This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
In "Mr. Sunshine," Matthew Perry stars as Ben, the self-involved manager of a sports arena, the Sunshine Center.
The ABC comedy is sort of autobiographical for the former "Friends" star. Not that Perry has ever run a sports arena.
"When you meet Ben, he's pretty much been thinking about himself his entire life," Perry said. "He's sort of whistling in the dark and thinks he's a happy guy. And learns rather quickly that the secret to being happy and maybe gaining some inner peace is to care about your fellow man."
Which, Perry admits, wasn't always his strong suit.
"I spent a great deal of my 20s and the bulk of my 30s sort of a little self-obsessed," he said. "And it was in changing that in my own life that I thought that would make an interesting character."
Perry is also the co-creator, executive producer and a writer of "Mr. Sunshine." And it looks like he could have a winner on his hands. "Mr. Sunshine" is the best comedy pilot of the 2010-11 TV season.
Ben is wry and drily funny — the title is clearly ironic. And he's the straight man to the bunch of lunatics who surround him.
As the series begins, Ben is turning 40 and just beginning to figure out that his life is pretty empty. He has a friends-with-benefits relationship with Alice (Andrea Anders, "Better Off Ted"), the arena's marketing director. But that's about to end.
His assistant, Heather (Portia Doubleday), is sweet and perky, although she once set a former boyfriend on fire. Former basketball star/arena employee Alonzo (James Lesure) is way too happy about everything. All the time.
And Ben has to keep his boss, Crystal (Alison Janney, "The West Wing"), happy. Which isn't easy, because she's an incredibly wealthy, over-the-top narcissist. When we meet her, she's crawling around on the floor trying to find the mind-altering pill she just dropped.
And Ben is about to meet Crystal's estranged son, Ben (Nate Torrence), who's sort of a lovable idiot.
The writing is sharp and clever. And there are a couple of sight gags in Wednesday's premiere — both involving clowns — that are laugh-out-loud funny.
One of them is so hilarious you just might just be laughing so hard you'll miss the next few lines of dialogue.
(Helpful tip: Record the episode.)
And, perhaps ironically, Perry's behind-the-scenes role on "Mr. Sunshine" was inspired by his last onscreen TV role in the short-lived "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip."
"I had the pleasure of playing a comedy writer in an Aaron Sorkin show, and I think that's one of the reasons that I decided I might want to actually try this myself," he said.
Scott D. Pierce's column appears Mondays and Fridays in The Mix. He can be reached at spierce@sltrib.com or 801-257-8603. Check out the TV or Not TV blog at sltrib/blogs/tv. 'Mr. Sunshine'
The show starring Matthew Perry premieres on Wednesday, Feb. 9, at 8:30 p.m. on Channel 4.