It’s a long time since Friends was on air, but any sitcom that follows its format is bound to succeed. The Exes has done that pretty well and now that the show is in its fourth season, the assumption is that it will be here for quite a while.
Much like Friends, the premise is simple: a group of like-minded people with a common need find themselves living under one roof and friendships soon form. The group comprises three men who are housemates Stuart (played by David Alan Basche), Haskell (Wayne Knight) and Phil (Donald Faison) and their landlady, Holly (Kritsten Johnston).
We see the four in two places, namely the lounge of their home or the bar. Faison is the funniest of the batch. With his amazing performance in the hospital drama Scrubs, it was obvious that he was going to be the main man in The Exes.
Now in season four, it is obvious Faison and his crew have made strides in comedy. We may have mentioned Friends earlier, but we are in no way insinuating that the two shows are on the same level. But for what it is in 2015, the sitcom is doing quite well.
It is quite refreshing to see Faison in an influential role because in most cases he seems to jump onto the wrong material. Think about it, prior to Scrubs, what good production had he starred in? We might have to go as far back as 1992, when he was in the Tupac Shakur and Omar Epps film Juice as a random student. He has showed some flashes of brilliance throughout his career in productions like Waiting to Exhale, Next Day Air and Kick Ass 2. What he should never do are serious films because that’s not for a comic like him.
You will probably agree if you saw the horror flick Skyline, where aliens attack Los Angeles and Faison is one of the heroes in the script. We understand that sometimes you have to take whatever gig comes your way, but in some instances that can kill your career.
There is no way Denzel Washington, in all his glory, could fit in with a script like Scrubs. Even if his lines are funny, you cannot help but think of Training Day, John Q or The Equalizer.
The same applies to Faison. When he is in Scrubs and The Exes, he is in his element and we can relate.
The same goes for Dave Chappelle and Chris Rock who are great comics yet they struggle in serious roles.
Very few people (think Charlie Sheen) have done both action flicks and sitcoms successfully. Actors might not like being typecast, but we have to agree that they all have their strengths and weaknesses, unless they are Meryl Streep.
l The Exes, next Tuesday at 8.35pm on Comedy Central (DStv channel 122).