ABC, the New FOX (and other failures for next season)

Who cancels Mr. Sunshine and Better with You but keeps Happy Endings? If they're not going to give a show a chance, there's no point. And perhaps people should stop hiring Andrea Anders, this is not working out for her.

So ABC's just made a big announcement. Guess how excited I am about it. 

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Mr. Sunshine: Doggie Show

The first two episodes of Mr. Sunshine were fine. They featured witty, snappy writing and Matthew Perry at his Chandler-esque goodness. On top of that, Allison Janney was all sorts of wonderful as his whacked-out boss and the premise was pretty decent. But the show had yet to gel into something that seemed sustainably funny over the long haul. My biggest problem was that the supporting characters (with the exception of Janney) all seemed too one-note or undefined to really capture my attention. They were either playing a character trait as though it were a character (happy! cynical. CRAZY! Stupid!) or they were boring me.

Until episode number three. I'm not saying the show is all the way there yet, but for the first time Mr. Sunshine really felt like a show that knew what to do with the awesome actors it has filling in its supporting cast. With a plot that allowed Alice (Andrea Anders) to give in to the crazy competitive, just-this-side-of-craziness that she perfected on Better Off Ted, and another that actually gave flaws and personality (outside of chipper) to Alonso (James Lesure), Mr. Sunshine finally seemed like more than just a showcase for Perry.

On top of that, I was actually invested in the budding romance between office psycho Heather (Portia Doubleday) and nitwit Roman (Nate Torrence). They played Heather just the right mixture of intriguing, grounded and crazy pants, and Roman is starting to show more capacity for adult interaction than originally indicated.

If Mr. Sunshine can continue to hit this sweet spot of character development and laughs, I've got to second Kelly's call for it to get the ratings that my dearly departed Better Off Ted never did.

Please Don't Take My Sunshine Away

I would really love it if TV world gave me a present this year and Mr. Sunshine did very very well. It's a clever show, and clever is certainly something we need more of. You know what else we need more of? Allison Janney, I could always use more of her. And more of Matthew Perry, my favourite of my beloved FRIENDS. Mr. Sunshine is chock a block full of lovely things. And, to steal a line from Josh Groban, it's witty goddamnit!

Allison Janney quips her way through the world her character owns with the optimistic swagger of someone who 90% of the time isn't quite sure where she is. As far as engagingly horrible bosses go, she's top notch. Matthew Perry, as the titular ironic-faced stadium manager, is all deadpan dry wit and sarcasm, in the best way. Then there's the fun supporting cast populated by familiar faces Andrea Anders (who's been on more good but failed shows than I can count), James Lesure (who's just been in everything), Portia Doubleday (who's so funny we can forgive her for Youth in Revolt) and Nate Torrence (a delightful throwback to that other lovely Matthew Perry vehicle, Studio 60). The pilot guest starred the much-missed Jorge Garcia (Lost), and the second episode featured the cutest/sweetest Jonas brother (I think it was Nick) as a delightfully demanding teen pop star.

The possibilities are endless for the parade of interesting things and people that could come through the Sunshine Center. So far we've had the circus and a fictional teen idol but the door is wide open for super celeb cameos from athletes and pop stars to evangelists and politicians (and between Janney and Perry, the social circle of the show is pretty big, so some of those celebs might actually show up).

My favourite thing so far? Nick Jonas demanding season one of Brothers and Sisters on DVD, prompting the repeated line of "just because they're grown up doesn't mean family gets any easier" to recur throughout the episode until he finally got what he wanted, and promptly threw it in the trash. It was just plain funny.

So come on silly TV audience and executives. You don't want Mike and Molly or Outsourced, you want THIS. This is good TV with good writers and good actors and lots of promise. Mr. Sunshine is telling new jokes, dipping them in irony and serving them up on a platter held up by TV legends, Enjoy It.