Super Fun Night is a sitcom large and brash

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Here’s the premiere list for the rest of the week, with new series in bold type. Two new shows debut Wednesday. The other three will be covered in Thursday’s column.

Wednesday 8:30 p.m. Super Fun Night (ABC).

9 p.m. Ironside (NBC); Top Chef (Bravo).

Thursday 7 p.m. The Vampire Diaries (CW).

7:30 p.m. Welcome to the Family (NBC).

8 p.m. The Originals (CW); Sean Saves the World (NBC).

9 p.m. Scandal (ABC).

Super Fun Night. Plus-size gals (at least by Hollywood standards) are “in” these days thanks to the talents of - to name two - Melissa McCarthy (Gilmore Girls, Bridesmaids, Identity Thief) and Rebel Wilson (Bridesmaids, Pitch Perfect).

McCarthy is the star of CBS’ Mike & Molly (it’s renewed, but doesn’t have a spot on the schedule yet), and Wilson has landed the starring role on ABC’s new comedy Super Fun Night.

Super Fun Night follows the adventures of three best friends and roommates who, for the past 13 years, have lived a sheltered life, spending every Friday night - Super Fun Night - together instead of going out.

Wilson portrays junior lawyer Kimmie Boubier. Her friends are Helen-Alice (Liza Lapira) and Marika (Lauren Ash).

Comedy ensues when Wilson boldly strides outside her comfort zone and drags her friends along kicking and screaming.

It all begins when everyone around the trio starts getting married and moving on. For Kimmie, it hits home when her younger sister gets engaged.

Then Kimmie gets a big promotion at her New York law firm and moves up to the 28th floor. That bringsher into contact with her old college nemesis, the thin and attractive Kendall (Kate Jenkinson).

Kimmie also meets handsome British lawyer Richard Royce (Kevin Bishop), the son of the firm’s senior partner. Kimmie believes Richard actually might be interested in her after he mentions he “likes girls with a bit of chunk.”

At Richard’s invitation, Kimmie then drags Helen-Alice and Marika to an exclusive nightclub. Stuff happens - the girls get dissed, fat jokes are tossed about willy-nilly, and in the end we are treated to a scene of Kimmie on thestreet in her hot-to-trot party girl undergarments.

That’s something you don’t see often on broadcast television.

The lesson here is that life just isn’t for the Size 2 girls of the world. Sometimes the Size 18s need to just elbow their way to the fun.

If the new series can rein in the over-the-top Wilson, it might just make a go of it. If not, viewers might quickly tire of her brash antics.

That could be a challenge since Wilson writes the series and serves as a co-producer. Here’s hoping.

Ironside. It’s (sigh) yet another cop show. But we have to have a gimmick to set it apart from the other 38 police procedurals on TV.

Let’s go to the vault.

How about this time we’ll put our hero in a wheelchair. Sound familiar? That’s because Raymond Burr played paraplegic former Chief of Detectives (turned special consultant) Robert T. Ironside on NBC from 1967 to 1975. He was brilliant at it.

But as they say about reruns (or “encores,” in TV parlance), if you haven’t seen it, it’s new to you. I imagine NBC believes that 38 years is a long enough wait to excuse a remake. After all, CBS had its “re-imagined” Hawaii 5-0 starting its fourth season last week.

“He is a detective, he is in a wheelchair, but aside from that, everything else is kind of re-imagined and rebooted,” series star Blair Underwood said at the TV critics’ summer press tour. “It’s a different time, it’s all different characters.”

For the new Ironside series, the setting moves from San Francisco to New York; Robert T. Ironside is black instead of white; and he’s much more macho and conflicted.

We join the series two years after Ironside had his spine shattered by a bullet, but he swore he’d never let a wheelchair slow him down (on the job or in the bedroom).

Naturally, Ironside has a trusted, handpicked team of detectives. Each offers a unique perspective and skill set.

There’s Virgil (Pablo Schreiber, The Wire), a tough cop and tender family man. Holly (Spencer Grammer, Greek), is described as “feisty.” Her family also has mysterious ties to the Brooklyn underworld.

Teddy (Neal Bledsoe, Smash) is wealthy and highly-educated. He has a problem with authority.

Their boss is Capt. Ed Rollins (Kenneth Choi, Sons of Anarchy), who somehow remains calm in the chaos that always follows Ironside’s cases. Sample dialogue: “What the hell is wrong with you? There are procedures and they have to be followed.”

Added bonus: The marvelous Brent Sexton (The Killing, Deadwood) plays Ironside’s ex-partner, Gary.

The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Email: [email protected]

Style, Pages 30 on 10/01/2013