Potentially recommended weekend viewing: "What About Brian," which I liked much better than I expected, given that it's a Barry Watson vehicle. Here's the opener of my review:Meet Brian. Brian is young, smart and funny. He's handsome in a bartender on a reality show way, or maybe a third lead on a WB teen drama way. He's also a nice guy, but everywhere he looks, he sees his friends getting married and having babies and he -- and they -- wonder why the love of his life hasn't appeared yet.
If this all sounds a little familiar, that's because this was the basic premise of "Love Monkey," which was canceled by CBS after only three episodes (VH1 has rescued the five unaired hours and is running them Tuesdays at 9, by the way). And it's the premise of half the books and movies inspired by Nick Hornby's "High Fidelity" and, with the genders reversed, all the spawn of "Sex and the City" and "Bridget Jones's Diary."
But "What About Brian" manages to transcend its recycled roots. It's not as smart or cutting as the works of Nick Hornby, but the characters and their situations are precisely defined, and there's potential for a 21st century "thirtysomething" -- or, at least, a more mature "Felicity."
I watched the old version of the pilot, and liked it very much. I heard the new version is much improved and I am looking forward to watching this Sunday. The biggest surprise for me was how much I enjoyed Barry Watson's performance. He was kind of a non-entity to me before this, but he is very likable as Brian.
ReplyDeleteThank you--it was killing me as to where I had seen Brian before.
ReplyDeleteAnd I always approve of giving Endless Mike work.