The Fox comedy “Ben and Kate” premiered last Tuesday, adding a new splash of humor to the sitcom line-up. Ben (Nat Faxon) and Kate (Dakota Johnson) take on the roles of a typical brother-sister duo. They would do anything for one another, yet do not always see eye-to-eye, mainly because of their completely different lifestyles. Kate is a young, single mom who is trying to juggle the job of being a positive role model for her witty 5-year-old daughter, Maddie (Maggie Elizabeth Jones), while also trying to find love. Ben, on the other hand, displays the typical characteristics of the “never wanting to grow up” older brother. Ben’s funny one-liners and overall childish personality are a perfect fit for this family-comedy sitcom.
The pilot episode opened by introducing Ben and Kate as children as they hid underneath their kitchen table, escaping from the reality of their parent’s continuous fighting. Their little ritual of crawling under tables continues into their adult life and is something they do later in the episode, adding to the idea that the two are extremely close as siblings.
Ben is introduced as the typical off-beat brother who pops in and out of Kate’s life, causing quite a bit of mayhem when he does come around. The opening minutes of the show display repeated scenes of Ben entering Kate’s home asking obscure questions, which leaves viewers with the impression that he is living an unconventional, carefree lifestyle.
Although a certain love interest is in the mix for Kate during the first episode, viewers find out later that he may not be Mr. Right. Kate looks to her best friend, BJ (Lucy Punch), for advice with all things in her life, especially men. BJ works with Kate as a bartender at a local restaurant and is the wild, eccentric best friend that Kate needs. BJ adds a spark of spice to Kate’s life, especially since Kate took a brief hiatus from the social and dating scenes to become a mother.
Kate’s daughter, Maddie, is an adorable, comedic asset to the sitcom. Maddie is five going on 25, adding clever, intuitive comments to the plot that go way beyond her age level.
In one scene when Ben decides to crash his ex-girlfriend’s wedding, he takes Maddie along with him while Kate goes on a date. He prompts her to tell people that she is his foreign cousin and if anyone approaches her with questions she is to say, “No hablo inglés.” Ben and Maddie’s relationship exudes a sort of playful, yet loving uncle-niece bond. Ben acts as a key male role for Maddie in her life, since her real father ran away from Kate as soon as she told him that she was pregnant (a situation that is played off in a brief, humorous scene during the first minutes of the episode).
Once Ben realizes that he cannot win back his former love, and Kate concludes that finding the perfect man will not be as easy as she hoped, Ben tells Kate that he wants to move in with her and Maddie so he can be there for the both of them.
The show’s writer, Dana Fox, used her own older brother as inspiration for the show, modeling Ben and Kate after their close brother-sister relationship.
These are the first starring roles for Faxon and Johnson, although neither one is new to the acting scene. Faxon has played a role in “The Babymakers,” “Bad Teacher,” and “The Cleveland Show,” just to name a few titles. Johnson most recently played roles in “The Five-Year Engagement” and “21 Jump Street.” The smallest star of the cast, Jones, shared a starring role with Matt Damon in “We Bought a Zoo.” At only seven-years old, little Ms. Jones already has quite the acting credibility and will be a great asset to this family comedy.
The pilot episode of “Ben and Kate” contains some minor clichés, but this is something that is expected within the first few episodes of any new series. The most notable example of this is when Kate attempts to take off her sweater while on her date and her tank top gets stuck, causing her to awkwardly flash her bra to her date and the entire restaurant (an embarrassing situation similar to a scene in “Mean Girls”). Other than that, the humor seems a bit forced, but it is nothing to make viewers want to turn away from watching further episodes.
As long as the writer keeps the comedy and plot lines new and inventive, because of the not so typical storyline, “Ben and Kate” will surely take off as one of the best new family comedies of the fall, and maybe even give big Emmy winner “Modern Family” some pretty decent competition.
Eryn Aiello is a fourth-year student majoring in communication studies with a minor in journalism. She can be reached at EA694104@wcupa.edu.