Thankfully, Mr. Sunshine keeps the smurfiness to a minimum

The main plot of the episode focused on Ben taking Roman in as a roommate, which was not promising. Mismatched dudes sharing living arrangements is a sitcom gag that entire series have been built upon and will probably always be a reliable source of jokes, but it’s a concept that really has nothing left to explore at this point. Plus, the previews prominently featured lots of interaction with the Smurfs (at the arena for Smurfs On Ice, of course); I had visions of all the characters conversing with each other in Smurf language, dropping every third verb and/or adjective and replacing it with the word “Smurf”, which is smurfingly annoying on the cartoon show and certainly not something I wanted to smurf through for 22 minutes. So my hopes weren’t high.

However, I was pleasantly surprised. The “A” story was Ben and Roman as the odd couple. It’s a bit difficult to swallow Ben’s tolerance for Roman, whom he describes as “a large manchild who thinks the sun and moon are married.” This is especially true in light of his disregard for his other employees, which we learn goes beyond not learning their names to the extent that he doesn’t even remember attending funerals of their spouses. But Crystal is his boss, and ultimately Ben does as he’s told.

Overall, I think this might have been the strongest episode yet. The “A” story, while not the most original plotline, was engaging and they got laughs from it. The “B” story was good when Crystal was verbally insulting and intimidating the Smurfs. Unfortunately, it went too far when Crystal went physical with her rage, resorting to stupid slapstick for the sake of seeing a woman straddling someone in a Smurfette costume, furiously raining blows on the character’s enormous, fuzzy, blue head. The “C” story was almost a complete afterthought, existing for no reason other than to give Alice and Alonzo something to do.

I was very pleased to see that they limited the “Smurf-speak” to one short, unfunny scene between Ben and Heather, the receptionist. I know she’s supposed to be something of a love interest for Roman but I think the character of Heather is too one dimensional and should probably be flung. Maybe if she was more friendly-yet-menacing like The Janitor on “Scrubs” but at this point, they’ve sketched her out too much for her to be that kind of character.

Clark Brooks (@clarkbrooks) is a professional writer living in Tampa, Florida “which is another way of saying I have no idea how I’m going to pay my light bill next month.” Also, thanks to the internet, he’s an ordained minister and will gladly commit your wedding in exchange for an invitation to the reception and a seat next to a morally-liberal bridesmaid.

Clacked by Guest Clacker
on Mar 10, 2011 @ 14:00 EST5EDT