Grid Effect

I never got around to watching Rescue Me last night, we opted for Zodiac, A David Fincher (Director of Seven) flick that was damn good. Ten times better than these bullshit torture porn vehicles that typically get tossed into horror/thriller genre. But there was a series I watched recently that I thought warranted mentioning.

It was the TBS series, and I can’t believe I’m going to publicly admit to having watched this, My Boys. A year or so ago I, in so many words, demolished this show as relegating it to something for emasculated men and women who try entirely too hard to “fit in with the guys”. And I stick by my guns, but the show does fit that audience and, well, everyone needs something they can relate to on television; even Eunuchs and overtly tomboy-ish women.

For those who are unfamiliar with the series, the basic premise is a female beat writer for The Chicago Cubs, PJ (Jordan Spiro) and her primary group of friends is four other guys and her married older brother (Jim Gaffigan). Now, let me start by saying, this series has several miserable traits. For one, the bland, cliched baseball metaphors will drive you insane with there obvious relentlessness. I guess its to hammer home the point that she is actually like one of the guys, that and the fact she is typically dressed like a guy, and her posturing couldn’t be much more intentionally masculine (sitting upright with the right leg resting on the same couch or chair she is sitting on with the right elbow resting on the knee is a frequent pose).

Essentially it is over done, I’ve known a plethora of women who hung out with primarily guys and everythig about them wasn’t to blend in. In contrast, it was actually to stand out and curry favors with said guys who were all trying to date her. Yeah, trust me, it’s much more depressing to actually see in person. Another heavy handed aspect of this series, I guess also to further illustrate how atypical PJ is to her female counterparts, is her lone girl-friend, Stephanie, whom she confides to about her relationship issues, especially issues with her core group of guy friends. She is a catalyst for PJ to verbalize her issues with “her boys”, and to run around talking about getting her nails done. In short, it’s unnecessary. And she seemed to demand entirely too much face time in the first two episodes of their second season on Monday.

But this is a decent, light-hearted summertime show. Sure, I’m not going to watch it, but it definitely has an audience that would find it enjoyable. Kind of like Entourage, except with a definitive female lead, and it’s set in Chicago, and all the guys are like a funnier/more innocent version of Eric (Kevin Connolly), and the overwrought narration, and- alright, that was an awful analogy, they’re virtually nothing alike, but whereas Entourage doesn’t receive much critical buzz nowadays, (and if it does, the critic generally feels guilty about it), it has a niche audience. My Boys is similar in that its afeel good time with an ultimately happy ending within a maximum of two episodes to each series arc. I did, however, enjoy all the sports banter, even if their depiction of the average sports talk show was completely over the top.

Anyhow, if you enjoy the series or are interested in checking it out (the continuity is minimal and you can learn as you go), its on Mondays at 10pm et.

Rescue Me recap coming much later.