P.J. And Her Boys Roll With the Changes
By Alan Pergament
The delightful little TBS comedy, “My Boys,” about a female sportswriter and her mostly male friends, ended last season with a cliffhanger that wasn’t exactly as suspenseful as the NBA playoffs.
In the season finale, the character P.J. Franklin, played by Jordana Spiro, had invited a man on a vacation to Italy with her and gal pal Stephanie (Kellee Stewart), and Stephanie’s boyfriend. Viewers discover his identity in the first scene of tonight’s 9:30 premiere.
Is it the globe-trotting reporter played by Jeremy Sisto of “Law & Order”? The botanist, Evan (Michael Landes)? The pitcher, Matt (Travis Schuldt), who was just traded from the team she covers, the Chicago Cubs? Or someone out of left field?
I’m not telling, other than to say I was surprised and disappointed by the choice. And I’m not alone on the first count.
“I was surprised by the choice,” said Spiro in a recent telephone interview. “Betsy [Thomas, the show's creator] kind of played a little trick on us. She led us to believe it would be somebody else. I was doing this thinking and preparing for this other person. . . . Why did I choose him? What was going through my mind? Then it is not him at all.”
The Manhattan native and I also agreed on who we thought it was going to be. Of course, P.J.’s often disappointing love life is only part of the charm of the series, which focuses on her friendships with an eclectic group of characters that include her married brother, Andy (Jim Gaffigan); a good-looking disc jockey, Brendan (Reid Scott); a memorabilia store owner, Kenny (Michael Bunin), with a tortured love life that may be improving; a former Cubs employee, Mike (Jamie Kaler), who is clueless when it comes to dealing with the ladies; and the strangest sounding character of all, a wealthy sportswriter, Bobby (Kyle Howard).
There have been comparisons to “Sex and the City,” since P.J. hangs out with friends. But there are obvious differences in tone (it is mostly PG) and in friends (they are mostly male). P.J. has had romantic relationships with Brendan and Bobby, but they’ve managed to disprove the “Sleepless in Seattle” theory and have become just friends.
“We play with that theme a lot,” said Spiro. “[P.J.] is obviously not platonic with all of them. There are moments when the lines get crossed. And it does get confusing.”
Spiro approves of the decision to focus less on her job and more on her friends who hang out at home and at Crowley’s Bar.
“The best part of the show is the friendship and the antics that go around the poker table,” said Spiro. “Any time you have P.J. in the press box or the clubhouse it seems less about the friends. It was a choice to keep the show centered on what is the real fun — the friends and all the entanglements.”
P.J. is an unusual woman on cable these days. Sure, she’s working in a field that used to be almost exclusively male, like the characters played by Kyra Sedgwick (“The Closer”), Holly Hunter (“Saving Grace”), Glenn Close (“Damages”) and Mary McCormack (“In Plain Sight”). But P.J. is much more concerned than they are about being likable and less concerned about winning.
That doesn’t change in this season’s first two episodes. The episodes have the usual winning mix of pop culture references, silly job and romantic issues and predictably sopho-moric male behavior. The episodes also set up this year’s biggest themes.
“The big story line is somebody gets really famous,” said Spiro. “Overnight success, writes a best seller. There’s a wedding. So a lot of stuff revolves around that and everybody’s feelings about that. There is a ripple effect. . . . The status of a lot of our characters change.”
Spiro hasn’t exactly been an overnight success, having played small parts in episodes of several popular series like “Cold Case” (an abused wife); “Beverly Hills 90210″ (she stole Tori Spelling’s fashion design); and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” (she was trapped in a basement with a reptile on the loose). She also appeared in a failed pilot written by Thomas that led to her being cast in “My Boys.”
With likable, adorable sides and a girl-next-door appeal, Spiro first sparked comparisons to Goldie Hawn after having a minor role in the film “Must Love Dogs.”"I’m extremely flattered,” said Spiro. “I was a big fan of Goldie Hawn’s.”
Spiro is making a name for herself, with “My Boys” leading to a film role in “The Goods.” She is the daughter of a character played by James Brolin and becomes the romantic interest of a character played by Jeremy Piven (“Entourage”).
“It’s about a car lot going bankrupt in a small town,” she explained. “In the end, we all change each other.”
It isn’t exactly Shakespeare, as Spiro knows, because she studied the Bard for a semester in London’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts – - which brings to mind the classic line “What’s in a name?”
Spiro’s last name and an incorrect Internet bio suggested that she is a Greek-American.
“I’ve got to get you a new bio, because I’m not Greek,” she said. “I’m actually a mutt. I’m half-German. We’re not totally sure where Spiro comes from. We think it comes from France, oddly enough. My dad was three generations Louisianan. There is a town in Alsace- Lorraine called Spiro. I have to trace it one of these days.”
She is too busy now, but she did have time to offer a former sportswriter some research advice after his Internet-inspired Greek mistake.
“Don’t go to Web MD for any medical advice,” she cracked.
e-mail: apergament@buffnews.com
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>TV Review
“My Boys”
9:30 tonight
TBS
Review: Three stars (out of four)
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