Unmarried young men on TV usually occupy one of two single states: Either they’re unlucky in love along the lines of Zach Braff’s J.D. Dorian on “Scrubs,” or they’re unlucky in love and hung up on a specific unattainable woman, like T.R. Knight’s George O’Malley on “Grey’s Anatomy.” Even Will on “Will & Grace” fits (theoretically) into the second category.
“What About Brian,” the hour-long drama launching tonight on ABC, mines the unattainable-girl formula within a story about the last bachelor standing in a group of coupled-up friends. The twist is that Brian’s longed-for woman is his best-friend’s fiancée. By the end of the first hour, the mess gets messier as Brian and his forbidden love share a kiss.
Beyond the tease of impossible romance, “What About Brian” (9 p.m. on KMGH-Channel 7) is easily pegged as a retread of “thirtysomething” for today’s less political, more cynical audience. Creator Dana Stevens had a minor acting role on “thirtysomething”; she absorbed the vibe as a writer.
An hour laced with farce, romantic comedy and drama specific to a time and generation, “What About Brian” hopes to do for 2006 Los Angeles Gen-X’ers what Michael, Hope, Elliot, Nancy, Melissa, Ellyn and the rest did 20 years ago for Philadelphia baby boomers.
The evolution is obvious: Substitute a modern house in the California hills for the East Coast urban Victorian in need of updating. (Imagine how much the Steadman fixer-upper would be worth today!) Script a broader range of variously encumbered friends with and without kids, in long- vs. short-term couples, all hoping the one holdout will join their circle.
Finally, end the first hour with a dinner table shot, on the deck overlooking L.A., and you see how familiar the “chosen-family” drama can be.
In “Brian,” the social commentary and romance are paced by gentle laughs and comic sniping, as in “thirtysomething.” Marriage’s appeal is drawn in ambivalent terms. It’s either a prison, a security blanket or a club whose occasionally happy members want everyone to join.
Having arrived there first, “thirtysomething” looks far smarter. Burdened by familiarity – haven’t we boomers ruined everything for everyone who comes after? – “Brian” feels too much like every movie that’s contemplated the third wheel or, as in Brian’s case, seventh wheel. Even the giant SUV can’t accommodate all the marrieds plus Brian.
Brian O’Hara (Barry Watson of “7th Heaven”), a handsome if shaggy 34-year-old, is the sole single in his group of friends. The friends’ partnerships are seen as less than ideal: bohemian Dave (Rick Gomez) and Deena (Amanda Detmer) have been married for 13 years, and have three small children and a diminished sex life.
Brian’s sister, Nic (Rosanna Arquette), and her handsome boy-toy husband, Angelo (Raoul Bova), are trying to conceive. They’re great-looking, but his English is spotty.
And beautiful doctor Marjorie (Sarah Lancaster) and Brian’s best buddy, Adam (Matthew Davis), have been dating awhile. They have an even chance of breaking up or getting engaged. Adam is as clueless to Marjorie’s needs as Brian is sensitive.
All’s fair in love and war over the best friend’s girlfriend: The Cars sang about it, “Boy Meets World” did an episode on it, the film “My Best Friend’s Girl” wasted Isabella Huppert, Shakespeare played with the idea in “Two Gentlemen of Verona.”
A personal favorite in this vein is Stephen Sondheim’s musical “Company,” which basically asked, “What about Bobby?”
In that group of married friends, the single Bobby was doted on by the wives, envied by the husbands. The proprietary feelings, the jealousies and expectations are spelled out in painful, hilarious detail.
Pain and hilarity are in limited supply so far in “What About Brian.” To make us care, the series will have to demonstrate what’s different about today’s single/married dilemma.
TV critic Joanne Ostrow can be reached at 303-820-1830 or jostrow@denverpost.com.
