Twins
Y
SepT 15, 2005
8:30-9 p.m., Friday, Sept. 16
WB Network
One's an egghead, the other an airhead. One has an engineering degree and a head for business. The other has a low degree of intelligence and an eye for fashion. And of course, they're twin sisters, as the title makes clear. The question in the new WB Network comedy "Twins" is if the beauty and the brainiac can manage to run a thriving lingerie empire handed them by their feuding parents. Perhaps the bigger issue is where the laughs are going to come from in this silly, formulaic, stereotype-driven half-hour from "Will & Grace" creator/exec producers David Kohan and Max Mutchnick that labors to mine humor from sophomoric puns and double-entendres. Perhaps Kohan and Mutchnick are thinking that simply having the audience get a glimpse of campy co-stars Melanie Griffith and Mark Linn-Baker will make up for the show's cleverness vacuum. The pilot, however, indicates otherwise.
Word is that the creators are going to move beyond the hackneyed dumb blonde/smart brunette dynamic soon. But that's not the case at the outset, which bodes poorly when you consider the time to defy expectations should be at the beginning on the theory that your show may not even be around by episodes 3 or 4.
Mitchee (Sara Gilbert of "Roseanne" fame) is the smart one who has taken to the family business, Arnold Undergarments, like a duck to water. She's invented the shape-enhancing panties known as the Butt-Pucker (oh, you naughty WB!) that's now all the rage and has steered the firm to greater heights. Her blond bimbette sis Farrah (Molly Stanton) is a jiggly lingerie model who probably thinks Chicken of the Sea is a type of canned chicken. She's never really had to do much besides strut around wearing practically nothing until now, because her parents, Alan (Linn-Baker of "Perfect Strangers") and Lee (Griffith), are handing over the company to their offspring as their marriage looks to be crumbling. Alan built the business on the strength of the revolutionary Breast-o Change-o bra, and his wife is a onetime lingerie model herself who now tries to get by on Botox and, uh, brains (which is predictably only about 50% effective).
So there's your setup. It ain't exactly high-concept, and in fact "Twins" is a surprisingly straightforward piece of WB-targeted lowbrow absurdity that's far afield from the sophisticated territory plowed by Kohan and Mutchnick in "Will & Grace." Whether they've opted to go purposefully in a different direction, or if the show simply turned out that way, is a matter of debate. But the premiere episode penned by the pair delivers little in the way of originality or character development. Griffith and Linn-Baker are fun to have in the picture, but they're obviously more sight gags than true protagonists. And there isn't much chemistry residing there to begin with.
Gilbert is a genuine talent who seizes the screen no matter the role, but she's got her work cut out to elevate this show up to her level. In the opener, she and Stanton seem more like surly cousins than polar-opposite twins. It's tough to envision how their relationship can be made even mildly interesting. As it stands, the way they relate -- to each other, to their parents, to the world -- all feels achingly contrived, like "Twins" itself.
TWINS
WB Network
KoMut Entertainment in association with Warner Bros. Television Productions Inc.
Credits:
Executive producers: David Kohan, Max Mutchnick
Co-executive producers: Mike Sikowitz, Chris Kelly
Producer: Tim Kaiser
Consulting producers: Wendy Goldman, Dana Klein, Barry Wernick, Chris Vane
Director: James Widdoes
Writers: David Kohan, Max Mutchnick
Director of photography: Gregg Heschong
Production designer: Glenda Rovello
Costume designer: Lori Eskowitz-Carter
Editor: Art Kellner
Music: Paul Buckley, Jack Diamond
Sound mixer: Larry Stephens
Casting: Tracy Lilienfield, Laura Adler
Cast:
Mitchee: Sara Gilbert
Farrah: Molly Stanton
Lee: Melanie Griffith
Alan: Mark Linn-Baker
Neil: Christopher Fitzgerald
Jordan: Steve Braun
WB Network
One's an egghead, the other an airhead. One has an engineering degree and a head for business. The other has a low degree of intelligence and an eye for fashion. And of course, they're twin sisters, as the title makes clear. The question in the new WB Network comedy "Twins" is if the beauty and the brainiac can manage to run a thriving lingerie empire handed them by their feuding parents. Perhaps the bigger issue is where the laughs are going to come from in this silly, formulaic, stereotype-driven half-hour from "Will & Grace" creator/exec producers David Kohan and Max Mutchnick that labors to mine humor from sophomoric puns and double-entendres. Perhaps Kohan and Mutchnick are thinking that simply having the audience get a glimpse of campy co-stars Melanie Griffith and Mark Linn-Baker will make up for the show's cleverness vacuum. The pilot, however, indicates otherwise.
Word is that the creators are going to move beyond the hackneyed dumb blonde/smart brunette dynamic soon. But that's not the case at the outset, which bodes poorly when you consider the time to defy expectations should be at the beginning on the theory that your show may not even be around by episodes 3 or 4.
Mitchee (Sara Gilbert of "Roseanne" fame) is the smart one who has taken to the family business, Arnold Undergarments, like a duck to water. She's invented the shape-enhancing panties known as the Butt-Pucker (oh, you naughty WB!) that's now all the rage and has steered the firm to greater heights. Her blond bimbette sis Farrah (Molly Stanton) is a jiggly lingerie model who probably thinks Chicken of the Sea is a type of canned chicken. She's never really had to do much besides strut around wearing practically nothing until now, because her parents, Alan (Linn-Baker of "Perfect Strangers") and Lee (Griffith), are handing over the company to their offspring as their marriage looks to be crumbling. Alan built the business on the strength of the revolutionary Breast-o Change-o bra, and his wife is a onetime lingerie model herself who now tries to get by on Botox and, uh, brains (which is predictably only about 50% effective).
So there's your setup. It ain't exactly high-concept, and in fact "Twins" is a surprisingly straightforward piece of WB-targeted lowbrow absurdity that's far afield from the sophisticated territory plowed by Kohan and Mutchnick in "Will & Grace." Whether they've opted to go purposefully in a different direction, or if the show simply turned out that way, is a matter of debate. But the premiere episode penned by the pair delivers little in the way of originality or character development. Griffith and Linn-Baker are fun to have in the picture, but they're obviously more sight gags than true protagonists. And there isn't much chemistry residing there to begin with.
Gilbert is a genuine talent who seizes the screen no matter the role, but she's got her work cut out to elevate this show up to her level. In the opener, she and Stanton seem more like surly cousins than polar-opposite twins. It's tough to envision how their relationship can be made even mildly interesting. As it stands, the way they relate -- to each other, to their parents, to the world -- all feels achingly contrived, like "Twins" itself.
TWINS
WB Network
KoMut Entertainment in association with Warner Bros. Television Productions Inc.
Credits:
Executive producers: David Kohan, Max Mutchnick
Co-executive producers: Mike Sikowitz, Chris Kelly
Producer: Tim Kaiser
Consulting producers: Wendy Goldman, Dana Klein, Barry Wernick, Chris Vane
Director: James Widdoes
Writers: David Kohan, Max Mutchnick
Director of photography: Gregg Heschong
Production designer: Glenda Rovello
Costume designer: Lori Eskowitz-Carter
Editor: Art Kellner
Music: Paul Buckley, Jack Diamond
Sound mixer: Larry Stephens
Casting: Tracy Lilienfield, Laura Adler
Cast:
Mitchee: Sara Gilbert
Farrah: Molly Stanton
Lee: Melanie Griffith
Alan: Mark Linn-Baker
Neil: Christopher Fitzgerald
Jordan: Steve Braun
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