Pilot Review: Friends with Benefits

Friends with Benefits (NBC)
Premiered August 5 at 8pm

Launching a show on network television on Friday nights in the last weeks of summer is never a good sign. That doesn’t exactly give it much of a chance to live a long and healthy life, especially with an eight-episode order that’s only planned to be stretched over four weeks. Unsurprisingly, it doesn’t show much potential, and it’s considerably less promising than NBC’s other burned-off series from this summer, “Love Bites.” To begin with, this show breaks a cardinal rule by not allowing the possibility for all of its characters to be paired up by having five cast members rather than six. Pairing up the other four into twosomes is equally problematic because number five will have little to do than to sleep with city council members and use their influence to get people out of parking tickets. This show is reminiscent of “Happy Endings,” a series without terribly engaging characters that is still decently watchable but hardly essential viewing. It flirts occasionally with the level of quality and audience attraction as “Perfect Couples,” which isn’t a great sign. There’s overcompensation from the supporting players not given enough screen time, and the others are hardly interesting. They continually get put in over-the-top situations, like the messy kisser and the bagpipe player, and the dramatic end to the first episode is entirely not justified by everything leading up to it. Like “Love Bites,” it contains some relatable moments, like Ben’s dates having to be airbrushed out of family photos, but not enough to make an entire half hour worthwhile. I’m sad to see two of the actors wasted here, particularly Ryan Hansen, who was infinitely dumber and more endearing on “Party Down,” and Jessica Lucas, who deserves more than having to walk around dressed in a bee costume. It was intriguing to see Camille Guaty and Alexandra Holden pop up in the pilot, and they were definitely solid additions to the show. This show doesn’t have much appeal, and with so many other shows airing new episodes this summer, I don’t think I’m going to stick around.

How will it work as a series? Like any sitcom of the sort, each episode is going to find the five characters trying out new relationships and realizing that they don’t work, while exploring their connections within their friend circle which will likely peak by season’s end. It sounds terribly familiar, and it’s hardly a notable take on the subject that necessitates weekly viewing.
How long will it last? It’s not like this show had a prayer to begin with, and it doesn’t seem to have made much of a splash following its premiere. There’s almost no chance for a renewal after this show was pushed from a launch earlier in the summer, so eight episodes, some of which might not even be broadcast, are going to have to do it.

Pilot grade: C