Gary Unmarried

While they're entertaining together, the show needs other characters to avoid becoming just an endless exchange of the snarky things TV writers love to have exes say about each other.

Gary's uneven because it doesn't feel like a sitcom working for Mohr, but Mohr working for a sitcom.

There are funny moments here, mostly coming from Mohr's agitated rantings. But the laugh track is mighty intrusive, which detracts from the average jokes by throwing them in your face (or down your ear, as it were).

The performances, in and of themselves, range from solid (King's) to inspired (Marshall's)....But taken together, there is both too much and too little going on.

On the up side, some of the one-liners are quite funny. On the downside, a lot of the show just doesn't work no matter how hard Mohr works it.

Mohr knows how to deliver a sarcastic one-liner, the pilot has a few laughs and the characters are all likable. But despite modern references to things like "Second Life," the whole show comes across as a bit antiquated.

Mostly, though, Gary trades insults with his ex-wife (Paula Marshall, who really needs to stop jumping into the sack with uninspired series) and stammers toward the beautiful young woman (Jaime King) with whom he's in bed when the premiere begins. The prospects for transforming that slim premise into a satisfying show would seem less grim if those elements could survive a half-hour.

Their recently divorced characters have all the stereotypical sitcom tsuris, plus she's engaged to their marriage counselor--ho, ho--who turns out to be Ed Begley Jr., who actually is a little funny. As is Ryan Malgarini, who plays Gary's son, who at 14 is more confused about females than his dad. He's the best part of the show.

This sitcom may elicit a few laughs, but the premiere episode is pretty lackluster overall, with obvious punchlines and predictable characterizations.