What's it about?
Jessica St. Clair and Lennon Parham star as Jessica and Lennon, best friends who live on opposite sides of the country with the men in their lives. When Jessica is overnighted divorce papers, Lennon convinces her to return home to Brooklyn and back into the apartment they used to share. It doesn't take long for the girls to fall into old habits: movie marathons and late night girl talk sessions - none of which is good news for Lennon's live-in boyfriend, Joe.
You should watch if...
• you're tired of the same old drivel that NBC has been pushing out as "comedies" this year (here's looking at you, WHITNEY and ARE YOU THERE, CHELSEA?) and want something different and refreshing.
• you enjoy stories involving characters who are real people with real relationships.
• you are a twenty- or thirty-something living in Brooklyn (guilty!).
So, how was it?
It seems that the networks have been saving the best for last. Why this (along with ABC's DON'T TRUST THE B---- IN APARTMENT 23) were pushed so far to the end of the season and premiered with barely any fanfare is beyond me. They are by far the two best comedy premieres of 2012, as well as my favorites of the whole 2011-2012 TV season alongside NBC's UP ALL NIGHT. I hope people find the time to check this show out -- it is the real deal, full of genuine emotions, relationships and, of course, hilarity.
When you read the synopsis above, you probably rolled your eyes and marked BEST FRIENDS FOREVER off as just another boring sitcom. If so, you're doing yourself a disservice. This is one show that looks much better on air than it does on paper -- it's not a high-concept that draws you in, it's the characters. Written by real life BFF's Jessica St. Clair and Lennon Parhan, who star as Jessica and Lennon (respectively...duh), the real-life chemistry and history between the stars gives this show something extra special. These feel like real women who share a very real past. Unlike most sitcoms, where the characters seem to have popped into existence the moment you meet them on screen, you immediately get the sense that Jessica and Lennon have already been existing in this world for years and years.
The rest of the cast manages to evoke this same sense of history brilliantly as well (despite not being real-life BFFs). Luka Jones, of the Upright Citizens Brigade, costars as Joe, Lennon's boyfriend, who is initially horrified at the incursion of Jessica into his home. The relationship between Joe and Jessica, who are existing together in the same space for the first time, is one of the most interesting, and speaks to the writing and acting talents of this ensemble. In a TV season where every single character had to be increasingly "quirky" in order to stand out from the crowd (a situation brought to a fever-pitched frenzy by the "adorkable" explosion of Zooey Deschanel on NEW GIRL), these people aren't caricatures -- they have the "quirks" that real people have, but they're not over-the-top, and exist to define character rather than create it. Perhaps the "quirkiest" character on BEST FRIENDS FOREVER is the laugh-out-loud hysterical Daija Owens, who plays Queenetta, Lennon and Joe's nine-and-a-half-year-old loud, sassy "stoop troll" of a neighbor. (But as someone who actually lives in Brooklyn, I can attest that even this "quirky" character isn't a caricature.)
I suspect many people will be turned off by the low-concept focus on real relationships between real people, wondering when the next over-the-top hijink will ensue. But I found the first episode of this show to be engaging, refreshing, and utterly captivating. It was probably the most out-loud-laughing I've done in a half hour all year, and I can't wait to keep watching.
Rating:
**** Certifiably ADDICTive. A must-see.
Please, do yourself a favor and watch this show. If not for yourself, then for me, because more people need to watch it so it can get renewed for Season 2! Shame on NBC for pushing WHITNEY and CHELSEA so hard and leaving this brilliant show to flounder in the deadly waters of April, when TV viewers are suffering from premiere-exhaustion. Give BEST FRIENDS FOREVER a chance!
What did you think, Fellow Addicts? Were you drawn in by the relationships between Jessica, Lennon and Joe? Are you as obsessed with Queenetta as I am? Vote in the poll below and then hit the comments!
(For the complete rundown of when all the new shows are premiering, check out my 2012 Midseason TV Preview.)
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