With it's big ticket item, How I met Your Mother, done with, CBS is going to be scrambling to find its adequate replacement. Cue, "Friends With Better Lives", which aired alongside the aforementioned series finale. This is a show that had a strong pilot, but mostly because it rests on the strengths of one major actress in the ensemble cast. Zoe Lister-Jones (previously a supporting character on the mediocre NBC multi-cam "Whitney") keeps this show in the palm of her hand. Her characterization of Kate, who is a cynical, picky, and single workaholic is the best character on the show. She is so good in fact that the other plots lines, while amusing, seem to be boring in comparison. Majanadra Delfino (capable of scene stealing as evidenced in the short lived ABC Family sitcom "State of Georgia", but unfortunately not showcased as of yet) and Kevin Connolly are a 7 years married couple with a young child who are in a boring rut in their marriage, James Van Der Beek is freshly divorced, and Brooklyn Decker and Rick Donald are a blissfully newly engaged couple. Decker and Donald's storyline is the weakest and most silly, but both bring to it a sweetness that is endearing. Delfino and Connolly have a cute moment at the beginning of the pilot, and then their storyline goes down hill. The tone of the pilot was surprisingly crass. There were many sex jokes, but most made me crack a slight smile. Because of HIMYM ending, FWBL wants to be next the great ensemble comedy (or its network does at least), but here is where it fails. Lister Jones's performance is too strong for it to be anything but her show. The chemistry between the ensemble is flimsy at times. All sitcoms take time to find footing, and a bit of back story will do this show a lot of good.
