Matt Kennedy/CBSHave you been missing Will & Grace? Well then, the creators of Will & Grace have just the show you need.
When creators Max Mutchnick and David Kohan took the stage during CBS' TCA press tour at the end of July to promote their new comedy Partners, you immediately understood why viewers would want to watch a series based on their friendship. They clearly adored each other, and have clearly lived all of life's ups and downs together.
That's the gist of what you get with Partners: lifelong friends and business partners, who adore each other and drive each other crazy while maneuvering the different stages of life. A mundane premise at best, but what makes Partners special is the group dynamic and the chemistry between the two male characters, one straight and one gay. Plus, Michael Urie is back on TV and it's marvelous.
Partners (CBS)
Premieres: Monday, Sept. 24 at 8:30 p.m.
Time-Slot Competition: Bones (Fox), Dancing With the Stars (ABC), The Voice (NBC), 90210 (CW)
Cast: Michael Urie, David Krumholtz, Sophia Bush, Brandon Routh
Status: We've seen the pilot episode.
If you want to trust anyone with creating and running yet another television show about a group of friends, it's Mutchnick and Kohan. And not just because of their Will & Grace pedigree, but because the series is based on their lives, and you can tell they're having a blast writing (and re-writing) their history.
Louis (Urie) and Joe (Krumholtz) have been friends since childhood, and now they are partners at an architectural firm. It's always been the two of them, but now that Louis is dating Wyatt (Routh), and Joe is in a serious relationship with Ali (Bush), everything is shifting. And not always for the better.
The main storyline in the pilot is Joe deciding whether or not to propose to Ali. By the by, we love you so much David Krumholtz, and we think you are sexy in your own way, but the fact that your character doubts his love for someone who looks like Sophia Bush is, how you say?, bats--t crazy. But we digress. Sitcom shenanigans ensue as we work through the main conflict in the episode and get to know each couple's dynamic. It's all seamless, funny and sharp buddy comedy-type stuff. Nothing revolutionary, but dammit, we have tons of fun watching these four people hang out anyway.
Urie and Krumholtz are magical together, and their chemistry is something that makes up for any shortcomings that can often come with a pilot. And basically any scene with Urie is a bright spot, but that's expected. Routh's character is a touch boring and too "straight-man" for us (no pun intended), but we tend to overlook those things in the first episode. It might take a little bit for Partners to settle into the perfect rhythm, but we're willing to watch every week while it happens.
Our Review in GIF Form:
Verdict: Watch. CBS knows how to do comedy right, and Partners is no exception.