Sitcoms Online Photo Galleries - My Boys: Cast Photo

My Boys aired from November 2006 until ? on TBS.

P.J. ( Jordana Spiro) was pretty, perky and a tomboy. She loved baseball ( in fact , she was a sportswriter for the Chicago Sun Times), hung out at bars, played pickup softball and had a regular poker party at her apartment. Her pals, in no particular order, were her married brother, Andy ( Jim Gaffigan), whose wife Meredith kept him on a short leash ( he was only allowed one hour of poker) ; Brendan ( Reid Scott), a hard-rock disc jockey with an unstable love life; balding Kenny ( Michael Bunin), a sports memorabilia store owner who was the world's slowest dater; hunky Mike ( Jamie Kaler), who worked for the Chicago Cubs; and cute Bobby ( Kyle Howard), a newcomer to the circle , who was a sportswriter for the rival Chicago Tribune. Stephanie ( Kellee Stewart) was P.J.'s stylish girlfriend , who tried to get her to be more feminine, which probably would have helped on the dating front.

A Review from Variety

My Boys
(Series -- TBS, Tues. Nov. 28, 10 p.m.)
By BRIAN LOWRY

Jamie Kaler, Jordana Spiro and Kyle Howard get set to drink up in TBS’ “My Boys,” about a femme sportswriter.

Filmed in Los Angeles by Pariah and 2 Out Rally in association with Sony Pictures Television. Executive producers, Gavin Polone, Jamie Tarses, Betsy Thomas; producer, Ken Ornstein; director, Barnet Kellman; writer, Thomas.

PJ Franklin - Jordana Spiro
Bobby Newman - Kyle Howard
Brendan Dorff - Reid Scott
Kenny Moritorri - Michael Bunin
Mike Callahan - Jamie Kaler
Andy Franklin - Jim Gaffigan
Stephanie Layne - Kellee Stewart

Owing more than a passing debt to "Sex and the City" -- a series TBS knows well, having run the sprockets off its reruns -- "My Boys" saunters onto the field with all the assuredness of a big-league closer. Breezy, smart and occasionally funny, director Betsy Thomas has created a real-feeling world where a femme sportswriter is very much one of the guys, with all the merriment and challenges that entails. Although unlikely to be a major hit, the show should win fans among both bleacher bums and women pining for another decent comedy with a plucky heroine/narrator at its core.
PJ (Jordana Spiro) leads us through the vagaries of dating and baseball, couching her narration in sports metaphors that she occasionally, er, pounds into the cheap seats. She hosts pizza and poker parties with the sportswriter/radio/team reps who occupy the press box alongside her, becoming so much part of the backdrop they don't seem to notice that, in their parlance, she's kinda hot.

That changes when Bobby (Kyle Howard) joins a rival newspaper, enjoying an immediate spark with PJ, who, guy-like, pounces on him like a slice of prime sirloin. The not-quite-close encounter thus plays out over subsequent episodes, as she has to deal with hanging around a new member of the "boy" pack with whom she might actually crave a relationship.

PJ's extended circle also includes her harried and married (if that's not too redundant) brother, Andy (Jim Gaffigan); and girly-girl Stephanie (Kellee Stewart), a friend since college who can't fathom the boys-club mentality.

The narration, admittedly, can be clunky in spots, and Spiro -- who isn't an entirely convincing protagonist -- sometimes appears to be wrestling with it and losing.

Nevertheless, the rest of the cast is topnotch, and Thomas has done a fine job capturing the periodic awkwardness of a woman hanging around a group of rough-around-the-edges Chicago schlubs -- men who obsess over baseball, talk bluntly about getting laid and never eat anything at the bottom of the FDA's nutritional triangle. Other amusing moments have PJ explaining that one of them received a "girl booty call" and, in a later episode, proving herself to be a terrible "wing person" when the guys go trawling for babes.

"My Boys" dresses up its high-carb mentality with all the requisite trappings, from Ed Alton's bluesy score to the deftly interwoven Windy City exteriors and sets (it's actually shot in L.A.) that convey the Spartan, sports-filled world in which PJ resides.

After establishing a footprint in comedy with off-network fare, TBS is seeking to augment its roster with originals, and "My Boys" represents a promising newcomer to the lineup -- incorporating elements with which both men and women can surely identify.

Socking a homer in one of the cabler's first at-bats might be too much to expect, but -- using PJ-speak -- this rookie has the kind of potential that, with a little seasoning, might allow her to go the distance.

A Review from The New York Times

TV Review | 'My Boys'
A Heroine Better at Poker Than Dating
By VIRGINIA HEFFERNAN
Published: November 28, 2006

P J Franklin is a droll writer for a city newspaper who, hunched over a laptop in a picturesque apartment, labors over analogies about romance. (“Love is like baseball.”) She’s the star pitcher and dogged narrator of “My Boys,” a new show about a clique of friends looking for love. It starts tonight on TBS.

It’s pointless to dismiss “My Boys” as yet another “Sex and the City” copycat. Sure, it’s on TBS, home of that queenly show’s bowdlerized reruns, which might make it just the channel to try such an obvious simulation. And, sure, the fact that P J (Jordana Spiro) is a tomboy and not a fashion hound like Carrie Bradshaw, and that her entourage is boys and not girls, seem at first mere cosmetic tweaks to the winning formula that made “Sex” so beloved on HBO.

But, really, who cares? Imitation is the sincerest form of television. And “My Boys,” set in Chicago, introduces both the delights of Ms. Spiro and the cultural complexities of that great Midwestern city, which differ significantly from the more effete ones that plagued Carrie and the others in haute Manhattan.

Ms. Spiro (the knockout from “Must Love Dogs”) uncannily — and probably maddeningly for her — resembles Kate Hudson but has the low, steady voice of Julia Stiles, which in this part underscores her masculine side. She’s supercute, but initially her manner is so uninflected that it’s hard to see her as sexual, at least around men. She scarfs pizza, guzzles beer and cites with conviction things like “Ernie Banks rookie card.” She also decorates with dart boards and pennants, plays poker and Astroids and uses the word “dude.”

Her posse of buddies — a ragtag gang that includes her brother and a bunch of other dudes — surround her without hitting on her, which seems at first implausible, but makes sense as her persona emerges as a mix of sisterly, collegial and abrasive.

There seem at first no pitfalls to this guy-friendly act. Isn’t this the kind of easygoing bonhomie that young men always say they want from women? No makeup, no pressure, just insults, beer, nights of poker, sports talk?

The show goes with that hypothesis only so far. On tonight’s episode, P J, after serious scheming, finds herself in bed with Bobby (Kyle Howard), another sports writer. She comes on strong, to say the least, and clearly doesn’t understand even the most elementary push-pull of seduction. Her odd behavior is almost startling — but she takes Bobby’s unease as evidence only that he has problems, and concludes that the whole world of dating is just badly rigged.

As she puts it in voice-over, speaking of sports: “Can you imagine what it would be like if the foul line was always moving? Or if sometime it was two strikes and you’re out?”

And then she wraps up, “If you’ve ever tried to date someone, you probably can.”

At this point, her character — a woman who is intrinsically rule-bound and who prefers well-built games to emotional improvisation — comes into sharp focus. Her boyish swaggering seems to reflect almost a cognitive impairment. But that impairment is absorbing, even attractive. P J may yet be a terrific character, and “My Boys” is certainly a charming knockoff.

MY BOYS

TBS, tonight at 10, Eastern and Pacific times; 9, Central time.

Betsy Thomas, Jamie Tarses and Gavin Polone, executive producers. Episodes written by Ms. Thomas and directed by Barnett Kellmann. Produced by Pariah and Two Out Rally Productions in association with Sony Pictures Television.

WITH: Jordana Spiro (P J Franklin), Jim Gaffigan (Andy), Kyle Howard (Bobby), Reid Scott (Brendan), Michael Bunin (Kenny), Jamie Kaler (Mike) and Kellee Stewart (Stephanie).

A Review from BC

MY BOYS - TBS
December 14, 2006

By Garth Johnson

TBS’ My Boys, a female-point-of-view comedy about men, may be the best new entry in this season of struggling sitcoms. My Boys stars the appealing Jordana Spiro (the scene-stealer from Must Love Dogs) who plays PJ Franklin, a young Chicago Sun Times sportswriter covering the Cubs, surrounded only by men in her social life, the press box and on the field.

But when she tries to play the field – particularly after developing a crush on a fellow reporter for the rival Tribune – she struggles to move beyond being just one of the guys to actually dating one.

TBS – watching the studios overreact to viewers watching reality and game shows and thus producing fewer sitcoms to syndicate – is trying to grow its own comedies to pay off on its “Very Funny” positioning. Not only does My Boys deliver, but it should accomplish an even more important task by making TBS a must-stop for comedy creators as they shop projects to other broadcast and cable nets.

My Boys is accessible to a dual-gender audience - a rare feat amidst a media menu that increasingly caters to distinct demography made possible by TV’s technological leap from the Big Three to the Big 300. Most cable comedies have either a Lifetime or Spike orientation, but TBS cracks the code with a show about guys, narrated by a tomboy whom both men and women should like.

The show is already a critical darling (The New York Times called it a “charming knockoff” of Sex and the City), and PJ Franklin may give Carrie Bradshaw a run for her money – or audience – as well. Its premiere pulled more adults 18-49 than the preceding Sex repeat and is holding its own against nearly all TBS fare, giving an early validation of moving beyond off-network repeats.

There are several well-wrought pieces of the show that make the whole so appealing: PJ’s romantic travails, her observations on her friends and relationships, and her work gripes—all of which she metaphorically compares to baseball and are relayed in voiceover.

And while she is surrounded by a surrogate family of guys, PJ’s real family is represented by her henpecked brother Andy, which finally provides a platform for the underrated humor of Jim Gaffigan. And her best friend from journalism school, the decidedly feminine Stephanie (Kellee Stewart), provides a nice relief for our protagonist’s jumbled emotions.

But mostly it is the winsome Jordana Spiro - whose PJ predictably digs baseball, plays poker and can eat cold pizza and drink warm beer with her boys - who unpredictably has made TBS a player in original comedy with a character whom men will bond with, women will want to befriend and viewers will enjoy watching. Like the ballplayers she covers, My Boys knocks it out of the park.

An Article from National TV Reviews and News
December 28, 2006

Kyle Howard finally sticks it in TBS' My Boys
12/28/06 11:19 AM

By ED BARK

Kyle Howard's won-loss record wasn't getting him anywhere fast in Hollywood. At age 28, he'd already slogged through a quintet of quickly canceled TV series, beginning with 1998's The Love Boat: The Next Wave.

But he kept working, guest-starring and believing that few producers blame the actor for a series that doesn't stick.

"Because if that's the case, I'm screwed," Howard says during a recent stop in Dallas.

At the time he didn't know the fate of TBS cable's well-received My Boys, in which he plays a Chicago sportswriter moving within the orbit of series star Jordana Spiro. Now he's having a particularly happy holiday season after TBS announced it had ordered nine more episodes of its first unscripted comedy series. The last of the show's initial 13 episodes premieres Thursday (Dec. 28) at 9 p.m. central time. My Boys then is scheduled to return in the summer.

Howard's character, Bobby Newman, had a start-stop romance with Spiro's PJ Franklin before they went all platonic. She's likewise a sportswriter who covers the Cubs, plays poker, collects sports cards and drinks beer.

"At the same time she's sexy and beautiful and 'girly' in her own way," Howard adds.

In real life, he prefers the company of a woman who's willing to go to third base, but doesn't necessarily know the intricacies of a pitcher's earned run average.

"I'm not like a big sports guy myself. For the real guy's guy, maybe PJ is the perfect girl. But I'd probably fall somewhere in between. I don't want a girl that's like an idiot. You had mentioned Paris Hilton . . ."

"Thanks for confirming that for me," his interviewer interjects.

"I don't think that's a secret to anyone," Howard rejoins, wisely foreclosing any future opportunity to go Parisian.

His favorite sport is surfing. Some girlfriends have waved him off.

"I'd sit down and watch a surfing video and she'd be so bored. It'd be like, 'I don't get it. Every wave looks the same. Why do you even watch this?' But for me it's like super-interesting. Then we'd go shopping and she'll want to spend, like, $1,200 on a handbag. And I'm like, 'I don't get it.' It must be basic differences in wiring. You've kind of got to just meet in the middle."

Howard's character in My Boys is more straight-ahead and serious-minded than any he's ever played.

"I love to be the goofy best friend or the sort of nerdy guy or the dumb stoner guy," he says. "This is as normal as I've been in anything."

Besides that quickly capsized new version of Love Boat, he's been a regular on Opposite Sex, Grosse Pointe, Run of the House and Related, none of which lived to see a second season. Howard also has guest-starred on a wide variety of successful TV series, including Friends, CSI: Crime Series Investigation, Nip/Tuck, The Drew Carey Show, Providence and Boston Public.

"At times it's been a frustration. But at the same time I feel lucky to stay busy," he says. "I've grown so used to it that it's almost normal to me. It doesn't necessarily freak me out that much when a pilot doesn't get picked up or a series gets canceled. Of course I'd love to have a little job security for a few years."

It's now looking as though he'll finally have that. And although first impressions can be misleading, it couldn't happen to a nicer guy.

An Interview from Associated Content with Michael Bunin
February 23, 2007

TBS' My Boys Star Michael Bunin Talks About New Starring Role

By Lindell-Donahue,

TBS is known for reruns of sitcoms like the legendary "Seinfeld," "Friends," "Everyone Loves Raymond" and "Family Guy."

But now the Atlanta-based cable network is putting two new sitcoms on the air, "10 Items or Less" and "My Boys".

"My Boys" follows Jordana Spiro as PJ, a Chicago sports writer and is 'just one of the guys' involved in weekly poker games, trips to bars, and coaching a men's softball team.

"My Boys" also stars University of Nevada Las Vegas graduate Michael Bunin as Kenny. Bunin started out in theatre and starred in many plays and commercials, as well as in guest-starring roles on the NBC comedy "Scrubs" and the CBS thriller "CSI."

"My Boys" is Bunin's first starring TV role, and I sat down with to talk about acting, UNLV and "My Boys."

Alkan Donahue: You're going from commercials and guest starring roles to a starring role. What is that like?

Michael Bunin: It's weird going from five to 10 lines to being a regular. Guest starring can be hard. Each set has its own atmosphere, and it relaxes me on the job now having a steady cast and scripts.

AD: TBS isn't known for original comedy. What do you think "My Boys" will bring to the cable network?

Bunin: A lot of opportunity. It appeals to a lot of people, not just one focus group. It's like real life. People sit around and play poker, drink beer and poke fun. I think it will attract a lot of women that have guy friends.

AD: Your character's description says he always ends up being "just friends" with the girl. Any connection with real life?

Bunin: Yeah, I got teased a lot for taking girls to coffee, that's the birthplace of that. I am a little more shy at times, and it's a fun thing to play.

AD: The characters drink a lot of alcohol on the show. What's the fake alcohol like?

Bunin: At first I thought, "This isn't that bad," and after drinking it all day, I was like "Can somebody give me a real beer please, someone?!" Sometimes we drink shots on the show and those are actually Snapple. It's interesting to see what the crew comes up with for all the fake drinks.

AD: You have a history of improv comedy, including the long running Improv Olympics. Do a lot of the cast members improvise lines on the show?

Bunin: There's a good amount of improvisation, not to say the show is improvised though. The director will follow the script and then do alternative takes or just let the scene go on a little longer. We'll improvise funny moments to help expand the story, and after watching I recognized at least one improvised line in each episode.

AD: You were a boxing reporter, and now "My Boys" mixes sports and comedy. How do you like the mix?

Bunin: Baseball is my favorite sport, and to have it centered on the show makes it fun to do. It's nice having a script that kicks around a lot of baseball terms.

AD: Typical sitcoms have the four camera-laugh track concept, but "My Boys" doesn't feature either of those. Do you think its better for the show?

Bunin: We're not reinventing the wheel here. The single camera has been (done) before, but I definitely think it benefits our show. The single camera format allows real moments mixed in with the comedy, and that's what makes this show so relatable for viewers. It's just a bunch of friends hanging out.

AD: How did UNLV and Las Vegas prepare you for your acting career?

Bunin: I love UNLV. The theater department there is excellent. It gave me and everyone else a chance to really be part of a process.

AD: Any last words about the show?

Bunin: It's one of TBS's first original scripted show. We have tons of support from the network, and no one is afraid to come to work. So it's hard to predict if there will be a second season. It's a good show that people will really like, and if they are happy with the numbers, we'll come back and do it again.

"My Boys" complete first season can be seen on TBS.

An Article from USA TODAY
Published July 30, 2007

Jordana Spiro is up to bat for Season 2 with 'My Boys'

By Gary Strauss, USA TODAY

P.J. Franklin, perhaps TV's most appealing sportswriter, returns tonight for a second season on TBS comedy My Boys (10 ET/PT).
Boys, a bit of a cross between Friends and a softer-toned, guy version of Sex and the City, features an ensemble cast dominated largely by relationship-challenged men. But what makes Boys click is Jordana Spiro as Franklin, the tomboyish baseball writer for the Chicago Sun-Times

Like her male buddies — including a brother, best friend, rival reporter and ex-boyfriend — P.J. has relationship issues, quaffs beer and is a fan of both fantasy-league baseball and poker. (The lone other principal woman in the cast is Kellee Stewart, who plays Stephanie, P.J.'s pal and confidante.)

Much of this season will focus on P.J. and Stephanie's efforts to find boyfriends for a vacation to Italy, since both purchased 2-for-1 tickets. "P.J.'s on a manhunt on a deadline," Spiro says. "She goes through a bunch of relationships."

Spiro, 30, isn't nearly as fanatic about sports as her character is, but she quickly became acclimated. "I didn't have to stretch very far to make P.J. three-dimensional. There were similarities with her character, so I felt comfortable" with the role, says Spiro, a stage-trained actress who attended London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

Spiro's girl-next-door quality and gift for light comedy made her an obvious choice, says series creator and executive producer Betsy Thomas, who worked with Spiro on a rejected NBC pilot in 2005.

"Your average TV executive wants to cast the hottest woman possible, but it was important that P.J. was authentic — someone with great warmth and quirkiness," says Thomas. "Jordana really embodies those things. And she's beautiful."

Thomas wrote the My Boys script for ABC in 2002. It sat until former ABC and NBC entertainment chief Jamie Tarses helped Thomas develop Boys as TBS' first original scripted series, where it averaged more than 1.5 million viewers in a short first season late last year.

TBS' Michael Wright credits Thomas and the close-knit cast for much of its critical acclaim. "I love this show, not as an executive, but as a viewer," he says. "There's an authenticity to the show. You believe in those friendships."

To listen to the theme song from My Boys go to http://www.televisiontunes.com/My_Boys.html