ABC's Friday night bolstered

By Ryan Blay

For the Daily

"The Trouble With Normal" & "Madigan Men"

Fridays @ 8:30-9pm & 9:30-10pm on ABC

"The Trouble With Normal" and "Madigan Men,"ABC's rookie comedies on the revamped "TGIF" lineup, might have made me laugh. Fortunately, the overblown laugh tracks did that for me, so I just sat back and watched the two shows rival Norm MacDonald's TGIF show for sheer stupidity.

Shows often take time to develop their comedic timing - "Seinfeld," for example, was not immediately a hit. However, these new shows are in a different environment. To gain control of an audience that network TV is slowly losing to cable, they must show some sort of potential or risk early cancellation. Neither show shows much lasting power; it would not surprise me if one or both were gone by midseason.

"The Trouble With Normal" is a one-joke show. Guy lives in apartment, guy is paranoid, guy fears neighbor is spying on him, neighbor (who is also paranoid) reciprocates, and all wackiness ensues. Paget Brewster ("Friends") is Claire, the dedicated psychiatrist who really wants to help the paranoid men get it all together. Unfortunately, she is also another stereotype: the woman in a bad relationship because she is frightened of being alone. It takes Bob and Zach (the two paranoid neighbors) and their even weirder friends Max and Stansfield a whole episode to deduce that. Thus, by the end of the pilot, the patients have met each other (with Claire's assistance), bonded, and helped their healer with her own problem. The big question is: if they are so talented as an ensemble, why are they stuck on a show going nowhere fast?

Occasionally, the show can make some legitimate laughs. In therapy, the patients' bantering can be humorous. And the surveillance equipment, as well as covering the apartment with soundproof eggshells, is somewhat clever. But if they are trying to form a "Seinfeld"-style ensemble, the characters need depth.

"Madigan Men", on the other hand, seems to be suffering from "Frasier" envy. There's the adorable, inactive dog and the gruff old man trying to bond with his hard-working son. Personally, I'd like to see Emmy-award winning writing, but it's not there. I feel for Gabriel Byrne, since his acting in "The Usual Suspects" was so terrific. Being on a laugh track based, cookie-cutter TV comedy must hurt. It's not that he doesn't play a convincing architect getting over a recent separation from his wife, nor is it his thick Irish accent; it's just that he is out of place as Benjamin Madigan, son of Roy and father of teenager Luke.

In the pilot, he buys tickets for the stage production of "The Lion King" to bond with his son, but all his son wants to do is go on a date. He gives them to his dad and son, and then they turn and scalp them, and head to a bar.

Roy Dotrice, as old-school Dubliner Roy, receives most of the laughs as he walks around spouting obscure Irish proverbs and mispronounces the name of a Hispanic man, Jesus. But fewer laughs are squeezed out of a poorly done airport metal-detector scene, where Benjamin first meets potential love interest Madeline, coincidentally an interior designer. Also not funny is a scene where Benjamin believes Madeline is about to perform oral sex on him in a restaurant. It was surprisingthat the scene was allowed onto TV, considering the TGIF lineup has been predominantly kid oriented in earlier years. It shows just how desperate for laughs the show is.

If anyone is a hardcore fan of Grant Shaud (Miles Silverberg, "Murphy Brown"), then by all means watch. Otherwise, spend your Friday nights doing something productive.

"Madigan Men", on the other hand, seems to be suffering from "Frasier" envy. There's the adorable, inactive dog and the gruff old man trying to bond with his hard-working son. Personally, I'd like to see Emmy-award winning writing, but it's not there. I feel for Gabriel Byrne, since his acting in "The Usual Suspects" was so terrific. Being on a laugh track based, cookie-cutter TV comedy must hurt. It's not that he doesn't play a convincing architect getting over a recent separation from his wife, nor is it his thick Irish accent; it's just that he is out of place as Benjamin Madigan, son of Roy and father of teenager Luke.

In the pilot, he buys tickets for the stage production of "The Lion King" to bond with his son, but all his son wants to do is go on a date. He gives them to his dad and son, and then they turn and scalp them, and head to a bar.

Roy Dotrice, as old-school Dubliner Roy, receives most of the laughs as he walks around spouting obscure Irish proverbs and mispronounces the name of a Hispanic man, Jesus. But fewer laughs are squeezed out of a poorly done airport metal-detector scene, where Benjamin first meets potential love interest Madeline, coincidentally an interior designer. Also not funny is a scene where Benjamin believes Madeline is about to perform oral sex on him in a restaurant. It was surprisingthat the scene was allowed onto TV, considering the TGIF lineup has been predominantly kid oriented in earlier years. It shows just how desperate for laughs the show is.

If anyone is a hardcore fan of Grant Shaud (Miles Silverberg, "Murphy Brown"), then by all means watch. Otherwise, spend your Friday nights doing something productive.