A lot of people give me guff about liking Felicity but what they don't know is that I loved Felicity. I thought I would grow out of my fondness for it or that the show wouldn't stand the test of time but...no.
One of my favorite things about Felicity (besides everything) was Greg Grunberg, who played this similarly named, Sean Blumberg. Greg's Sean was not always likable, in fact, he was often downright embarrassing. I mean, cringe worthy. Almost Michael Scott levels of cringe worthy but without the frustrated meanness and misused power. Sean didn't even have enough power to abuse it. He was this somewhat older, chubby guy hanging out with these WB-pretty college kids who kind of rolled their eyes at him. And understandably so, because he was pretty annoying. He was lazy, too honest, a loser to the world. But he had this almost un-squelchable hope. He was insecure but proud somehow. Proud of his ridiculous dreams of hitting it big as an inventor. An inventor!
Anyway, Grunberg was great on that show and I see hints of that greatness on Love Bites, too. His acting style is so natural, he seems like he might have stepped out of your living room straight into a show that was airing and just started hanging out in the show. I like how his new character, Judd (a tattoo artist named Judd! So 90s!), seems vulnerable but capable and positive.
I like Love Bites so far. It feels like a dirtier Friends if Friends had been single-camera. I mean that as a compliment, even though, maybe due to over-watching or time passing, Friends reruns seem sadly stale to me these days. It didn't get as popular as it did on hairdos alone. There was a streak of real humanity in that show and there is here too. It falls into cliches sometimes but there are also great little touches. I liked the pillow wall between Judd and his wife and when Kyle corrects his mother about his boyfriend being "cool." Those moments felt really cute and relatable. Even if you don't enjoy Love Bites or Grunberg yet, I suggest giving them another chance for enjoyment. If Sean could melt Meghan's club kid Grinch heart, maybe Greg can melt yours.
[Photo by Chris Haston – © NBC Universal, Inc.]
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