Milano Gets By With Help From New Friends

Episode Commentary: Don’t Be Yourself

It’s been a while since the uber sexy Alyssa Milano has graced the small screen and luckily for her biggest fans, “Romantically Challenged” is worthy of both their time and hers.

Following a quartet of friends as they try to find their way in the game of love, the show’s pilot is a quirky and fun experience that is propelled by good acting and solid writing.

Divorced for only a few months, Lisa [Milano] is scared to get back in the dating game and with the help of her friends Perry [Kyle Bornheimer], Shawn [Josh Lawson] and little sister Lisa [Kelly Stables], she overcomes her fears and takes the plunge. However, still battling nerves, she somehow creates a web of zany lies that Spider-Man himself couldn’t get out of. Still the vivacious and super cute actress, Milano does a good job of pulling off the character and even though she’s not hilarious, she still keeps your attention and plays a part in making the first episode of this show an enjoyable one.

While Milano is billed as the lead in this show, the trio of Bornheimer, Lawson and Stables are all hilarious and do their best to get laughs. Playing Milano’s younger sister, Stables’ character is reminiscent of Phoebe from “Friends,” but far less weird and much more focused. In love with life and her friends, Stables is willing to do whatever it takes to keep them happy, even if it includes getting them riled up before sex with a dirty-talking hottie.

Channeling her inner Darth Vader, Stables provides easily the best moment of the show and gives Bornheimer more than enough room to do his thing with the best line in the pilot.

Speaking of Bornheimer, his relationship with roommate Lawson will remind many of Chandler and Joey from “Friends” as well, as Bornheimer is reluctant to go through with things and needs Lawson, who, in spite of his quirks, is a bit more of a free spirit, to push him along. Much like Stables, Lawson too proves he has his friends’ back and even volunteers to sleep with his roommate’s lover after he can’t, creating a situation that brings even more laughs.

What are friends for after all?

Overall, with four good-looking and funny characters, quality writing and of course, directing from sitcom legend James Burrows, “Romantically Challenged” may have enough staying power to stick around for a while.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13819 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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