The Loop

What’s the Story?

Fox's sitcom THE LOOP tells the story of Sam (Bret Harrison), an airline executive in his early twenties who, thanks to a brilliant college thesis, has landed a job as an executive with a Chicago-based airline. Joining Sam at work are his curmudgeonly boss Russ (Philip Baker Hall), who constantly berates his brain-dead employees; sassy secretary Darcy (Joy Osmanski), who, as a graduate of MIT, begrudges her role at the company; and Meryl (Mimi Rogers), a middle-aged executive who constantly hits on a seemingly oblivious Sam ("Damn, you're sexable," she says as Sam passes her in the walkway). But once he clocks out, Sam strips off his suit and reverts to frat boy behavior at local bars with his slacker roommates, which include his older brother, Sully (Eric Christian Olsen), a good-natured slacker who can't hold a job; Lizzy (Sarah Mason), a ditzy bartender; and Piper (Amanda Loncar), a medical student on whom Sam has a crush (too bad she has a boyfriend!). Night after night, they bond over shots at the local bar, sometimes to disastrous results -- as when one morning, Sam wakes up with a partially shaved head (courtesy of Sully) and must wear a pirate hat to work the next day.

Is It Any Good?

Though it's an air-headed comedy, The Loop has its redeeming qualities: Harrison is well-suited to the role of the conflicted Sam and comes across as earnest and likeable, and the show's dialogue is sometimes quite sharp and witty. Still, the writers sometimes go too far: for example, when Meryl demands of Russ, "Where is your compassion?" He retorts, "I have a gay son, he took it all." Finally, the parenthetical subtitles used to introduce characters (Meryl is called The Predator, for example) only serve to distract the viewer. Bottom line? The Loop is for mature audiences seeking a little fluff.