PILOT REVIEW: Partners

PARTNERS

Starring: David Krumholtz, Michael Urie, Sophia Bush, Brandon Routh

Created by David Kohan and Max Mutchnick
Written by David Kohan and Max Mutchnick, Directed by James Burrows

Partners is a new sitcom from CBS from the creators of Will & Grace and based on their real life friendship as a straight man and a gay man. In this show, straight Joe (David Krumholtz) and gay Louis (Michael Urie) have been friends since childhood and are now co-workers as well. They balance their friendship and work with their significant others, Ali (Sophia Bush) and Wyatt (Brandon Routh).

THE GOOD: Hmmm... this is a tough one. It had a theme song, I'm always a fan of that. Sophia Bush was ok in her role, the best of a bland bunch. The creative team is good - Will & Grace was a very popular show in its time and James Burrows has directed more classic sitcoms than any other. With that kind of pedigree, you'd think that maybe this show won't be so ghastly once they iron the kinks out.

THE BAD: But they've got a long, long way to go. I liked nothing about this shrill and stale sitcom. The lines were tired and the jokes were contrived and obviously set up... a Clay Aiken joke, the line "girlfriend likes his/her liquor" used TWICE, the list goes on and on. The jumpy scenes were interrupted by a super annoying clap used between scenes. You can't fully fault the actors for the bad writing but their reactions were fake and forced, maybe they realize how bad the writing is. As a whole, I didn't mind the cast except for Michael Urie who has HORRIBLE. One of the worst performances in recent memory in my opinion. I know he's playing a stereotype but not a single line was delivered in a believable way. His stammering and delivery could not have been more off. Look at Eric Stonestreet on Modern Family, a stereotype can still be believable. Not here. He was the worst part of a terrible show.

BOTTOM LINE: By their nature, CBS comedies are formulaic and safe but they usually have a passable level of quality. This one does not. Shows like this and last year's Work It and How to Be a Gentleman are reasons why multi-cam comedies are thought of so poorly in an era where single cam comedies get all the love. It bothers me because for decades, this format delivered top notch writing and acting but there seem to be far too many duds recently and Partners is one of the worst.