Rules of Engagement Season One
April 21st 2008 01:33
A Brief Social Dynamic Look At The Program.
'Rules of Engagement' concerns different relationship stages - Audrey and Jeff, married for 12 years; Adam and Jennifer, engaged after 7 months; and Russel, a single 30-something male who is still playing the field. Its cast has two relatively known names in the sitcom world, David Spade as Russel (Just Shoot Me) and Patrick Warburton (best known as Puddy, Elaine's on-again-off-again boyfriend in Seinfeld). The show explores how the characters each behave in these stages of their life and with the relationship they are in from the Birthday deal, big spending on luxurious items to the standard single guy who runs scared at the first hurdle in a relationship.
This is my problem with it. The characters are one dimensional at best. I can make do with simple plot lines (after all, there is only so much you can do within a 20 page script) but the characters have barely grown at all. Adam proposes (again) to Jennifer upon the season's finale to reassure her that he is committed to her but one can not help but be frustrated at the lack of testosterone the male characters have. A tiny disagreement by the woman and the male buckles to keep her happy in this world. No one has the balls to stand up and tell the woman to fuck off and let him become a man instead of keeping him trapped as a little boy. Seinfeld used this well through their characters - the crazy one, the insecure one, the shot tempered one and the straight one. There was a healthy dose of insanity but Jerry, bad acting and all, balanced it all out. In 'Rules of Engagement', there aren't any characters to create a rift. Jeff, played by Warburton, occasionally threatens others with grievous bodily harm but this tends to come from a place of insecurity. He does not feel comfortable with the person he is and so he threatens to beat people up due to his large stature. A one dimensional character this doth make.
Adam is the opposite. He is half the man Jeff is (size wise) so he just talks himself up through still being able to get sex from his fiance because they're still relatively new (what is with the stereotype of married couples NEVER having sex?). He acts as a chum to his pathetic side-kick Russel who just walks around meeting halfway attractive women and ten jokes later has sex with them. Shades of basically every other sitcom ever?
Admittedly, I can't hate on this program too much because of the short running time and it has made me laugh quite a few times. I just wish the writing and character were a bit more developed so we could get a decent insight into their lives at this stage that was beyond paper deep. Perhaps this has happened in season two?
Fingers crossed.
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Comment by James Rickard
unlucky_ fishermen.com
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