A Man. And His Blog.

Season 1, Episode 1
Date of airing: Aug 28, 2011 (MTV)
Watched for review: Feb 1, 2012
Number of review in February/2012: 16/139

Have a TV show with a documentary feel to it (hand camera, fast cuts) and you will have an edgy show somehow. It’s almost always the way to make shows more intellectual, good-looking, even though both stories and characters aren’t written that great. When MTV has a TV show with a documentary feel to it, it’s mostly because they don’t have any money to make the show look good. Nevertheless, it’s the way of MTV to get into the realm of scripted television, and with I JUST WANT MY PANTS BACK, the former music channel kinda brings the proof that last year’s successes of TEEN WOLF and AWKWARD can be repeated in 2012. Also, this new comedy drama also brings proof that JERSEY SHORE is even more funny, when it has actual written scripts. And finally, I JUST WANT MY PANTS BACK brings back the genre of the Twentysomethings: stories from mid-20s in the big city, going through thick and thin, not leaving one stone untouched. Even when all the stones are swimming in the sea of sex and party. But it’s the 21st Century, and sex and alcohol comes right with it. So, the Parents Television Council better not get another hate mail going on, just because they are still living in the 18th Century.

I JUST WANT MY PANTS BACK is based on David Rosen’s same-titled book (he is also the showrunner of his own adaptation) and tells the story of bored New Yorker Jason (Peter Vack), who works for a casting agency, but has bigger dreams. His slutty BFF Tina (Kim Shaw) isn’t very different from Jason, since she also tries to get to the edges of her sexual adventures. Jason is in the middle of a six-week long sex drought, and he is craving for some girl riding him hard (because New York is all about horny Twentysomethings and all). His wish is being fulfilled, after he meets sweet Jane (Kelli Barrett) in a bar, whom he soon screws in his refrigerator. But the hot one night stand has consequences for Jason. Jane gives him her wrong phone number and also “borrows” his pants. He also can’t seem to forget Jane, even though he just wants his pants back.

I JUST WANT MY PANTS BACK is celebrating itself as the newest dramedy series in the Twentysomethings genre, without being very much original or surprising in any way. Jason’s story couldn’t be more fit for a moral, that even a bored-out-of-his-mind mid-20s guy in the Big Apple can live a happy life, when he has friends and alcohol all around him. Jason’s friend couldn’t be more fitting for New York not being about work and the city itself, but about the small things around a band of friends, celebrating their youth in their 20s. New York as a setting couldn’t be more fit for a TV show involving light sex stories and even lighter party stories. As if EASY A and SKINS have found their comedy twin in television. And I JUST WANT MY PANTS BACK doesn’t even push all the limits to shatter the edges of TV censorship (like I said, the PTC probably has an eye on this show already). Instead the pilot pretty much holds back in that regard, and invests more time in exploring the premise of a rather thin story, with even thinner characters. The pilot was freed of needless smuts and cheap gags, and filled with tactfulness and character strength. And if the characters would have been a bit better, the pilot might be one of the best ones in recent years. Because at the end, and especially for MTV standards, it is not a TV show anybody without knowledge of the book, would have suspected to get. But despite its missing innovativeness, the pilot is a shadow of its own genre, depicting the best of the best from the 90s. The pop-culture references make the pilot feel old. And the Twentysomething-viewer, who is watching it.

With DAWSON’S CREEK quotes and SAY ANYTHING homages, it’s easy to see that the show was developed by a writer, who has already lived through his 20s, and is trying everything to fill his very own point of view of life with all kinds of pop-culture references. It can be annoying after a short while, but it gives the opportunity for some younger MTV viewers to learn what was going on in the 90s, and what is definitely not ahead of them in the future. I JUST WANT MY PANTS BACK gives a retrospect of the 90s with its references, and gives fans of the genre the opportunity to live their youth after youth once again. Like they did together with Dustin Hoffman in THE GRADUATE. Like they did with John Hughes’ movies (which I could watch over and over). I JUST WANT MY PANTS BACK isn’t capable of giving the audience the same feeling they had during aforementioned works, but it also gives a shit about what it’s doing. To make it even more worth the while for people like me (who just want to live life without complications), the show should step back a bit from the usual MTV standards – dance-pop songs, taken directly from the Billboards; fast cuts to hide the almost non-existent story – and focus on the characters. And actually make a dramedy out of the lives of mid-20s in New York. Jason’s story is mentioned fast, the cure is found fast, the one night stand is thoroughly amusing, and after a couple of minutes it’s clear where this show will be going. Despite the fact you should have a bit of fantasy here, since you don’t know what the book is all about. There is not much of a big focus here, which makes the pilot look like, as if it wants the audience to hop into the cold sea and swim by themselves. (Which is always a problem with today’s TV pilots)

The cast is pretty good though. The chemistry between Peter Vack and Kim Shaw could be written more credible, but at least the comedy timing fits between the two. Merely Jordan Carlos and Elisabeth Hower, playing the college couple Eric and Stacey, came too short in the pilot to feel and look important for the two BFFs in front and center, and for the story. In fact, I got the feeling that the two were only written in to make the hipster dialog floating, when all four best friends are having a roundtable discussion about something. But that isn’t even a big disadvantage of the show. I JUST WANT MY PANTS BACK works, because it doesn’t push itself to be the edgy show with its documentary feel. it wants to keep the premise fairly easy and normal, without complications: a living community in New York, romances every now and then, the usual sex, drugs and rock’n'roll for a scripted show on MTV. Almost like a smaller, dirty version of FRIENDS, trying to cut back on the laughs.

MTV might be out for scandals with its reality television to make money out of the public interest. But their scripted work is still solid, even when people don’t want to believe it (SKINS was painful to watch though, so here I agree). At the end, I JUST WANT MY PANTS BACK is one of those fine MTV shows worth a look, because it doesn’t try so hard. Because this show will definitely be underappreciated by critics and audiences alike. Even when the characters aren’t developed yet. Even when the humor is missing in some parts. The show must now depend on the title-giving season arc, and how it will ultimately change the characters and their relationships among each other. After the cancellation of THE HARD TIMES OF RJ BERGER, this new show once again proves that MTV isn’t far away from the TV standards, when it comes to scripted television. And that they WANT TO get the audience to watch them. Now the channel just needs another scripted hit to make the big critics believe that MTV might be thinking about cutting back on the reality front. 6.5/10

The sex is done

Now the love story follows with her