New Show ‘Partners’ Disappoints

This week marks the second week of prime time television show premieres, and one of these new series is "Partners," which premiered Monday. This show is about two best friends Louis (Michael Urie) and Joe (David Krumholtz) who grow up to become business partners as architects. Along with these two best friends are their significant others, Ali (Sophia Bush) and Wyatt (Brandon Routh).

This show was created by Max Mutchnick and David Kohan, former creators and writers of NBC's ground breaking hit series "Will & Grace" which first aired in 1998 into late 2006, and dealt with relevant political issues including current presidency and LGBT relationships. 

Fans of "Will & Grace" had high expectations for the fall premiere of "Partners" due to Mutchnick and Kohan's comedic writing and frequent increase in ratings. Unfortunately, the half hour sequence that "Partners" had to grab its new audiences attention failed by trying to use the same comedic mannerisms and character development that we saw progressively happen with Jack (Sean Hayes) and Karen (Megan Mullally) in "Will & Grace.

Within the first five minutes of the show there was a flashback to when Louis and Joe were growing up as best friends. This was a way for the audience to get a feel for what the characters were going to be like. Once the primary episode began the audience left crossing their fingers that "Partners" would stick true to the characters advertisements as quirky, innovative and ahead of their time, yet let us down by showing characters that seemed to beg for a pity laugh.

In this pilot episode, Louis convinces Joe to go with his gut and break up with his girlfriend, Ali, since he's unhappy. When he finally gains the courage to do this, Joe backs out and proposes to Ali. This seemed like a confusing twist in the plot as the short episode time didn't allow the audience to understand what might have prompted his action. 

This clearly is a show that needs to find itself and become a bit stronger in relation to its audience rather than trying to aim towards frequent jokes. This sitcom seems to be uncomfortable in its skin but with a couple of writing adjustments it could quickly become the new show that everyone is watching. 

To see how the "four friends but three couples" grow and become a little more relatable, tune in to watch the next episode air on Oct. 1 at 8:30 p.m on CBS.

tdavis1@ramapo.edu