Barry, Bobby, Ben and Jason couldn't imagine life
without one another. Since childhood, these bosom
buddies haven't spent so much as a birthday apart, but
when Ben's grandmother, who dubbed them the "Four
Kings of New York," passes away, Ben inherits her
apartment and decides to share it with his lifelong
friends. But despite the comfort of their posh new
surroundings and efforts to cling to their youth,
adulthood begins drawing these Four Kings knee-deep
into situations that aren't always easy to escape in
this honest exploration of life-term friendship.
Cast Details:
Four Kings stars Josh Cooke as Ben, Shane McRae as
Bobby, Todd Grinnell as Jason, and Seth Green as
Barry.
First, Josh Cooke plays Ben. John Cooke is a
carryover from last year’s failed NBC sitcom
Committed. Fun fact: Josh Cooke is a descendant of
legendary broadcaster Alistair Cooke. Shane McRae is
a complete unknown to me if he’s been in any
main/supporting roles in anything, it’s beyond my
radar. Unknowns tend to work out either amazingly
well, or not that great, so we’ll see how he does.
Todd Grinnell’s only noticeable part in TV Land is a
bit part on an episode of Love, Inc earlier this
season - should also be interesting. Then there’s
Seth Green. I shouldn’t have to really tell you about
him. He’s been in the Austin Powers movies, Buffy the
Vampire Slayer, he’s the voice of Chris Griffin on
Family Guy, he was on Greg the Bunny…yeah.
Pilot Plot:
Barry, Ben, Bobby, and Jason have been best friends
their entire lives and haven’t even spent a birthday
apart. When Ben’s grandmother, who has dubbed them
the “Four Kings of New York,” passes away, Ben
inherits her large, post apartment. Ben, of course,
asks his friends to move in with him, but his
girlfriend (guest star Kiele Sanchez) conveniently
decides that it’s a good time in their relationship
for them to move in together. As the guys prepare to
make the move, having decided that there’s enough room
for all of them; Jen gives Ben an ultimatum his
friends or her.
I also received episodes 2 and 3 with the pilot, “One
Night Stand Off” and “Chest, Mate.” In “One Night
Stand Off,” Ben is hired to write an article about one
night stands, and the guys use this as an opportunity
to have a night out. Barry, however, gets stuck at
home babysitting his ex-girlfriend Sharon's (guest
star Kathryn Hahn) twin daughters. In “Chest, Mate,”
Ben sets Barry up on a blind date with his colleague,
thinking the two will have a lot in common. Barry is
suspicious because Ben hasn't asked her out himself,
and becomes convinced that there must be something
drastically wrong with her. Meanwhile, Bobby and
Jason are engaged in a heated game of "chest," which
comes to a head while Jason is meeting his boss at a
fancy restaurant to discuss a possible promotion.
Analysis:
Pilot is certainly an interesting one. First the
technical details—it is shot in a traditional 4-camera
setup (except for the home movie excerpts). The pilot
opens with footage of a home movie of one of Ben’s
various birthday parties, being held at his
grandmother’s place. The pilot would continually
flash back to this over the course of the episode to
relate to various events in the current timeline.
Nice touch for the episode designed to introduce
everyone to the series…but it probably would get old
fast after a couple episodes. Unfortunately, the
copies of the first three episodes sent to me are
“rough cuts”, meaning that things like music
transitions, the main and end titles, etc. aren’t
present, however, the 2nd and 3rd shows have a still
graphic placeholder stating “main title” that runs
roughly :20-:30, so there may be some sort of brief
credits sequence.
Episodes 2 and 3--Both episodes keep up the overall
humor level of the pilot. There's admittedly one thing
I don't like - the characters of Sharon and her
daughters. They're annoying, and frankly,
unnecessary. If the writers plan to keep them around
long-term, they better either find a better use for
them, or at least tone them down. Otherwise, the
other 2 episodes are good and on par with the pilot.
So, if you like the pilot, you should like these two
episodes, too.
Conclusion:
I loved the show, but admittedly, a lot of the stuff I
laughed at was from Seth Green. I think this
should/could easily become focused on the Ben and
Barry characters (Josh Cooke and Seth Green) with only
side emphasis on Jason and Bobby. Kohan and
Mutchnick seem to have hit a certain formula in their
sitcoms. 4 principal characters, an “A” duo and a “B”
duo one is usually funnier than the other. The
formula is VERY strongly present in Will & Grace
(Will/Grace, Jack/Karen), and is definitely present in
Twins too (Mitchee/Farrah, Alan/Lee). I happen to
like both shows, so I don’t have a problem with it,
but if you loathe the A/B dynamic in Twins and Will &
Grace, this show may bug you. I got to see the first
three shows, and they’re all pretty funny, but only
time will tell how the show will ultimately end up.
