Tubegazing: 'My Boys' and '10 Items or Less'
My Boys (TBS, Nov. 28, 10 p.m.): Good comedy may be scarce on the broadcast networks, but over on basic cable, some pretty good "laffers," as the industry calls them, seem to just keep appearing. This week, TBS launches "My Boys," about a female sportswriter and her coterie of male buddies, and "10 Items or Less." Jordana Spiro, the star of "My Boys," embraces P.J. - her retro, tomboy-trying-to-grow-up character - with unabashed enthusiasm. Overlook the fact that the premise is a bit creaky (Women in boys' locker rooms! Women doing men's jobs!) and that the show occasionally pushes her utter lack of dating instincts a tad far, considering that she "cleans up" so well (translation: she's really pretty). The goofy affection of her poker buddies is fun, and the writers steer through some pretty well-mined territory with aplomb.
Grade:
B+
10 Items or Less (TBS, Nov. 27, 11 p.m.): "Items" is just plain over-the-top silly, led by the wonderfully funny John Lehr, who also is one of the show's executive producers. The show is a semi-improvisational half hour about the bumbling son of a greengrocer who returns to the Midwest to take over the family store upon his father's death. Fresh from the crazed creative brains behind the 2004 television mockumentary "Memron," "Items" is like NBC's "The Office" on laughing gas - the same kind of poker-faced dysfunction in a crushingly ordinary setting, but faster and funnier. Lehr's character may be stuck in Ohio, but look for this very funny man to break into bigger venues soon.
Grade:
A-
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