Common Sense Media Review
By Joyce Slaton
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Broad sitcom about gay/straight buddies uses stereotypes.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 13+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
Based on the real-life friendship between Will & Grace creators David Kohan and Max Mutchnick, the PARTNERS in this CBS sitcom's title are Joe (David Krumholtz of Numb3rs) and Louis (Michael Urie, Ugly Betty). The duo, buddies since grade school, now run a successful architecture firm and an equally successful friendship, despite the fact that Joe is engaged to Ali (Sophia Bush), while Louis' main squeeze is Wyatt (Brandon Routh). Joe and Louis may squabble and have comic misunderstandings, but at the end of the day, says Ali over dinner with Joe, Louis, and Wyatt, "There are four people at this table, and three couples."
Is It Any Good?
While canned laughter is rarely welcome, it's even more oddly intrusive than usual in Partners. Did the producers happen to hire some weird laughers for this gig? What it comes down to is that, if we're noticing the laughtrack, it's because we're not laughing ourselves. Though every single one of the lead actors in Partners has great charm, and Urie and Krumholtz have chemistry that's by turns comedically zingy and sweet, this material is so predictable it's annoying. Not only are there tired gay-stereotype jokes aplenty (adolescent Joe vows he'll marry Alyssa Milano, while Louis claims his future wife is Bette Midler), there are sitcom-y plot drivers, such as when Louis blitzkriegs Joe and Ali's engagement by revealing that Joe originally intended to dump her before he went ahead and proposed. Why don't characters on sitcoms just talk to each other like real people so there are no Big Misunderstandings? Oh yeah, because that would spoil the joke.
In addition, though the dialogue has a quip/counterquip quality similar to that on the funnier Will & Grace, the pop culture references are curiously dated: Clay Aiken, "raise the roof," Britney Spears? Did Kohan and Mutchnick's pop-culture consciousness get frozen in amber sometime in the early 2000s? All that said, the cast's natural likability makes the show not a complete disaster; fun-to-watch Urie even stirs some occasional actual laughs. Put better lines in this guy's mouth! He's ready for them.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about why a gay/straight friendship is unusual enough to serve as the basis for a comedy. Do you know any friends like Joe and Louis? How are they alike the male leads on Partners? How are they different?
On Partners, Louis is sometimes given lines that play into gay stereotypes. Is it funny to imply that gay men are fastidious, snobbish, and frivolous?
The leads on Partners all have professions that are interesting to show on television: architects, a nurse, a jewelry designer. Why don't we see more shows with characters who work in offices, dealing with computers and paperwork? How many people do you know with jobs that would look good on television?
TV Details
- Premiere date : September 24, 2012
- Cast : Brandon Routh , David Krumholtz , Michael Urie , Sophia Bush
- Network : CBS
- Genre : Comedy
- Topics : Friendship
- TV rating :
- Last updated : September 30, 2025
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