But in this episode, we see Mike taking the reasonable stance against Kenny's neuroses. Now having the Oscar be the reasonable one compared to a fussy Felix is pretty much par for the course for any sufficiently developed duo (even Kramer had his lucid moments when talking down to Jerry), so it's not like they're remotely breaking new ground, but I still really liked the execution of it. I may be overstating understatement, but it was just done, and it all rang true. And now, we see that they're both off their rocker just enough for it to be a pretty even friendship.
On the Brando side of things we get another oddly one-sided and separated-from-the-group continuation of the Wendy storyline. It's unclear at this point, if she's just going to be his Maris or whatever, but the fact that it keeps on blowing up in his face, leading him to come back to Peej and have adorably tender moments with her at the end of every ep really makes me think they're playing Last Boy Wins or whatever. I mean, come on! Ironically, I don't like Brandon much either.
Team Chemistry:
Brendan dates a fan of his radio show, and the woman is constantly at PJ's house, which annoys her. The boys find out about PJ and Bobby previously dating. PJ tries to set up Mike's friend with Stephanie, which backfires, as Mike's friend is attracted to PJ instead.(Wikipedia)
Speaking of Brando, here we're introduced to another particular part of his base dynamic: man-slut. Well, that's unfair, and a little bitter on my part. He picks up very young impressionable chicks, it's his thing. You know, that one opening scene is a perfect encapsulation of why I have a hard time expressing why I love this show's delivery. There's just something about Jordana Spiro's awkward-slash-sarcastic-slash-weary frantic pounding on Brandon's door that just sells the entire situation for me. Brando's Junior Fan Club is a perfect illustration of this episode's thesis: the need for team chemistry.
Actually, she's really the only illustration of this episodes central thesis.
In the first sign that maybe this whole "relationships as sports metaphor" thing isn't really meant to be stretched out this long, all the other subplots in this episode pretty much have very little to do with team chemistry, despite Narrator!Peeg's noble attempts to tie them together. But what they lack in forced-cohesiveness, they make up for in fun stories and more dynamics building!
In Mike and Kenny land, cliche bromance [fuck it, it is what it is] jealousy lets us add the final dimension to their friendship: a clingy dimension. I love Kenny's genuinely confused "who the hell is calling me, everyone I know is here!" reaction, especially his decision to not pick up the phone. (Am I like that? Can you tell?) Jealousy in bromances is kind of an overdone trope, and not even Mike and Kenny's great delivery could keep this dead horse going for long, so it's excellent for the episode that the whole thing takes up very little screen time and wraps up in a hilarious hoagie-thru-a-window bonding scene. Aw.
 |
| "So...tall, grande, or venti?" |
Peej meanwhile, stumbles head first into the classic "Hey I just made a second black friend! Let me set them up" sitcom gag. To her, and the show's, credit, it is executed in a much more entertaining manner than other shows have (cough Happy Endings cough), with race only playing a factor just long enough for PJ to utter the classic "I can't wait to date a black guy!" line. Peej saves the day, and our opinion of her by admitting that that it wasn't so much the race thing, as she just wanted Steph to end up with someone that Peej "gets". Which, you know, is such a perfectly understandable and realistic concern to have, and yet I can't recall any other sitcoms approaching it in that particular way.
In the midst of all this, we also have PJ's and Bobby's pilot-episode hookup slowly spreading it's way from group member to group member. This whole plot was worth it just for Jim Gaffigan's punchline of "I don't know, the 12 year old girl told me..." Way to bring it back around to a flawless callback Mr. Gaffigan. Awesome.
And with that, we've also laid the last brick in the foundation of this show's character dynamics. We've set up the central premise. We've established the personality of each of the characters and how they interact with each other. We've set up the central unrequired romance and now all the other characters are aware of said unrequited romance (even though it's not treated as such). And they managed to all this without the show feeling like it was dragging at any point.
So far, so good.
Fuck Bobby.
No comments:
Post a Comment