''Mr. Sunshine'' is an American television

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...

that aired from February 9 to April 6, 2011, as a

mid-season replacement In American network television scheduling, a mid-season replacement is a television show that premieres in the second half of the traditional television season, usually between December and May. Mid-season replacements usually take place after a ...

. The

single-camera The single-camera setup, or single-camera mode of production, also known as portable single camera, is a method of filmmaking and video production. The single-camera setup originally developed during the birth of the classical Hollywood cinema ...

comedy was co-created by

Matthew Perry Matthew Langford Perry (born August 19, 1969) is an American-Canadian actor. He is best known for his role as Chandler Bing on the NBC television sitcom ''Friends'' (1994–2004). As well as starring in the short-lived television series '' St ...

, who also starred in the series. ABC cancelled the series on May 13, 2011, due to low ratings.

Premise

Ben Donovan (Perry) is the operations manager for the Sunshine Center, a second-tier arena in San Diego, who has to deal with the unusual demands of his job and his unpredictable boss (

Allison Janney Allison Brooks Janney (born November 19, 1959) is an American actress. In a career spanning three decades, she is known for her performances across multiple genres of screen and stage. Janney has received various accolades, including an Academ ...

Cast and characters

Main cast

as Ben Donovan – manager of the Sunshine Center *

as Crystal Cohen – Ben's unpredictable boss *

Andrea Anders Andrea Anders (born May 10, 1975) is an American actress. She is best known for her work on television, notably through her main roles on five anticipated but short-lived sitcoms, ''Joey'', '' The Class'', ''Better Off Ted'', '' Mr. Sunshine'' and ...

as Alice – Ben's former "friend with benefits" now dating Alonzo *

James Lesure James Lesure (born September 21, 1970) is an American television actor, best known for roles on the NBC/The WB sitcom ''For Your Love'' (1998–2002), and NBC comedy-drama ''Las Vegas'' (2003–2008), '' Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce'' (2017–20 ...

as Alonzo Pope – former NBA star, Ben's happy-go-lucky co-worker and Alice's boyfriend *

Nate Torrence Nathan Andrew Torrence (born December 1, 1977) is an American comedic actor known for several TV and film roles, most notably including Devon from ''She's Out of My League'', Wade from HBO‘s ''Hello Ladies'', Sully on the CW series ''Supernatu ...

as Roman Cohen – Crystal's lovable but weird son. He has a crush on Heather

Recurring cast

Portia Doubleday Portia Ann Doubleday is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Sheeni Saunders in the film '' Youth in Revolt'' (2009), Chris Hargensen in the film '' Carrie'' (2013), and as Angela Moss in the USA Network television drama ''Mr ...

as Heather – Ben's assistant, whom everyone believes is crazy

Development and production

''Mr. Sunshine'' is based on a concept by Matthew Perry, who planned to co-write, star in, and executive produce. The project sparked a bidding war among the networks, with ABC landing the comedy in October 2009. The deal came with hefty penalties for ABC if the pilot hadn't made it to series. Perry teamed with Sony writers Alex Barnow and Marc Firek to pen the script. A green light to produce the pilot came from ABC in early January 2010.

Thomas Schlamme Thomas David Schlamme (; born ) is an American television director, known particularly for his collaborations with Aaron Sorkin. He is known for his work as executive producer on ''The West Wing'' and ''Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip,'' as well as ...

, of Shoe Money Productions, was chosen to direct the half-hour pilot. Perry, Schlamme, and co-writers Barnow and Firek were all listed as executive producers for the pilot, along with

Jamie Tarses Sara James Tarses (March 16, 1964 – February 1, 2021) was an American television producer and television studio executive. She was the president of ABC Entertainment from 1996 to 1999, the first woman and one of the youngest people to hold suc ...

of FanFare Productions. Casting began in late January, with

as the first actor added to the cast as Ben's boss. In February,

was tapped as Ben's "friend with benefits", and

brought on board to play Roman, the son of Ben's boss. The casting of

as Ben's assistant, and

as an ex-basketball star, was announced at the end of April. In May 2010, ABC picked up the pilot for the 2010–2011 television season. On May 13, 2011, ABC announced that it had canceled ''Mr. Sunshine''.

Episodes

Home media

The series was released on DVD on November 1, 2011, featuring the 4 unaired episodes. Mill Creek Entertainment announced the re-released of the complete series on DVD.

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

, the series has an aggregate score of 52% based on 14 positive and 13 negative critic reviews. The website’s consensus reads: "Thanks to the willing slapstick antics of a solid ensemble cast, ''Mr. Sunshine'' has potential -- although for what, it's difficult to tell." The show scored a 54% rating on

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mister Sunshine (2011 TV series) 2010s American single-camera sitcoms 2011 American television series debuts 2011 American television series endings American Broadcasting Company original programming English-language television shows Television series by Sony Pictures Television Television shows set in San Diego