Will 'Perfect Couples' Bring Back 'Friends'-ly Thursday Nights?

With the six-friends ensemble a winning formula for NBC's old Thursday night comedy hit "Friends," NBC has decided to play this same lucky Lottery number with its new friends-hanging-out comedy show, "Perfect Couples." Only in "Perfect Couples," the six friends are all paired up like animals on Noah's Ark, unlike the 90s "Friends" in which Ross and Rachel's relationship flickered on and off like a shorted lamp, and only Monica and Chandler married within the inner circle.

In "Perfect Couples," according to NBC's website hype, "three couples' lives collide as they each pursue the idea of a perfect relationship." Judging by the sneak peak episode that NBC aired in December, a more accurate description might be "three 20-something white couples who live in great houses and can afford trips to Italy still manage to complain a lot and annoy each other."

Despite being mostly whine and part cheesey, "Perfect Couples" actually grew on me (watch the full episode on NBC's website). And not like a fungus-this half hour sitcom was slightly more cerebral than similar shows. One of the couples, for instance -Vance and Amy-are at a standoff on choosing which house to buy, a rift that reveals a deeper chasm in their relationship. Amy wants them to go to a couples counselor, but Vance is unwilling, so Amy tricks him by pretending the counselor is a real estate agent. Instead of being ridiculous, this Lucy Ricardoesque premise actually works as semi-sophisticated comedy. It was plausibly farcical that the man felt comfortable revealing his innermost childhood wounds to a real estate agent but would never consider unpacking his emotional baggage in front of a therapist. As he left her office, Vance's rebuke, "I opened up to you because I thought you were a licensed real estate agent," revealed a comically poignant truth.

What doesn't work in this preview episode of "Perfect Couples" is the subplot involving Rex and Leigh, who are planning a trip to Italy. Like a couple of silly tweens, they decide to get their body clocks re-set to Italian time in advance by going to sleep in the middle of the afternoon. Really? How did that idea get floated in the story conference without major eye rolling?

Ultimately, the show's name, "Perfect Couples," is intended to be ironic. There is nothing perfect about any of these couples: Dave (Kyle Bornheimer) and Julia (Christine Woods), the cousin Marilyns in a group of Munsters; Vance (David Walton) and Amy (Mary Elizabeth Ellis), king and queen of drama; and Rex (Hayes MacArthur) and Leigh (Olivia Munn), the duo that tries the hardest to act like the perfect couple, communicating in awkward marriage-counselor speak.

Perhaps the most perfect part of "Perfect Couples" is its time slot. The show is scheduled to premiere Thursday night, January 20, 8:30 pm ET, between "Community" and "The Office." These three shows launch NBC's new three-hour Thursday night comedy block, a laugh-a-thon that also includes "Parks and Recreation," "30 Rock" and "Outsourced." Some might argue NBC could run a test pattern in this Boardwalk of comedy real estate and still capture a respectable audience, provided viewers do not opt to use this half hour to walk their dogs. Whether "Perfect Couples" becomes a hit show like "Friends" is dubious, although the idea of seeing how "Friends" might have turned out if Ross and Rachel became a permanent item and Joey and Phoebe hooked up could possibly arouse viewers' curiosity.

Sources:
'Perfect Couples' home page, nbc.com
'Perfect Couples' video page, nbc.com