Premiere Date: Friday, March 17, 2006 (Warner Brothers Television/Jerry Bruckheimer Productions)
Network: The WB
Time: Fridays at 9:30 p.m. et/pt
Cast: Starring Josh Braaten, Max Greenfield, Eric
Lively, Marla Sokoloff, with Jane Seymour and George
Wendt.
Introduction:
From Emmy Award Winning Producer Jerry Bruckheimer
comes "Modern Men," starring Jane Seymour ("Dr. Quinn,
Medicine Woman"). "Modern Men" is a comedy about three
lifelong friends and single guys hire a life coach to
help them with romance and women. The series premieres
Friday, March 17th, at 9:30 PM/ET on the WB television
network.
Modern Men is produced by Warner Brothers Television
and Jerry Bruckheimer Productions. Jerry Bruckheimer
is executive producer and the series is co-produced by
Jonathan Littman.
Cast Details:
Modern Men stars Eric Lively ("The L Word") as Doug
Reynolds, Josh Braaten ("Less Than Perfect") as Tim
Clark, Max Greenfield as Kyle Brewster, Marla Sokoloff
("The Practice") as Molly Clark, George Wendt
("Cheers) as Tug Clark and Jane Seymour ("Dr. Quinn,
Medicine Woman") as Dr. Victoria Stangel.
Eric Lively (Doug Reynolds) is known for his role as
Mark Wayland on The L Word. He has also stared in the
Showtime Original Picture Speak, written and directed
by Oscar-winner Jessica Sharzer. Speak premiered at
Sundance, competed in and won many indie-film
competitions, including AFI's. Some of his other
credits include Jon Avnet's Golden Globe Award-winning
Uprising, Crash Course, written by Oscar and Emmy
Award-winning Thomas Rickman, The Pact and the
short-lived A Minute with Stan Hooper. Josh Braaten,
in addition to many guest starring appearances on
shows such as CSI: Miami and Life on a Stick, he has
had a variety of recurring roles on television shows
such as Married to the Kellys, Less Than Perfect and
That 80s Show. He is also known for his role as Toby
in New Line Cinema's Dumb and Dumber. Max Greenfield
recently starred as Deputy Leo on the critically
acclaimed series Veronica Mars, and has also guest
starred on shows such as The WB's Gilmore Girls,
Undressed and Boston Public. Marla Sokoloff is best
known for her role as Lucy Hatcher on David E. Kelly's
award-winning series The Practice. Her television
credits include starring appearances on shows such as
Friends, Full House, Party of Five, 3rd Rock from the
Sun, 7th Heaven and the award-winning comedy Desperate
Housewives as the young hot nanny. Best known to
television audiences as Norm Peterson on Cheers,
six-time Emmy Award-nominated actor George Wendt joins
the cast as Tug Clarke, Tim and Molly's father who's
stuck in the Stone Age when it comes to his views on
the opposite sex. And finally, Jane Seymour, winner of
multiple Emmy and Golden Globe Awards and recipient of
the Officer of the British Empire (OBE) in the year
2000, bestowed upon her by Queen Elizabeth II at
Buckingham Palace. Seymour is also very well known for
her popular CBS drama, "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman."
Pilot Plot:
"Pilot"
Friday, March 17, 9:30PM ET/PT
Tired of being on the losing battle of the opposite
sex, Tim goes to life coach Dr. Victoria Stangel in an
effort to better himself when it comes to women. And
after some persuading, his pals Kyle and Doug join him
for some tough lessons from Dr. Victoria.
Tim, Kyle and Doug are at different stages in their
lives with women. Tim Clark is an attractive and
good-hearted bachelor who can't seem to hold a
relationship together. Kyle Brewster is a serializing
womanizer who never seems to quite "get" the opposite
sex. And Doug Reynolds is a bachelor with a child like
naive quality about him who has trouble moving on from
his ex-wife. Throw in Tim's lawyer sister Molly and
restaurant owning stone age-ish father Tug and you've
got a sitcom!
I also had the opportunity to view the 4th episode of
the series as well.
"Sexual Healing" - episode #4
(Unknown airdate)
The fourth episode is pretty much self explanatory
from the title. The three guys go out on various dates
with women after Dr. Victoria says a healthy
relationship leads to good sex. Doug's approach of
telling his girlfriend Jennifer he wants intimate
relations with her, works like a charm. Kyle on the
other hand freaks out his date by sharing his fears
with her in an effort to "emotionally connect" with
her instead of just sleeping with her. Tim meanwhile,
is having bad sex with his girlfriend Anita yet they
get along well.
Analysis:
This is Jane Seymour's first foray into a comedy
series. She has natural talent and perfect delivery.
The pilot itself started out unfunny and slow but by
the time Seymour's character arrives the action picks
up and the jokes start flowing. She's definitely a
bright spot in this series. George Wendt also returns
to television and he is perfect as the stone-ageish
Tug who has a very narrow view on the opposite sex. He
plays off his television kids well and there is
chemistry between the three (Sokoloff and Braaten).
Marla Sokoloff goes back to her sitcom roots (she
recurred on "Full House" as a teen actress) as
super-smart Molly, a lawyer in her second year of law
school, and she shines. She is a very natural actress
who also has fantastic delivery. And to not leave out
the other two male leads, Max Greenfield takes a
smarmy and could be sleazy character and makes you
almost like him. Eric Lively is a fantastic actor to
start with but he really shows his range in this
series. He delivers his lines well and gives Doug such
a child-like lovable quality to him. I can't say
enough about the cast. I was really impressed by how
they all clicked well, had chemistry and the lines
were delivered so naturally. The bond between the guys
is evident from the start. I was very impressed. I
honestly didn't expect the series to be so ... good!
Conclusion:
Well, I basically said all I needed to in the above
paragraph, but I still have more to add. I definitely
must say this sitcom is a lot funnier, a lot smarter
and not your typical WB fare (it could fit very well
with Reba). It really impressed me. The entire cast
gelled and had fantastic delivery of their lines. It
was a true sitcom through and through that doesn't
just rely on a punch line, although there are a ton of
them throughout both episodes. I really can't say
enough good things about "Modern Men" and I really
hope it makes it onto The CW come this fall. If I had
a WB affiliate right now I'd definitely tune in each
week, as I encourage all of you to do!
