Divorced and clueless, dad keeps trying
Watching Paula Marshall in "Gary Unmarried," I kept wanting to give her a pair of knitting needles. Or a macramé kit. Or handcuffs. She gestures so madly with her hands, as if somehow motion equals funny, as if she could magically make the new CBS sitcom take flight.
But Marshall's fluttery energy is, ultimately, enervating, like everything else in this high-strung, low-slung sitcom. Actually, Marshall is among the least of the problems with "Gary Unmarried," which premieres tonight at 8:30 on Channel 4. This is the kind of dull-witted, over-laugh-tracked, artificial sitcom that makes you wonder if the Hollywood honchos ever got the memo about the 21st century and all.
The show is a vehicle for Jay Mohr, a one-time "Saturday Night Live" player whose best work usually involves satire. He was perfection as the slimeball in "Action," Fox's tart Hollywood send-up, and he was a bright spot in "Jerry Maguire" as the agent who fires Tom Cruise with a smirk. In the nicey-nice atmosphere of "Gary Unmarried," though, he's out of place. He's supposed to be a clueless dad staying on good terms with his controlling ex-wife while dating. But I kept waiting for Mohr to morph into a maniac, especially when he learns his ex (Marshall) is engaged to their couples therapist (Ed Begley Jr.).
"Gary Unmarried" doesn't much bother with the ethical twistedness regarding the therapist-patient boundary. But it doesn't much bother with originality or character, so why quibble. Gary is the prototypical American TV guy dealing with difficult women - he's Ray in "Everybody Loves Raymond" and Jim in "According to Jim," no more, and maybe a little less. We've seen him too many times before, running around very similar sitcom stage sets. He tolerates his ex, he keeps screwing up with his new girlfriend (Jaime King). He has two kids - a politically correct 11-year-old girl and a teen son who's anxious about girls - and each promises to be a one-joke creation.
It's as if CBS fashioned this show solely as a companion piece to the similarly themed "The New Adventures of Old Christine," in which a divorced woman still has a close relationship with her ex. "Gary," which follows the return of "Christine" tonight, has no creative urge at its core, just an executive hunger for a highly rated programming block.
Matthew Gilbert can be reached at gilbert@globe.com. For more on TV, visit boston.com/ae/tv/blog/. 