Fox’s annual competition to have the worst and most swiftly cancelled comedy (past “winners” have included Do Not Disturb and Happy Hour) continues this year with Brothers, created by sitcom veteran Don Reo, who has worked on everything from Blossom to My Wife and Kids to one of Fox’s most acclaimed comedies of the past decade, Action. (Arrested Development’s Mitchell Hurwitz is also an exec producer here, meaning he’s 0-2 this year since he was also responsible for another lame Fox entry, Sit Down, Shut Up.)
Brothers stars ex-NFL player Michael Strahan as ex-NFL player Michael Trainor, and paralyzed actor Daryl “Chill” Mitchell as his wheelchair-bound brother “Chill.” So far the originality is just spilling off the page, right? Since every black family needs a ball-busting mama, CCH Pounder steps in to fill that role. I can understand Pounder wanting a change of scene after all those years on the gritty The Shield, but this? Rounding out the cast is Carl Weathers as the somewhat clueless patriarch, though that obliviousness seems to stem from a nascent case of dementia. And the reason these people are all living under one roof again: Michael is broke and “Chill” needs help keeping his restaurant afloat.
Laughing yet? Neither was I. Most of the jokes in the first two episodes centered on either the gap between Strahan’s front teeth or Mitchell’s wheelchair. And when they weren’t making cracks about those things, there was plenty of awkward conversation about everyone’s sex lives. All four of the cast members—even Strahan, who is also a contributor to Fox’s NFL Sunday pregame show, is surprisingly comfortable in his first acting role—could be doing something much better with their time. Until this show’s inevitable cancellation, I know I’ll be doing something better with mine.
Speaking of cancellations, the new season’s first one came to pass yesterday as The CW let go of The Beautiful Life: TBL. I hadn’t even gotten a chance to watch the two episodes that aired yet, so I can’t offer a critical analysis of the show, but I can tell you that it brought in paltry ratings, with this week’s installment barely getting over a million viewers. I’m sure exec producer Ashton Kutcher will be just fine, but could this be a death knell for Mischa Barton’s career? For the time being, The CW will run encore episodes of Melrose Place in the Wednesday 9pm time slot (just what we need), as they try to drum up more business for that cellar-dwelling show prior to the November 17 episode in which Heather Locklear will reprise her role of Amanda Woodward. Why, Heather, why?
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