Friends With Benefits Series Premiere

I have to say that NBC’s new “Friends with Benefits” is a series I would personally benefit from if it were not renewed for another season.  Though it is funny in parts, the series takes an unoriginal and almost trite concept that can be (and has been) played out in the space of a two hour movie, and combines it with an uninteresting cast of stereotypical characters that try to carry an entire long-range series on a single concept.

The show follows the “adventures” of five close friends—Ben, Sara, Riley, Aaron, and Hoon.  The two “main” friends, Ben and Sara, also have one additional facet to their relationship that the others do not.  Namely, they are mutually attracted to each other, but for whatever reason, don’t want to date each other.  So, in a move that should have been echoed by the United States Congress in the debt ceiling debate–they came to a compromise.  Thankfully, I think we can all be happy that Congress didn’t reach the same one…

Namely, if they weren’t “meant to be,” they could at least agree that they found each other mutually attractive, wanted to maintain their platonic friendship—but, most importantly, they wanted to sleep together.  Compartmentalizing their wants and desires for physical pleasure and commitment-free companionship, Ben and Sara accomplish this feat and become true “friends with benefits.”   They continue to engage in their sexual relationship, while continuing to also pursue their own quests for “the one,” and even seek relationship advice from each other in almost sibling-like discourse.  And, of course, that little sexual tension remains between them, hinting that someday, just maybe, they’ll do a Monica and Chandler and actually make it official (which, predictably, seems to be the direction they want to eventually head).

One of the biggest mistakes made by “Friends With Benefits,” and something I would caution any TV writer against, is basing an entire television series on a single concept–especially when it’s something that we’ve seen explored plenty of times before, satisfactorily, in the space of a two hour movie (as evidenced by the recent and unrelated Justin Timberlake/Mila Kunis film of the same name).  The idea of two people being really good friends and then eventually “getting it on” is not a new one.  And, because it’s something that is frequently done in films, this should have been an indicator to the network that the idea of “friends with benefits” is not one that would be able to stand on its own for every long.  Already, I feel like it’s a concept that’s going to get really old by about episode four when I’m tired of hearing about how great the sex is, but they just can’t find someone who really loves them. 

Gag.

My big issue is that “Friends with Benefits” has painted itself into a corner by pinning its entirety on a single concept.   Once the audience gets bored of the sexual aspect part and really just wants to see its characters end up in the fulfilling relationships they all purportedly seek—then where does the series go?  It worked on “Friends” because they were all friends and could continue to be, even after all the weirdness.  This show can’t abandon the sexual aspect part because it’s called friends with benefits. Do the friends rotate out?  Do Ben and Sara each end up with people they love, yet continue to sleep together?  Does the show get a spin-off called “Side Action?”  And if Ben and Sara end up together—doesn’t that sort of defeat the purpose?

This is not to say that television writers should avoid ‘concept’ ideas entirely when creating and writing a series—but they should be aware of the ease in which one can trap themselves within a concept that is inherently limited.  For example, science fiction is the quintessential ‘concept’ series—but it has unlimited potential and there are many successful examples of such.  “Star Trek” is the prime example of a long-running sci-fi show that essentially had the same idea during its entire run, but had enough material to exist through several different incarnations of the original idea.  It’s not just a concept.  It’s not just aliens running around with weird crap happening when cultural differences occur. Such shows are about socio-political differences and the subsequent conflicts between warring worlds.  They’re subversive commentary on the effects of exploration and colonization.  They’re about the acceptance of cultural differences.  And, of course, fun stuff like interspecies procreation.

In summary, there’s probably a reason NBC is trying “Friends with Benefits” out on a Friday-night trial run, and that reason is that it’s just not that great of a show.  Though it’s peppered with some cute, and even funny moments, the show ultimately fails to deliver anything really substantive that will keep viewers interested longer than they would be going and seeing the exact same thing at the movies.  Though I think it has the potential of lasting, this is contingent that our friends develop into relationships where they actually stand to lose something, rather than the casualness of their current interactions.

But then again…that’d sort of defeat the point of being “Friends with Benefits,” wouldn’t it?