Jay Mohr is Gary, a recently divorced father of two who's taking his first steps back into the dating scene. His ex-wife, Allison (Paula Marshall, in a spectacular rendition of the Ex From Hell), has just announced that she's marrying their marriage counselor (Ed Begley, Jr. at his smarmiest); 14-year-old son Tom (Ryan Malgarini) is terrified of girls; and preteen daughter Louise (Kathryn Newton) is obsessed with Al Gore and Gandhi. On the plus side, Gary's just met Vanessa (Jaime King), who looks to be his first serious relationship since the divorce.
This is a perfectly servicable sitcom, and its strong suit is its cast. Mohr and King are a likable pair; Marshall plays a terrific love-to-hate-her character; and Begley is just right for his role. And the time slot makes sense; Gary Unmarried follows The New Adventures of Old Christine, and is in some ways a gender-reversed version of that show.
But in the absence of interesting writing, the cast flounders a bit, working terribly hard to elevate routine material. There's nothing special or distinctive about the show, nothing to make it stand out from the pack and make me feel that I really want to watch it. At best, it's likely to become a new Home Improvement or According to Jim, the kind of show that survives for five years and that you always think "oh, that's still on?" when you stumble across it.
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