When TV Land started airing original programming a few years ago, I didn’t quote know how to react. They premiered “Hot in Cleveland” right as Betty White was everywhere you looked on TV. I haven’t watched the show, but figure a show which has lasted two seasons and has other veterans in the cast can’t be that bad.
That’s why I gave “The Exes,” the newest show on the network once dedicated to nothing but old shows, a chance. TV Land succeeded once and now had a show with two actors I enjoyed (Donald Faison and Wayne Knight pictured at the right with co-star David Alan Basche who has guest-starred in pretty much everything the last five years or so). I figured I could check out the pilot at least and see whether I wanted to watch any more. At the very least, I could enjoy seeing Turk and Newman in a new light.
I’m now three episodes in and am reminded how much casting determines the success of a show, an opinion shared by a New York Times reviewer. “The Exes” is very sitcom-y, but manages to get past that hurdle with actors like Faison, Knight and Kristen Johnston, who used to star in “3rdRock from the Sun.” Watching a show with a laugh track sucks for me except when the actors actually make me laugh.
After watching a few of the early episodes of “Two Broke Girls” and the first three episodes of this show, that point becomes very clear. This show has some unbelievable aspects (Johnston is a divorce lawyer who owns the apartment across the hall from hers and rents it out to the men she represents to help them get back on their feet) but the players make it all seem natural because they don’t seem to be simply reciting the jokes written for them and waiting for a laugh.
Sure, episodes have revolved entirely around one guy dating a hooker without really knowing it or the awkwardness of the towering Johnston dating a jockey, but the timing of Knight and enthusiasm of Faison make you briefly forget the stock story lines. The Exes comes on at 10:30 p.m. on Wednesdays so I doubt many people will build their schedule around the show, but it’s a nice choice to DVR and watch a few in a row when there’s nothing else to do.