A scene from the new sitcom Guys With Kids has been featured repeatedly in promotional clips.
It's the one with three guys erupting in celebration, backs turned to the camera, while watching a basketball game in a bar. And when they turn around, they all have babies bouncing around in whatever those front-carrier thingys are called.
I just have to make this point. And I make it on behalf of all people who like to drink and don't have kids, so please, listen well:
I don't know what the laws are from province to province, or state to state, or country to country. I thought kids in bars was illegal. At least it was back when I was a kid.
But wait a minute - maybe that's just what the adults in my life told me, because they didn't want me in the bar. And you know why?
Because kids in bars are annoying.
Okay, with that baby off my chest, let's consider Guys With Kids, which was co-created by Jimmy Fallon and debuts Tuesday, Sept. 11 on Global, and then Wednesday, Sept. 12 on its network of origin, NBC.
It's interesting to ponder Guys With Kids alongside some other shows that are coming back on Tuesday, such as Sons of Anarchy (Super Channel) and Parenthood (NBC, Global), not to mention the replaying of the pilot episode of Anger Management (CTV) plus the continuation of new sitcom The New Normal, which has both Monday and Tuesday episodes this week (NBC, CTV).
All five of those shows deal with kids, through various sorts of families, functional and dysfunctional, played for laughs and tears and fears. Maybe people with kids find shows about kids to be endlessly fascinating. Not everyone does.
Guys With Kids seems to be based on this premise: "Wow, kids, what a crazy ride." I was hoping for something more clever from Fallon, actually.
"When we came up with this idea, we were just talking about all the guys that we were seeing around New York City and Times Square, with the Babybjörns and the babies on the backs of their bikes," said Fallon, whose show stars Anthony Anderson, Jesse Bradford and Zach Cregger.
"These are young, good"'looking guys just embracing the role of dad. It's definitely in the zeitgeist."
Fallon, who obviously has a full-time job as host of Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, was asked how involved he is in the day-to-day running of Guys With Kids.
"I read all the scripts and all the outlines before they become scripts," Fallon said. "So I give as much input as I can, but these guys are pros who are running it. I want to let them do their own thing.
"But I think the babies turning around in the bar was mine."
Shame on you, Jimmy. There already are too many annoying kids in bars. We don't want to make this any more of a trend.
