My Boys: The Complete Second and Third Seasons

This TBS series about fictional Chicago Sun-Times sportswriter P.J. Franklin (Jordana Spiro) and the dudes she hangs with does have a following, but lacks the chemistry of Friends or the wit and heat of Sex and the City. P.J.'s entourage includes her brother Andy (Jim Gaffigan); ex-boyfriend Bobby (Kyle Howard), who writes for the rival Chicago Tribune; buddy and former roommate Brendan (Reid Scott); Kenny (Michael Bunin), the nebbish owner of a sports memorabilia store; and Mike (Jamie Kaler), an erstwhile Chicago Cubs employee who now helps Kenny with his business. Adding another female perspective to the mix is best friend Stephanie (Kellee Stewart), offering fashion and relationship advice to the tomboyish P.J., whose interests lie more in the realm of pickup softball and poker games than clothes shopping and seduction. The primary story arc in seasons two and three concerns whether Bobby (who has an on-off relationship with Andy's family's Swedish nanny) and P.J. (who has various dating prospects) will finally get together. The cast is appealing enough, but they're playing types instead of characters, engaging in sitcom banter that feels forced and strained, with genuine moments too few and far between. Compiling all 18 episodes aired in 2008 and 2009, this is not a necessary purchase. (D. Liebenson)