Review: 'Life...And Stuff'

Have you ever know someone who constantly whined and complained and moped about everything? He hates his kids, his job sucks, his marriage is in tatters. The guy just bitches non-stop and whenever you're around him, you can just feel everything that's bright and good in the world being sucked right out of body.

Bad news...now that guy's got a sitcom.

"Life...And Stuff" stars Rick Reynolds and Pam Dawber and the premise is loosely based on his one-man show of the same name. And while his cranky, self-absorbed attitude may be tolerable in a comedy club with enough Jack Daniels, on television, he just comes across as pleasant as fingernails on a chalkboard.

Amplified.

Reynolds portrays Rick Boswell, an advertising executive who doesn't seem to much care about anyone but himself. I suppose I should be thankful for a show featuring kids that isn't cloying and cute, but it is a little strange to see them just disappear from the show after the first couple of minutes.

Pam Dawber finds herself in the unenviable position of having to pretend she loves the guy. Which is no small thing, because he's a grumpy mope in every way. He whines about going to a school fundraiser, then spends the entire evening looking down another woman's dress. And geez..he can't fathom *why* she'd be unhappy.

Not surprisingly, Rick realizes his marriage is in trouble, and he handles it in all of the traditional sitcom ways. He talks about his wife to his co-workers (who don't seem to work), and tells his problems to the guy at a fast food drive-through place.

And of course, there's the hack-filled "family complication", this one in the guise of Rick's younger slacker brother, who lives in the driveway in his Winnebago.

There's definitely a place for a show about marriage that takes a somewhat sadder take on the institution. But there's a vast chasm between being realistic and being clubbed upside the head with an unhappy relationship stick.

And the less said about those "Dream On"-like flashbacks, the better.

Reynolds is co-executive producer on the show, so he has few excuses for a show with so little believability and only one funny exchange.

When Pam Dawber is attempting to explain why she doesn't want to have sex with him..."Honey," she tells him, "I'm not a 7-Eleven. You can't just zip in, get what you want and zip out."

"Not even for a Slurpee?" he replies.

If the show reminds us of anything, it's that Dawber still has a nice comedic touch, and really deserves much better. After working with Robin Williams, Dawber must be wondering how she managed to upset the God of good casting. And any show that includes Andrea Martin, but leaves on screen for only a minute or so deserves what it gets.