For a change you might want to quit complaining about the “service” you’ve received from SABC3 because it is trying.
That precious TV licence money you so begrudgingly paid over appears to have been wisely used.
Okay, so maybe it’s not exactly where we would like the public broadcaster to be, but we cannot turn a blind eye when the channel does get it right.
The show that inspired this is The Exes, which comes to you from December 3.
We haven’t seen it screened anywhere else locally, yet the US sitcom is both star-studded and funny.
Furthermore, considering it was first released in the US just a year ago, someone at the SABC should give themselves a pat on the back for getting the show here before any other channel did.
The plot of the sitcom centres on a clique of three divorced men who live together.
Phil (Donald Faison), Haskell (Wayne Knight) and Stuart (David Alan Basche) live next to their landlord Holly (Kristen Johnston), a divorce lawyer.
Because of the nature of her job and for personal reasons, Holly avoids being in a serious relationship and instead dedicates herself to helping her tenants return to the dating scene.
You might know all the actors in this sitcom, but three of them will pop out at you because they have been around for a while.
Though they have been in the same industry for ages they all had different gigs, making them unlikely cast mates. The Exes takes that chance of making them work together and we’ll examine if that works.
Faison is the funny black dude from the silly comedy Scrubs.
If you have watched the hospital sitcom you’ll know that all characters are over-the-top funny with cartoon-esque acting.
But if you thought that is the brief Faison got upon signing up for the first episode, then you would be wrong, that’s just Faison.
Those who have seen him in other gigs such as Sister Sister and The Bernie Mac Show will know this dude doesn’t hold back.
In fact, in Skyline, a 2010 horror movie in which the comedian is supposed to be scared of an apparent alien invasion, he fails to pull it off as he is used to making people laugh.
Then there is Knight who comes from his own world with its own type of comedy. He’s best known for Newman in Seinfeld. He also was the comic relief in Jurassic Park, but fans of 3rd Rock From the Sun might identify him with that show more than anything else.
Compared to Faison, Knight is much calmer, but not any less funny so it should be interesting to see their different energies merge on The Exes.
Johnston is also from her own world. Though she shared screen time with Knight on 3rd Rock From the Sun, she’s nothing like him. Hers is probably the best comedy as she effortlessly captures the essence of what her character should be like.
Then again, it makes sense since she teaches acting at New York University.
She has also been on other productions such as Sex in the City, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me and The New Adventures of Old Christine.
With such a diverse pool of talent as this, The Exes is definitively one show to look out for next month.
• The Exes will premier on December 3 on SABC3 at 9.30pm.