formula

Dear Jay,

Let me start by stating that I think you are a very funny man. I have been following your career for years and you're great. You were wonderful in Jerry Maguire. Of course, you were speaking lines written by Cameron Crowe, so that was a plus, but you delivered the performance. Bravo, Jay Mohr.

That said, I have to talk to you now about Gary Unmarried. Jay, you can make this so much better. Really, you are capable of so much more. Yes, you don't have Cameron Crowe writing for you now. I'm fully aware of that. But you're there.

Gary Unmarried may have started as a formula, and it still has too much of that formula intact. The bitchy, controlling wife/ex-wife? Haven't we seen the Allison character on Two and a Half Men (Judith), Everybody Loves Raymond (Deborah), The King of Queens (Carrie)? Do you see the pattern here? I do.

I have a problem with procedurals. I tend to get bored with the same formula week in and week out. And yet, I've been enjoying House for years, despite the incredibly repetitive sequence of events we get every week. The reason for that is because of the brilliance of the character Gregory House, and Hugh Laurie's portrayal of him.

As Jonathan mentioned in his review of House's season premiere, this two-hour trip into the insane asylum broke the procedural formula completely. Not only did we not see House cure any medical ailments, we didn't see the rest of the cast at all, save a quick cameo by Wilson. Instead, we got a character study and a major breakthrough for House.

But a breakthrough is a beginning. What if the show, like the character, had a transformation of its own? How about a medical-based drama instead of a medical procedural? We can still have cases and House diagnosing them, but dump the weekly formula and instead make it about the characters and their lives.