Will Matthew Perry's 'Mr. Sunshine' Officially Break the 'Friends' Curse? (VIDEO)

Matthew Perry has a new show called 'Mr. Sunshine' (premieres Wed., Feb. 9, 9:30PM ET on ABC), but is it destined to fail before it even premieres?

It took about eight years after 'Seinfeld' ended for star Julia Louis-Dreyfus to land another hit series ('The New Adventures of Old Christine') and for people to stop referencing the unbreakable 'Seinfeld' curse.

But it takes more than one ensemble cast success story to prove a curse wrong ...

Now seven years after 'Friends' said goodbye -- with his former TV wife Courteney Cox thriving in primetime yet again with 'Cougar Town' -- will Matthew Perry's new show 'Mr. Sunshine' be the one to end suspicions of a similarly unlucky post-'Friends' streak?

Sure Jennifer Aniston makes a lot of movies, David Schwimmer has moved behind the camera, Lisa Kudrow's single season of 'The Comeback' has become a cult favorite, and Matt LeBlanc has made headlines lately for playing himself (sort of) on Showtime's 'Episodes,' but the success of a long-term TV show is a lightning that often seems to strike only once.

When asked why he's choosing to return to TV now -- after only a one-season run for his last series, 'Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip' -- Perry joked, "I wanted to do a show because I had spent about three years in a row playing the same video game."

And while that's obviously a stretch, considering he's co-writing, executive producing and starring in 'Mr. Sunshine,' this will be the first time we've seen him on TV in over three years. When the show premieres this week, we'll get to see if it was worth the wait, or if audiences are disappointed that he's not playing Chandler Bing.



'Mr. Sunshine' follows Ben Donovan, the manager of a mid-tier sports arena who's trying to get his life in order at age 40 while a cast of crazies surrounds him in an already bizarre work environment. "I thought that would be really a funny place to put a show," Perry says, "because one night you have Bruce Springsteen coming in, the next night it's lingerie football, and wrestling and all the weird shows that happen there."


I caught up with Perry (check out the video, above) to hear all about the new show, his costars -- including Allison Janney, Andrea Anders, James Lesure and Nate Torrence -- and how it's never too late to become a better guy.

Fun facts: Perry previously worked with Janney on 'The West Wing' and both Torrence and Lesure on 'Studio 60,' while Anders starred with another of Perry's famous 'Friends,' Matt LeBlanc, in his ill-fated spinoff 'Joey.' Maybe this reunion of sorts (albeit not the one 'Friends' fans would love to see at Central Perk) will be a happy one afterall.

So TV fans: Are you excited to have another one of your 'Friends' back with a new show? Will you watch?



Follow Maggie on Twitter @TheTVShowGirl