Spotlight: "Episodes" and "Mr. Sunshine"

"Joey" and "Chandler" are coming back to TV! I'm looking forward to the upcoming sitcoms of Matt LeBlanc and Matthew Perry which will both premiere during midseason this year. LeBlanc's new show is "Episodes" which will be shown on cable channel Showtime so I expect this sitcom to be different (or edgy as some TV writer would like to call US cable series) but hopefully the tone will really comedic and not like "United States of Tara" which is basically a drama with some comedic moments. In "Episodes", LeBlanc will play a parody of himself and the show's plot will revolve around on Le Blanc (the character) getting a new show which is an adaptation of a British series. Meanwhile, Perry's new show is "Mr. Sunshine" which will air on ABC. The show will actually premiere after "Modern Family" bumping off Courtney Cox's "Cougar Town" for a couple of weeks (I'm not worried about Cougar Town's hiatus though because it's really just about giving Mr. Sunshine a chance to succeed because getting a Modern Family lead in is the best spot to launch a new sitcom at ABC. I have a feeling if Mr. Sunshine does well, the show will be paired with Cougar Town (Monica and Chandler back to back!) next season maybe on a new night or probably ABC will extend their comedy block to 10-11pm. ABC will test the waters this midseason by premiering their other new midseason sitcom "Happy Endings" at 10pm). Mr. Sunshine's premise is kinda like Cougar Town as Perry's character Ben celebrated his 40th birthday questioning how his life turned out so far. I've read some lukewarm reviews on the show's pilot but with the show's strong cast I do think this show could turn things around eventually. I hope both shows are good and will be a success since I want to see these two actors back on TV again after their first post-Friends shows flopped (Perry's "Studio 60 on the Sunset Trip" lasted for one short season and the Friends' ill-fated spin-off "Joey" was canceled after two seasons). "Episodes" will premiere January 9 while "Mr. Sunshine" airs a month later (February 9). Here are the trailers for both shows:

Episodes

Mr. Sunshine