In case you didn’t already know (and you probably do), NBC isn’t exactly the big network on campus. Still struggling to dig its way out of fourth place, the National Broadcasting Company put out a slew of new comedies this year in hopes of finding the Friends-like hit they needed to get back into network supremacy.
Obviously, that didn’t pan out. Critical flops Whitney and Are You There, Chelsea have quietly put out the same numbers NBC has been getting for years now. On top of that, the usually comically low-rated Community has been NBC’s top-performing Thursday night comedy for two weeks running. Something isn’t right here.
To top it all off, NBC is currently burning off the six episode order of the new comedy Bent starring David Walton and Amanda Peet. Bent centers around Peet’s character, Alex, a recently divorced lawyer moving into a new neighborhood. Walton plays Pete Riggins, a slacker contractor hired to work on Alex’s new house. Traditional will-they-won’t-they romantic comedy ensues. It’s true that the will-they-won’t-they dynamic has been done to death (and none have done it better than Sam and Diane, though Jim and Pam on The Office came close), but when two actors have the chemistry that Peet and Walton show on screen, the formula doesn’t really feel stale. Alex and Pete have an easygoing, rapid-fire rapport that makes for very fun TV.
Also starring in Bent as Pete’s father is the struggling character actor Jeffrey Tambor (you probably know him as George Sr. on Arrested Development, though his turn as Hank in The Larry Sanders Show is even more classic). Tambor has always had a knack for playing lovable buffoons and he is on his game in the first few episodes of Bent. Alongside Tambor in the ensemble are Margo Harshman (Even Stevens) as Alex’s sister Screwsie, and Joey King (Ramona and Beezus) as Alex’s daughter Charlie.
Bent is not a groundbreaking sitcom. It doesn’t have the rapid fire jokes of Happy Endings or the creative ambition of Community, but it has an undeniably pleasant tone that makes it fun to watch. The series was created by Tad Quill, a student of the Bill Lawrence school of TV writing. Bill Lawrence has created such series as Spin City, Scrubs, and Cougar Town, so it comes as no surprise that Quill’s creation has the same kind of pleasant hang-out vibe that Lawrence’s work so often possesses.
Though NBC seems to be completely ignoring this great little comedy, try to tune in. The ratings have been understandably awful. But hopefully we can enjoy this show while it lasts—which may not be much longer.
