Benders

There's a lot of dudes-being-dudes banter, without any "Bro is me" self-pity that sometimes can bog the genre down. Led by Chris Distefano, Mark Gessner, Ruy Iskandar and Andrew Schulz, the cast has an easy rapport that carries Benders along even if, after three episodes, I can't quite isolate distinguishing characteristics for all of the guys.

Benders feels similar in its comedy style to all the Leary shows that have come before.

There’s nothing in the early episodes of Benders that’s as explosively funny as any random 10 minutes of “Louie” or “Curb.” But it can impart a sort of calming buzz--if you lower your expectations for laughs in the same way that the show diminishes expectations that its characters will achieve any kind of triumph.

Benders is produced by Denis Leary and his type of humor is all over the show.

The show stumbles with labored one-liners and too-zany situations. [2 Oct 2015, p.68]

Despite the occasional funny line or absurd situation--such as Paul’s grandfather wanting his help in euthanizing him in the premiere--the show feels completely disposable.

None of it is believable. If the show’s structure were obviously satirical, there would be credible room for over-the-top, but the show is meant as a straight-ahead sitcom, and the story lines all sound exactly like what a bunch of guys would come up with in a college dorm room, rank with the smell of soiled laundry, flatulence and pot-induced tall tales.