Remembering the Rules

This week's episode of the always charming, usually amusing, often ignored CBS sitcom Rules of Engagement was laugh out loud funny.

First of all, Rules has added former My TV Actor Obsession Adhir Kalyan to their already excellent cast of series regulars, an extremely welcome character addition, even if it does screw up the show's original premise of 2 couples and their single friend (not that the premise will be missed at all).

The underrated show sports one of the most consistently likable casts on TV (yes, even David Spade, sort of). Central married couple Jeff and Audrey hold down the fort as perfectly complimentary, sweetly flawed curmudgeon counterpoints to their perky and quirky neighbours, engaged couple Adam and Jen. Patrick Warburton (Jeff) and Megyn Price (Audrey) have their "we've been married for more than a decade" dynamic down to a science and form, in a counter-intuitive way, one of the most lovingly functional couples on TV. Oliver Hudson and Bianca Kajlich's Adam and Jen are well-drawn and engaging characters who seem like they could be people I know. In fact all of the characters on Rules of Engagement feel pretty real. So when Audrey's entire storyline has to do with sweating too much at an important party, you laugh with her because it's a human problem to have, not a TV problem.

Jeff's concerns about estrogen entering his system, Timmy's unexpected outbursts of Bruins pride, Adam's random immaturity, for some reason it all just worked this week and I laughed harder than I have at many more lauded shows. I somehow always manage to forget, but Rules of Engagement is reassuringly consistent in its charm and pretty much always brings the funny. Click Here to read my review after the first time I saw the show. The story of these 5 friends has always been a pleasure to watch and now with Timmy on board it threatens to remain that way for a long time to come.