LEARY SITCOM
In FX’s latest Denis Leary series, “Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll” (10 tonight), the comic actor plays a character almost identical to the role he played in his previous FX series, “Rescue Me.”
Once again he plays an addict prone to mistakes, faulty assumptions and cowardly behavior. Mr. Leary likes to set himself as a comedic punching bag; that’s his shtick. And while that tendency to self-deprecate creates a certain likability, it also makes this new comedy feel unoriginal, especially when you consider its behind-the-music backdrop is also a bit stale.
There’s some comfort in the familiarity of the show’s “Rescue Me”-like comic beats, particularly in next week’s funnier episode that finds Johnny’s bandmates attempting to get him clean and sober. That episode’s climactic final scene turns out predictably to anyone who regularly watched “Rescue Me,” but it’s also a finetuned, funny punchline to the episode.
Tonight’s half-hour premiere, written by Mr. Leary, introduces the New York-set show’s conceit in fairly unbelievable form. When Mr. Leary’s fallen rock god Johnny Rock tries to hit on a woman at a bar, the revelation that she’s his daughter, Gigi (Elizabeth Gillies), merits merely a shoulder shrug from Johnny. There are no questions, no shock, no recriminations for missing her life growing into a young woman.
When Johnny runs into her again the next day on the street, their relationship is presented as a given. It’s an unconvincing shorthand of character introductions.
Gigi reveals she’s an aspiring singer and she wants her father to be her songwriter, which initiates getting his band, the Heathens, back together, including guitarist Flash (John Corbett, “Northern Exposure”), who unapologetically wants to sleep with Gigi (another flimsy but predictable plot turn).
For all the show’s problems with its believability and freshness, Mr. Leary’s rapid-fire jokes/slams, often at the expense of music legends, are entertaining as always. And the music, particularly the show’s theme song, is often catchy and hummable.
“Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll” may not be easy to swallow, but it digests comfortably.