'Better with You,'
well, probably not
New ABC series is a mix and match of stereotypes
By Tom Conroy
Oct 12, 2010
Sometimes when watching a TV comedy, one can almost perceive the kernel of an original character. But the sheer force of habit on the part of writers, actors and directors tends to smooth out idiosyncracies and throw in clichés, with the results that most characters wind up being both familiar and self-contradictory.
That force seems to have worked to deadening effect on ABC’s new comedy “Better With You.” What might have been recognizable, even relatable people when the show was first conceived have become a mix of random character traits and sitcom stereotypes.
The series, airing on Wednesdays at 8:30 p.m., revolves around three couples: the pregnant Mia (JoAnna Garcia) and her fiancé, Casey (Jake Lacy); Mia’s uptight older sister Maddie (Jennifer Finnigan) and her longtime boyfriend, Ben (Josh Cooke); and Mia and Maddie’s difficult-to-please parents, Joel (Kurt Fuller) and Vicky (Debra Jo Rupp).
The characters are all quirky enough that one could assume they were based on real people. Maddie and Ben pretend to be proud of their unmarried status, which they repeatedly call “a valid life choice.” Joel stages elaborate family holiday photos with themes like “CSI: Christmas Scene Investigation.”
The problem is that those quirks don’t fit in with the way the characters are played. Maddie is so controlling and worried about appearances that it’s hard to believe she wouldn’t have been married years ago. Joel is a humorless alpha male who simply wouldn’t care about Christmas cards or, as a later joke would have it, the death of Michael Jackson.
Of course, people in real life can contain contradictions, but in traditional multicamera studio-audience sitcoms, actors are generally given one note and are told to stick to it. Thus Maddie is always uptight; Joel is always vaguely irritated.
And Casey is so dimwitted that one couldn’t imagine the relatively normal Mia settling for him as a life partner, even if he did get her pregnant. The director, the multiple-Emmy-winning James Burrows, should have made the actors give him more.
The hard-to-grasp characters wouldn’t be a problem if the laughs came easier. The writers favor running gags that tire early. In one episode, Casey, a musician in a band that he describes as “an avant-garde metal band with a performance-arts component” says that he was paid for his last gig in meat. The script mocks Ben for making a joke about “bringing home the bacon,” but the intended laugh lines aren’t much better.
One recurring motif is showing the three couples in similar situations, with the differences in their behavior attributed to the length of their relationship. In the premiere episode, all of the couples are seen in taxis.
Mia and Casey, the newest couple, tell the cabbie to take the tunnel so they can fool around in the dark. Maddie and Ben, who have been together for nine years, talk nonstop, finishing each other’s sentences. And Joel and Vicky don’t speak at all. None of those insights would require any study of human nature beyond watching television.
Since most of us have already watched plenty of TV, we’re probably better off without “Better With You.”
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