I owe a lot of my passion to television to Matthew Perry. My very first favorite show is FRIENDS, which should come of no surprise to you FRIENDS fans given that my photo was taken at the famous establishing shot of the FRIENDS apartment building.
Furthermore, my love for Matthew Perry introduced me to a little known show called Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Studio 60, a show written by Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing, Sports Night, The Newsroom, The Social Network, The American President, and many more), is a show about a network-run sketch comedy show a la SNL. This show made me realize that I wanted to be behind the scenes in the ways of making TV happen. Anyway, it's brilliantly made and written and I wish it had lasted longer so from when it ended I kept track of Aaron Sorkin and of Matthew Perry.
Since Studio 60, Matthew Perry worked on 2 different comedies: Mr. Sunshine and Go On. Both I fell in love with but the rest of the world seems to have ignored. Then came The Odd Couple, a TV-take of a movie starring Walter Matthau and John Lemmon.
I so badly wanted to love this show given Matthew Perry and the fact that it's taken from a movie I love but I am just ultimately sad to say I found it tough to enjoy. I so wished that after Matthew Perry's failed shows, I felt that this might have had enough backing to succeed. Yet - I feel that no matter what bias I have for the people involved in this, this show is a show I feel we will not be seeing on air for long.
The script is forced. The comedy is minimal. The actors just fine but overall it was just not enough to keep me going. I did give it another chance by trying out episode 2 and all I found interesting was the fact that their staple bar is called "Langford's." Matthew Perry fans, you know why this is amusing.
Ultimately, I wish Matthew Perry was given the chance to prolong either of his previous shows post-FRIENDS as they all had amazing potential but they gave him this cheap remake which is poorly-handled and just lacks all the things they probably hoped to achieve.
Ah it really sucks to be in this position right now. I really wish it was good but simply it is not. Well, I just want to hope for the best and I wont stop til this gets good....or til it gets cancelled.
But - what can I say, I gotta be honest and this show really gives me no reason to continue except that I am still rooting for you, Matthew Perry!