Traffic Light: Can we please get a few laughs?

Good day my friends,

Traffic Light is a new show that premiered on Fox this past week following the ever hilarious Raising Hope.  Previously Hope was followed by a completely dreadful show called Running Wilde and now that has been replaced by the incredibly bland Traffic Light.

Traffic Light is the story of three guys in their thirties who have been friends since their college days at the University of Illinois.  Apparently there was at one time a fourth friend who has died as they were dedicating a baseball field in his memory in the opening episode.  Lucky him.  Anyway, the three friends now all live in Chicago and are all at different stages of life.  Let me explain with the ever popular bullet points.

• Ethan - A single guy who also happens to be British.  He likes being single and seemingly dates a lot of women, but none of them for any length of time.  His British accent made him instantly more intriguing, but we need it to make him funnier.
• Adam - He is single as well, but is in a committed relationship with Callie and they have just moved in together.  He's apparently the main guy of the group and somehow is the most bland.  He did have a couple of good lines and a nice repertoire with a female police officer that pulled him over twice.  She had some of the best lines of the night and I kind of hope she is at least a semi-regular.
• Mike is married to Lisa and they have a son.  Mike cherishes and yearns for his "me time" and is not beyond sitting in his car watching Iron Man to avoid giving his child a bath.  I can understand that.  To me, Mike seems to be the one we will often go to for our comedic moments. 

I cannot say a lot about this show thus far except to say that it was not bad, but then again it was not good either.  Judging by one episode seems to be a tad unfair so I will certainly give in to further viewings.  I will say that as far as I can tell the show appears to be well cast and the characters all seem quite likable. There is nothing inherently bad about this show, but then again nothing to sing about either.

Another problem is that it seems too much like something we've already seen before.  It has more than a passing similarity to the brilliant and ever hilarious Rules of Engagement.  Single guy, engaged couple and married couple is undeniably similar to single guy, couple that just moved in together and married couple with small child.  

My favorite parts of the premiere involved Mike and Lisa, probably because it paralleled my own life in some ways.  I like my "me time" as well and it is so rare that I have to cherish every second of it when it truly arrives.  Plus they seemed to be the funniest couple on the show. 

Lisa and Callie are both very attractive women, but as you know that is not enough to keep me watching for too long.  The show needs work and one can only hope that the writers figure out a way to make me laugh.  A comedy without laughter generally does not stay on the air very long.  Take a look at Running Wilde as your prime example.

Until next time my friends...just keep watching.