Friends With Worse Scripts

As if the storyline deception in the finale of "How I Met Your Mother" weren't bad enough, CBS allowed our intelligence to be insulted further by following it with the premiere of "Friends With Better Lives."

I don't like Dana Klein.  I never even heard of her until I saw the first episode of this new series, which she created and wrote the pilot for.  But it's clear that she is the female Chuck Lorre.  This show is spectacularly tasteless and infantile, centered around a group of friends who supposedly envy each other for having more interesting lives or pity each other for having more boring ones.  Except that this show left me bored and lacking in pity for anyone.  The characters - Andi and Bobby, a married couple who have to grow up once they've had a child (and Bobby is a gynecologist), a lovely but libidinous woman named Jules and her boyfriend Lowell (who's an Australian New Age guru who evokes all the negative stereotypes of both Aussies and New  Agers), stuck-up perfectionist Kate, and totally dull Will - pretty much spend their time talking about people's private parts and comparing notes about each other's love lives.  

Dana Klein used to work on "Friends," so you would expect a little bawdiness here.  But, since "Friends" was a show that was genuinely funny, you would expect (and have a right to expect) something just as comical.  You would be utterly disappointed.  Appropriately, New Ager Lowell admits in this pilot episode that he doesn't own a TV set.  No kidding, Kojak.

The best part of this show? Brooklyn Decker, who plays Jules, because she lights up a scene just by walking into it.  The worst part? James Van Der Beek, who's a limited actor at best.  Bottom line:  Skip "Friends With Better Lives."  Friends with better lives are friends who go out together and have no time for shows like this.