The pilot episode for Mr. Sunshine began with the break-up of Ben and Alice, co-workers who had a Friends With Benefits relationship. Alice was dumping Ben for a more traditional and fulfilling romantic relationship with another co-worker, Alonzo. Of course, Ben thought that was the kind of relationship that he had with Alice, as most outwardly-shallow-and-narcissitic-yet-actually-a-softie-underneath-it-all male sitcom characters tend to do. At the time, the interaction between those three characters seemed like it might be the focal point of this show going forward. But for the most part, Alice and Alonzo have only popped up in B or C storylines with basically nothing to do. That changed this week with the big reveal to Alonzo that Ben and Alice had dated (for lack of a better term).
This week’s premise involved The Sunshine Center playing host to yet another of Alonzo’s charity fundraising events, a celebrity tennis exhibition. After Crystal hits Alonzo’s doubles partner with her car while driving and learning to work the Twitter machine (her cell phone), Ben begs to be his replacement. It’s not an attempt to spend time with Alonzo and get to know him better; Ben just likes to play tennis. It’s sort of assumed that we are supposed to know that Ben and Alonzo don’t particularly like each other, although nothing has really been shown to establish that, other than the fact that Alonzo is insufferably perfect and Ben is far from it. When Ben accidentally spills the beans about his past with Alice to Alonzo, hurt feelings ensue and Ben finds himself in the role of relationship mender.
Meanwhile, Crystal and Roman’s ongoing awkward attempt to form a mother and son bond is shifted to the B story. Crystal runs over Roman with her golf cart while Tweeting (will she never learn?) and forces herself to offer quality time with him so he won’t sue her.
At a fancy dinner prior to the tennis match, things come to a head with the characters hashing out their issues using the starchy food items on their plates (thanks to a menu picked by Roman) as code names for themselves, with Ben as tater tots, Alice as macaroni and Alonzo as mashed potatoes. My favorite line of the night: a befuddled Crystal asking, “What is happening? Why is the food alive?” Alice storms off to the ladies room and Ben solves their problem by conceding to Alonzo that he’s the better man.
Some observations:
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 24, 2011 @ 16:51 EST5EDT
