What's it about?
PARTNERS is a comedy based on the lives of creators David Kohan and Max Mutchnick, about two life-long best friends and business partners whose "bromance" is tested when one of them is engaged to be married. Joe is an accomplished architect who leads with his head and not his heart, especially in his love life. That's in stark contrast to his gay co-worker, Louis, who is spontaneous, emotional and prone to exaggeration. Both have found joy in their love lives: Joe is newly engaged to Ali, a beautiful and sophisticated jewelry designer, and Louis' companion is Wyatt, a vegan nurse who Louis insists is just a promotion away from becoming a doctor. As news of Joe's engagement settles, time will tell if their business and personal bond can adapt to the addition of two other important relationships.
(from CBS.com)
You should watch if...
• ...you're a die-hard WILL & GRACE fan.
• ...you're a die-hard Michael Urie fan.
• ...you've been dying to see the actor who most recently portrayed Superman play a gay vegan nurse.
So, how was it?
Sitcoms centering around two characters who can never develop romantic feelings for each other seem to be in this year. First there was BEN & KATE with its sibling protagonists, and now there's PARTNERS, featuring Joe and Louis, childhood friends and business partners, one of whom is straight and one gay. This is again a welcome change from the tired will-they-won't-they trope. That being said, I was totally prepared to hate this show, seeing as it's a CBS sitcom with a laugh track (there's not a single one of those I enjoy). Even though PARTNERS was created by the same men who created WILL & GRACE, I was braced for the worst.
Imagine my surprise then, when I found myself not hating it. It seemed to me to be a step above the usual CBS fare, probably due to the talent of the men who crafted the show -- WILL & GRACE is probably one of the most successful and well-loved sitcoms of the early 2000s. Joe and Louis feel like much more well-rounded, real characters than any of the caricatures in ANIMAL PRACTICE or GUYS WITH KIDS (for example). Granted, it's still a sitcom, so they still fit into "types" (the fussy gay, the schlubby straight dude), but Michael Urie (UGLY BETTY) and David Krumholtz (NUMB3RS) are skilled enough as the leads to flesh their characters out and make them relatable. Even Sophia Bush (ONE TREE HILL) is likable as Joe's fiancée, and her frustration with his closeness to Louis is surprisingly understated (on any other sitcom it would've been played for over-the-top laughs). Brandon Routh (SUPERMAN RETURNS) is the one weak link in the cast. His comedic timing is not up to snuff and he's just too...vanilla to really add anything of import to the show. He's tall and good-looking and that's about it, at least so far.
Like any sitcom, there were jokes that fell flat, predictable plot lines, and a sappy ending where everything is wrapped up in a pretty bow, but there was enough freshness -- in the concept and the acting -- to keep me from groaning every three seconds. If I enjoyed mult-cam sitcoms with laugh tracks, I would probably love this show. Unfortunately, this format is just not my cup of tea, and I really don't see myself tuning in on a regular basis. But, and this is high praise from me, if I found myself with nothing else to watch and this was on my TV, I might not change the channel.
And the verdict is:
Meh. Not the worst but not for me.
There has never been a CBS sitcom that I enjoyed, and I absolutely loathe laugh tracks, so I was all ready to give this one an atrocious rating. PARTNERS turned out to be surprisingly not atrocious, but it's also not the show for me, through no fault of its own. I'll be surprised if this show doesn't find an audience somewhere. It's definitely not the worst sitcom of the year, in no small part due to the absence of a monkey costar. (Doesn't that just reek of desperation?? Ugh...)
What did you think, Fellow Addicts? Were you as surprised as I was by how not-horrible PARTNERS was? Or did you just find it plain-ole-horrible? Vote in the poll below and then hit the comments!
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