You’ve seen the commercials. You’ve heard the hype. Now there’s only one thing you want to know: Which of the new fall shows are worth watching and which should be avoided at all costs? In this continuing series, we give you the scoop on some of the most highly-anticipated shows of the season, with today’s subject being CBS’ PARTNERS.
The Boilerplate: Since these pilot presentations may go through numerous rewrites and casting changes prior to premiere, this by no means should be considered an official review. Rather a preview of what one can expect come Fall.
The Plot: From multiple Emmy® winners David Kohan and Max Mutchnick comes this personal story of Joe and Louis, lifelong friends and business partners whose bond has lasted longer than any of their romantic relationships. But now that Joe plans to get married, the friends wonder how a spouse may change their dynamic. This funny and endearing comedy explores friendship, marriage and whether three’s really a crowd.
The Cast: PARTNERS stars Michael Urie (UGLY BETTY) as Louis, David Krumholtz (NUMB3RS) as Joe, Sophia Bush (ONE TREE HILL) as Ali and Brandon Routh (Superman) as Wyatt.
The Snap Judgment: If you seriously think we’d have anything remotely negative to say about Michael Urie’s much anticipated return to television, boy, have you not been paying attention to this blog! That said, despite being the brainchild of the team behind WILL & GRACE (David Kohan, Max Mutchnick and legendary director James Burrows), PARTNERS is far from perfect. And while the pilot certainly shows sparks of potential, thanks in no small part to the creative team’s trademark mix of kooky characters, pop culture callbacks and heightened hijinx, Urie’s surrounding ensemble (Krumholtz, Bush and Routh) still have a bit of a ways to go until they’ve proven themselves worthy of being called WILL & GRACE’s heir apparent.
The Conclusion: Minor quibbles aside, we have an unabashed heart on for this delightful new series.* Especially because we’re only too willing to give the team behind one of television’s all-time funniest comedies the benefit of the doubt when it comes to the often confounding world of casting. 
* That will make far more sense and be far funnier after you’ve seen the pilot, which premieres this Fall on CBS at 8:30PM (CityTV in Canada).