What About Brian?

(4/17/06)

Tonight is the premiere of JJ Abrams's new show What About Brian. (Abrams is the creator of Felicity, Alias, and LOST.) For reasons I can't begin to explain, the first episode was last night. (Not the premiere, mind you, but the first.)

So here's the basic plot: Barry Watson (the rogue older brother from Seventh Heaven) is Brian. All of Brian's friends have relationships, some with kids, but for some reason, Brian can't seem to find the special someone.

Actually, Brian does have a girl, Marjorie, who sadly happens to be his best friend's girl. [Side note: why is it we see so many movies and TV shows these days where a guy is in love with a girl who's with the world's biggest jackass, and she's a wonderful girl in all other respects, but just can't seem to figure that out? Oh yeah, I remember now. Women SUCK at picking men. And no, I'm not a sexist. Men suck at picking men too.]

By no means was the first episode (the pre-premiere, maybe?) great or spellbinding. Several of the plot devices were so...."TV" I yelled at the screen, and could only be calmed down by my sister and her army of Easter Peeps. That said, there were enough compelling side-plots and interesting characters where you could see this developing into a Grey's Anatomy kind of 'Shipper Drama.

And yet, even if it sucks, I think I'll watch it. Why? Because I related so damn much. Almost all of my friends are married or getting married or are in heavy relationships. I'm not even sure I believe in marriage, but I often find myself looking around at all of them and thnking, "What's wrong with me?"

What about Brian asks the same questions, and if you're in that boat or ever had been, you might relate too. If you're planning on watching tonight and want a blow by blow send me and email and I'll tell you all the details to catch you up.

What about Hyperion?

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(4/18/06)

{I just noticed that the woman in green is not in the show. I guess they re-cast her. How embarrassing to not only get fired, but everyone knows it.}

I watched my second episode of "What About Brian" last night. This show is going to drive me crazy.

One of the couples is trying an "open marriage." Forget those late-night shows on HBO and Showcase: that does not work!!!!! Plus, if your wife brings this up, she's not trying to give you the "gift of an adventure" (seriously, that was the line she used), she wants to bang the yoga instructor.

And men don't escape my wrath, either. First there was the infamous yoga instructor. When the wife asked him if he assumed all women wanted to have sex with him, the man replies, "I don't consider it sex. I consider it 'healing.'" My sister was watching with me, and she threw a pillow at a TV.

Then there's Brian. In love with his best friend's fiance, he's trying to move on with "Lisa." After spending the night he wakes up and takes a shower in her bathroom, only to "accidentally" meet the roommate, also named Lisa. (I can see two girls with the same name living together, but supposedly Lisa #1 hasn't had sex in like 6 months, and Lisa #2 has no qualms about meeting a naked man in her shower, with her half naked as well. ARRRRGH! I hate bad writing like this. Worse, I'm wasting time writing about it!)

Predictably, Brian likes Lisa #2, which Brian's friend tells him to go for, because it would be "2 in 24," also the show's title.

What kind of idiot is he? Already in love with a woman he can't have, Brian is now going to attempt to date a woman he can't date? (Although: if he did attempt to date them both, at least he wouldn't have to remember their names and who was who.)

I can't believe I watched this show a second time, and I really can't believe I'm counting the days until next Monday. What is wrong with me?