TV Eye
How the boys are
By Belinda Acosta, Fri., Jan. 27, 2006
Love Monkey.
Such a cute title for a series that has little to do with love (or monkeys, for that matter), even if it is the newest Sex and the City knockoff. Actually, the show, which premiered on CBS last week, is based on the 2004 book by Kyle Smith, which itself could be considered a knockoff of Nick Hornby's High Fidelity, later made into the 2000 film starring the sublime John Cusack. But none of that really matters when it comes to prime time. The real question is, can Love Monkey reinvent the kaboom of Sex and the City? From a viewer's perspective, I've got to ask: Why try?
Meanwhile, the recently premiered Four Kings (NBC), another Sex wannabe, only survives because of its sweet spot in NBC's Thursday-night lineup. Emily's Reasons Why Not (starring Heather Graham) premiered to ear-splitting fanfare, only to be trashed after one episode. It's just as well. Graham's twinkly-eyed Emily Sanders was not as interesting as her supporting cast. And then there's the ill-fated John Stamos series, Jake in Progress. Placed on hiatus after a handful of episodes, it returned (also on ABC) only to be shuttled into oblivion with Graham's vehicle. And now, we have Love Monkey, which I'm convinced will survive because of its berth and the pull of Tom Cavanagh.
Love Monkey features a quartet of men: one married, one a man-about-town, one a jock, and one Tom Farrell (Cavanagh). I didn't care much for Cavanagh in the too-precious Ed, but here, I find him engaging, if not entirely likable. He's not "evil" in the way men supposedly are. He just doesn't make sense to me. His tortured male brethren Rob Gordon (High Fidelity) made sense to me, so I don't think it's a gender thing.
Like Carrie Bradshaw, Tom Ferrell has a cool job: He's in the music industry, scouting new talent. He's young, unattached, and looking. Or so he says. With such an active and interesting work life, why settle down? If he wants companionship and unconditional love, he could get a dog. If he wants hot sex, well, gee, some might say a marriage is the last place to find that.
Although I found the premiere episode compelling, I couldn't help but feel as if I were waiting for the real Tom Farrell to appear, which, I also suppose, is the purpose of any good series, to watch a character develop and grow – assuming Love Monkey doesn't join Jake or Emily's Reasons in the dustbin.
What makes Love Monkey interesting for me is how the quartet performs for one another. For me, this speaks to a key feature in U.S. culture, wherein men are expected to behave in such a way even among their closest friends. Now, I know I'm casting a wide swath here, but among women, and especially the Sex and the City women, it was the coming together of the group that provided the opportunity to be a more candid version of themselves. In Love Monkey, Jason Priestly, as Tom's brother-in-law Mike, pines for the single life. Later, in a warm and fuzzy montage, we learn that he loves his pregnant wife and (gasp!) enjoys cuddling. Jake Dunne (Christopher Wiehl), the ex-jock turned sports writer, apparently can have any woman he wants. The thing is, in the same aforementioned warm and fuzzy montage, we (not his friends) discover that he likes men – one man in particular, if the dozen roses are any indication. Larenz Tate plays Shooter Cooper, who is, well, he's the black guy. In the first episode, Shooter comes up with the term "Grant's Law," named for Hugh Grant: No matter how good a man has it, the grass is always greener, which, from all indications, is supposed to be crucial in understanding men in this show.
And Tom is still charming enough to have the affection of gal pal Bran (Arrested Development's Judy Greer), who apparently loves him but is too scared to tell him for fear of ... what, I'm not sure. Curiously, I hope the show continues so I can find out. It airs Tuesdays at 9pm on CBS.
