Where have all the good old fashioned sitcoms gone? You know the ones with the traditional values and the off-putting laugh track. Nowadays, most sitcoms have either been on too long (Two and a Half Men) or filled with too many inside jokes (30 Rock) to truly enjoy. TV Land has attempted to fix that with a new season of Hot Cleveland and the new show Retired at 35 to cure the wintertime blues.
When Hot in Cleveland first started, the original premise surrounded three longtime friends starting over in a new city with hilarious results. In season two, the friends have started to become acclimated and count the fiery Elka (Betty White) in their circle. That’s why they feel so upset after she’s arrested for holding a lot of stolen mob merchandise. Elka’s jail stint wasn’t a total disaster, because she almost always had company of a familiar face (guest star Mary Tyler Moore) and new jailbird Joy (Jane Leeves). Joy’s arrest was a poor advised effort to help Elka that led to a moment out of The Proposal minus the happy ending. Melanie (Valerie Bertinelli) and Victoria (Wendie Malick) both endured major life changes that remained to be seen as better or worse. Will the friends be able to stay together despite the chaos surrounding them?
Retired at 35’s premise also followed the starting over theme as stressed out New Yorker David Robbins (Johnathan McClain) as he returned home to Florida to visit his parents Alan (George Segal) and Elaine (Jessica Walter). Unfortunately, David can’t entirely enjoy his vacation with his boss constantly calling him and a non-existent personal life. Not even his best friend (Josh McDermitt) and a potential love interest (Ryan Michelle Bathe) could cheer him up. David decided to quit his job and move back to Florida would be the only cure for his unhappiness. What he didn’t expect was that his parents would also make a startling life change as well. Will David handle all the changes in his life well or with disastrous results?
Of course, Cleveland and Retired will both be filled with cringe inducing moments that are bad for the characters, but a hoot for the audience. Leeve’s Joy impulsive actions dovetailed that forced her to propose to a man she had no interest in marrying. The proposal led to the unexpected reveal that Cleveland’s White and guest star Wayne Knight had a surprising fling more than a decade ago. That revelation alone made White the breakout star of the night with her cutting zingers as she summed up a particular plot point. An honorable mention was Leeves for her green card marriage disaster plot. Cleveland’s string cheese thin premise has greatly improved since the first episode due in part to the dynamic between the cast. The audience genuinely believes that the cast are friends once the cameras are turned off. It also helped to see a barrage of guest stars like Mary Tyler Moore and Carl Reiner cutting it up with the ladies.
It’s too early to say whether Retired will garner the same laughs as Cleveland, but the show’s off to a good start. Veterans like Segal and Walter provided enough comedic laughs to make up for McClain’s stale storyline of a neurotic son starting over from scratch. It was also hard to believe how women would fawn over such a directionless character, but this unlikely behavior should make for some laughable moments. A prime example would when David’s poor attempt to help his father which ended with him sleeping with the mother of his longtime crush. Hopefully, Walter and Segal will be given more of an opportunity to shine while McCain’s storyline worked itself out.
Retired at 35 and Hot in Cleveland premiered on January 19th on TV Land. Cleveland airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. Retired airs Wednesdays at 10:30 p.m.
Verdict: Comedy that puts most of NBC’s Thursday Night Line-up to shame.
TV Score: 2.5 out of 5 stars (Retired at 35)
4 out of 5 stars (Hot in Cleveland)
Score Chart
1 Star (Mediocre)
2 Stars (Averagely Entertaining)
3 Stars (Decent Enough to Pass Muster)
4 Stars (Near Perfect)
5 Stars (Gold Standard)
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