New Show Review: Traffic Light

The three main characters of "Traffic Light"
Credit: FOX

This was a show that I didn't get to last week due to it being Hell Week. Now that I've seen the first two episodes of the show, my review of the new FOX comedy Traffic Light is after the jump.

Traffic Light is a comedy that I don't hate yet I don't love. It's not that the show isn't funny, it's that it's not funny enough.

The show is a part of a trend of comedies this season about a group of couples that are friends. I didn't love "Better with You" or "Perfect Couples." This type of comedy really hasn't clicked with me this season and I'm not such a fan of "Traffic Light" either. It's a generic type of humor that really doesn't appeal to me.

The show centers around three friends who are in different stages of relationships. Most of the humor comes from these three men having good chemistry together. The funniest scenes were in the pilot with the cop pulling Adam over with the other friends on the phone. Moments like this are where the show is at its best, but its best isn't that good.

The cast of the show isn't half bad. David Denman who you probably know as Roy from "The Office" plays Mike who is married to Liza Lapira's ("Dollhouse, "Dexter") Lisa. The couple is exactly what you'd expect a married couple to be with some good humor. In the pilot there's a funny gag with Mike sitting in his car watching Iron Man trying to escape his house and Lisa walks in and puts the son in the car. This is the type of humor that the show likes to use with the couple, it's not laughworthy but it is chuckleworthy. It's the type of humor I see in every show with a married couple at the center. As for the actors, they're funny people but they aren't allowed to show their full potential on this show.

Then there's the dating couple played by Nelson Franklin ("Scott Pilgrim", "The Office") and Aya Cash. They're just moving in together and most of what the show is trying to get humor out of is the problems that are caused by this. In the pilot there's Adam wanting to go out with his friends and in the second episode there's Adam losing the first present he got Callie and him trying to get her back. These lead to some humor but not a whole lot of humor. The second episode plotline is particularly tedious to get through. Franklin and Cash aren't particularly bad but they're not terribly funny either.

Then there's Kris Marshall's Ethan who is a British single trying to live life to the fullest. He's a Barney Stinson type character but not nearly as funny as Barney. The type is difficult to pull off without him seeming like a pig and this show isn't quite funny enough to pull it off. I don't hate the character but I don't like him either.

I don't love this show. I didn't find it funny but I didn't cringe while watching it either. I've seen two and I'm fine with not seeing it again. And judging by its ratings it's not long for this world so there's no point in getting invested in the show.

Anyone else given this show a try? What did you guys think?