Hi. My Name Is Tyler and I Watch My Boys

**Note-I realize the lack of timeliness in this post but I was having trouble with Blogger**

Hi, my name is Tyler and I watch My Boys. The first new episode of the season aired this past Tuesday and for some reason I can't explain, I rushed home from class to boot up the DVR and watch. As someone who's been the constant point of ridicule for religiously watching the comedy in which a Chicago Cubs sports writer tries to find love even though she gets along better with her guy friends, (Sounds awful, I know) I have always rationalized that it's a guilty pleasure. Now that slot is filled by Smart Guy reruns on BET, I've had to take an introspective look at why I never miss an episode which coincided nicely with the season premiere. I have examined the show closely and have found some of its strong and weaker points.

**Warning Spoilers Below*** (However, you'll soon find out, the plot is nothing original)

Reasons I Keep Watching:

• Setting-It takes place on the north side of Chicago, and I'm from the suburbs, so whenever places like Schaumburg, Hoffman Estates, and Naperville are mentioned on a national TV show, it's the equivalent of a band giving your hometown a big shout out.
  

  
  

• The Cubs-As I said the main character, P.J., is a Cubs fan and covers the Cubs for a newspaper, which is one of my Top 5 Dream Jobs.
  

  
  

• P.J.-P.J. is every guy's (especially Chicago-bred) dream girl. She's hot but not unattainable, she loves sports, and she's happiest at a bar sharing pitchers with her friends or hosting a Poker Night.
  

  
  

• Jim Gaffigan-This guy is hilarious as PJ's older brother who is coming to terms with being a married, full-fledged adult. Every now and again he has a line that you can tell he came up with after reading the script and it makes a bad episode that much better.
  

  
  

Reasons the Show Is On Par With a Bad Rom-Com:

• The Narration-The show follows a narration format that is very similar to Sex and The City (my masculinity is really coming out in this opening entry) and while there is a rather clever episode in which P.J.'s old college friend has become Carrie Bradshaw, the show sometimes uses this as a crutch.
  

• The Cliff-Hanger Follow-Up-I love cliff hanger endings (one of my favorite shows is Lost) My Boys always ends the season with a big one. First season was that P.J. was going to Italy and brought a mystery man who was revealed the next season. Last season it was her friend/love interest knocking on her bedroom door the night before his wedding only to find out that she was sleeping with her brother. While both of these are very contrived and predictable, the latter suffered in the follow-up the next season. In Italy, P.J. realized that Bobby only thought of her as a friend, which took a good half of the episode. In the newest episode, none of the cliffhanger mattered as Bobby's fiancé broke-up with him the next day, his brother had to ditch P.J. to go on a business trip and a very funny moustache contest joke was set up all a matter of five minutes.
  

As you may have counted, there are more good points than bad ones but the bad ones are structure and story elements which I place above funny jokes, eye candy, and Chicagoland references. Still the reason I watch the show every week is so I can laugh at the often funny guy references and anything that comes out of Jim Gaffigan. Hopefully now, after writing this I can wear my My Boys fandom without ridicule because I acknowledge the flaws and strength's equally (like my Cubbies) and hopefully any fan who reads this can too.