Not So Super Man

Ugh!

Well, we're only a week into the new TV season and one of the worst sitcoms in television history has already reared its ugly head on CBS. And that's a shame, because "Partners" had a lot of great things going for it to start.

First off, it was created by David Kohan and Max Mutchnick, creators of "Will & Grace." Based on their real-life business partnership and friendship of a gay man and a straight man, the show should have been a no-brainer. Add the talented David Krumholtz ("Numbers"); Micheal Urie ("Ugly Betty"); Sophia Bush ("One Tree Hill") and the gorgeous Brandon Routh (Superman Returns), and CBS should have had an unqualified hit on its hands.

Sadly, "Partners" suffers from zero chemistry between its two leads; absolutely terrible writing with completely unfunny (not to mention horribly stereotypical) jokes and one of the worst, most ill-timed canned laugh tracks in memory  Krumholtz and Urie play Joe and Louis, best friends for 23 years who run an architectural firm in New York. Bush is Joe's girlfriend, a jewelry designer named Ali and Routh is Louis' boyfriend, Wyatt, a nurse. In the pilot, Joe worries that Ali has given him a "marry me or else" ultimatum while Louis insists on telling people that Wyatt is a doctor. Tracy Vilar is Rosanna, their 'saucy' Latina Office Manager who gets away with insulting her bosses with 'jokes' like "Joe, Joe, Joe, gay, gay, gay, I will cut you!" And Routh fares even worse with: "It's Cardiac Awareness Week. Which is why I have a heart on." Sigh...

I can't really tell you more about this travesty, because I was so offended in every possible way, I turned it off after the first 15 minutes.  And I think what bothered me most about the whole thing was the incredible waste of talent of all those involved, especially Routh, whose once-promising career has been reduced to playing a self-loathing gay second-banana (all puns intended) on a third rate sitcom from two men who should know better. Shame on everyone involved with this crap. I'll be surprised if it lasts more than 3 episodes.

Honestly, I've had surgery that was less painful. "Partners" is certainly the worst sitcom of the 21st Century (and possibly of all time*). Zero Stars Out of Four.

More, anon.
Prospero

*And that includes "My Mother the Car;" "Life on a Stick" and "Cavemen."

Dylan Dog: Dead of Night

Playing Superman only once may well be the best thing that ever happened to gorgeous Brandon Routh. Routh basically owes his career to MTV, where he starred as Wade in their scripted soap opera "Undressed." He went on to small parts on "The Gilmore Girls" and "Will and Grace" before landing the lead in director Bryan Singer's Superman Returns, a movie which, while I like it more than most people, is admittedly low on action and long on overwrought emotional baggage. 

I understand the critical and audience reaction to the movie (for my money, Kevin Spacey and Kate Bosworth were horribly miscast) but I think there's still plenty to like about Singer's film: Eva Marie Saint as Martha Kent; Frank Langella as Perry White; Parker Posey as Kitty Kowalsky and Kal Penn as one of Lex Luthor's henchmen. And that's not to mention Routh as Clark Kent/Kal-El/Superman. For Singer and all of the later Baby Boomers, Christopher Reeves was Superman. For two really good and two truly awful films, Reeves embodied The Man of Steel more than any other actor before him, including the ironically named George Reeve, who played Supe on TV and then died under mysterious circumstances -- but that's a post unto itself and I'm not going there right now. But, I digress. Not only was Routh  as close to Reeves as Singer was going to get, the handsome young actor went full steam ahead and channeled Reeves most admirably. Whatever faults Superman Returns may have, Routh is most certainly not one of them.

Since then, Routh's most visible film appearance was in Kevin Smith's Zack and Miri Make a Porno as gay porn star Bobby Long (OMG! That name is just so funny! Hahaha... NOT!). He also has a recurring role as CIA Agent Daniel Shaw on NBC's Spy-Fi* hit "Chuck." 

Further distancing himself from the DC franchise and hoping to create a one of his own, Routh is about to appear on U.S. screens in the film adaption of one of Europe's most popular graphic novels, Dylan Dog: Dead of Night. Routh plays a noirish detective charged with keeping the balance between good and evil among the supernatural creatures prowling New Orleans. Taye Diggs, Sam Huntington and the always amazing Peter Storemare co-star in what may well be the most interesting Superhero movie of the year:

D has already said this is a film we must see together and I whole-heartedly agree. I also happen to think Routh has a very promising career as an actor and fully expect him to be an A-lister within the next few years. He may very well be pretty, but I think he's also quite a talented and wide-ranged performer. Personally, I can't wait to see does next.

You may or may not know (or even care), but Uncle P is heading south in a few days to bask in the Florida sun and spend time with my sister. Preparations for my trip, combined with some minor JTMF complications have kept me from posting as regularly as usual. I'll be back later tonight (well, tomorrow for me) with a more serious topic.

More, anon.
Prospero

*I hereby and forever lay claim to the term "Spy-Fi" (unless some other geek before me has already done so) and ask that you credit me when ever you use it. Arrogant, ain't I? Hey -- gotta leave something behind...