We Are Men
2013 American TV series or program
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We Are Men is an American sitcom television series created by Rob Greenberg starring Christopher Nicholas Smith, Tony Shalhoub, Jerry O'Connell, Kal Penn, and Rebecca Breeds. The series aired on CBS as part of the 2013–14 American television season, and premiered on September 30, 2013.[1][2][3] On October 9, 2013, after the airing of two episodes, which performed poorly, CBS cancelled the series.[4][5]
| We Are Men | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Sitcom |
| Created by | Rob Greenberg |
| Starring | |
| Composer | John Swihart |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 10 (8 unaired) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
|
| Camera setup | Single-camera |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production companies |
|
| Original release | |
| Network | CBS |
| Release | September 30 – October 7, 2013 |
Premise
After Carter is left at the altar by his bride, he moves into a short-term rental complex, where he forms a friendship with three divorced older men.
Cast
- Kal Penn as Gil Bartis
- Christopher Nicholas Smith as Carter Thomas
- Jerry O'Connell as Stuart Strickland
- Tony Shalhoub as Frank Russo
- Rebecca Breeds as Abby Russo
Development and production
On July 10, 2012, it was announced that CBS had picked up Rob Greenberg's single-camera comedy, then called Ex-Men, as the first pilot order of the 2013–14 season.[6] The show, which is written, directed and executively produced by Greenberg, centers on a young man "learning the ways of the world from the older and more experienced men in his short-term rental complex."[6] Dominic Patten from Deadline Hollywood reported that We Are Men had been around for a few years, before it was picked up.[6]
Chris Smith was cast as Carter Thomas, the young man who befriends a group of divorced men, while Kal Penn was cast as Gil Bartis.[7] On August 15, 2012, it was announced that Tony Shalhoub would play Frank, who is "a four-time divorcé who still fancies himself a ladies man".[7] Shortly after, Australian actress Rebecca Breeds joined the cast as Frank's daughter.[8] Filming of the pilot episode was pushed back to January 2013, after casting of the fourth male lead stalled. The role of Stuart was eventually filled by Jerry O'Connell.[9]
Episodes
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | Prod. code | U.S. viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Pilot" | Rob Greenberg | Rob Greenberg | September 30, 2013 | WAM101 | 6.61[10] |
| 2 | "We Are Dognappers" | Adam Arkin | Bob Daily | October 7, 2013 | WAM103 | 5.41[11] |
| 3 | "We Are One Night Stands" | Walt Becker | Lesley Wake Webster | Unaired | WAM104 | N/A |
| 4 | "We Are Learning to Swim" | N/A | Gabrielle Allan & Jennifer Crittenden | Unaired | WAM105 | N/A |
| 5 | "We Are Divorced Dads" | N/A | N/A | Unaired | WAM102 | N/A |
| 6 | "We Are Gentlemen" | N/A | Tad Quill | Unaired | WAM106 | N/A |
| 7 | "We Are Carpe Pontiac" | N/A | Mathew Libman & Daniel Libman | Unaired | WAM107 | N/A |
| 8 | "We Are Franksgiving" | N/A | Tony Dodds | Unaired | WAM108 | N/A |
| 9 | "We Are Stuart's Anniversary" | N/A | N/A | Unaired | WAM109 | N/A |
| 10 | "We Are for the Tots" | N/A | Lesley Wake Webster | Unaired | WAM110 | N/A |
Critical reception
We Are Men was panned by critics. Metacritic gave the show an aggregate rating of 33/100; similarly Rotten Tomatoes currently has a rating of 4% (rotten) for the program.[12] Melissa Maers of Entertainment Weekly said that the show was "The male version of Sex and the City with more shirtless scenes (courtesy of Jerry O'Connell) and way less wit",[13] while The Hollywood Reporter was much more harsh, saying “‘We Are Men’ is about four single guys you wouldn't ever want to be around or be related to in any way ... [it] made me feel stupid almost immediately and then bitter that I'd wasted the time.”[14] The show failed to catch an audience and adversely affected other programming, especially the sitcom 2 Broke Girls. The show earned the lowest rating of any 2013 premiere on CBS and was cancelled after just two episodes, leaving the remaining 8 episodes that were produced unaired.[15]
In popular culture
Despite its short run, We Are Men was parodied on the series finale of MAD on Cartoon Network, in a skit called "We are X-Men." It was a mash-up between We Are Men and X-Men that featured the X-Men trying to move on from past relationships. Funnily enough, this segment aired two months after We Are Men was quietly cancelled.