''Bent'' is an American romantic

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

television series that ran on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

from March 21 to April 4, 2012. The series was created by Tad Quill and stars

Amanda Peet Amanda Peet (born January 11, 1972) is an American actress. She began her career with small parts on television, and made her feature film debut in ''Animal Room'' (1995). Her portrayal of Jill St. Claire in ''The Whole Nine Yards'' (2000) broug ...

as a recently divorced lawyer and David Walton as the irresponsible

general contractor A general contractor, main contractor or prime contractor is responsible for the day-to-day oversight of a construction site, management of vendors and trades, and the communication of information to all involved parties throughout the course of ...

hired to remodel her kitchen. Supporting roles are played by

Jeffrey Tambor Jeffrey Michael Tambor (born July 8, 1944) is an American actor. He is known for his television roles such as Jeffrey Brookes, the uptight neighbor of Stanley and Helen Roper in the television sitcom ''The Ropers'' (1979–1980), as Hank Kings ...

Margo Harshman Margo Cathleen Harshman (born March 4, 1986) is an American actress known for the roles of series regular Tawny Dean on ''Even Stevens'', Sheldon Cooper's assistant Alex Jensen on ''The Big Bang Theory'', and Timothy McGee's wife Delilah Field ...

Pasha D. Lychnikoff Pavel Dmitriyevich Lychnikov ( rus, Павел Дмитриевич Лычников) is a Russian-American television, voice, film and theatre actor, who lives and works in the United States. Early life and education Lychnikoff was born in Mos ...

and

Joey King Joey Lynn King (born July 30, 1999) is an American actress. She first gained recognition for portraying Ramona Quimby in the comedy film ''Ramona and Beezus'' (2010) and has since gained wider recognition for her lead role in ''The Kissing Boot ...

. On May 11, 2012, NBC cancelled the series after one season.

Synopsis

Recently divorced no-nonsense lawyer Alex (

) hires contractor Pete ( David Walton) to renovate her kitchen. An irresponsible womanizer, Pete is trying to rebuild his contracting career after ruining it with his gambling addiction and promiscuous ways. The high-strung Alex, whose husband was sent to prison for

insider trading Insider trading is the trading of a public company's stock or other securities (such as bonds or stock options) based on material, nonpublic information about the company. In various countries, some kinds of trading based on insider information ...

, is trying to maintain a busy work schedule while raising her 8-year-old daughter Charlie (

). Aware of his reputation with women, Alex insists she will fire Pete if he presents any problems. Other cast members include Alex's flirty sister Screwsie (

), Pete's aspiring actor father Walt (

), Charlie's babysitter Simone (

Susan Park Susan Park is an American actress. Early life Park was born in the United States, the daughter of Korean immigrants. Career Park began acting in 2009. In 2010 she performed in a one-woman show titled ''Diaries of a K-Town Diva'' directed by B ...

) and Pete's contractor crew (

J.B. Smoove Jerry Angelo Brooks (born December 16, 1965), commonly known by his stage name J. B. Smoove, is an American actor, comedian and writer. After beginning his career in 1995 on ''Def Comedy Jam'', he was a writer and performer on NBC's ''Saturday N ...

, Jesse Plemons, and

Production

Filmed with a

single-camera setup The single-camera setup, or single-camera mode of production, also known as portable single camera, is a method of filmmaking and video production. The single-camera setup originally developed during the birth of the classical Hollywood cinema i ...

, ''Bent'' is produced by

Universal Television Universal Television LLC (abbreviated as UTV) is an American television production company that is a subsidiary of Universal Studio Group, a division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It serves as the network television production arm of NBC; a predeces ...

, a production arm of NBC. Tad Quill wrote the pilot episode and served as executive producer based on a two-year deal he signed with the formerly-named Universal Media Studios in 2010. The first episode was directed by

Craig Zisk Craig Zisk is an American film director, director and Television producer, producer. Biography Zisk grew up in Dallas, where he graduated from the St. Mark's School of Texas. His family was American Jews, Jewish. After graduating from the Univ ...

, who previously directed episodes of '' Weeds'' and ''

Nurse Jackie ''Nurse Jackie'' is an American medical comedy-drama television series. It premiered on Showtime on June 8, 2009, and its seventh and final season premiered on April 12, 2015. The series finale aired on June 28, 2015. The show stars Edie Falco ...

''. Amanda Peet said of the show: "I just loved the writing, I thought it was a good repartee. I love a good romantic comedy, and I love a repressed woman who needs to get laid."

Episodes

Reception

''The New York Times'' liked the show ''Bent'' saying it has "witty repartee," an "incongruous edge" and they absolutely enjoyed "the chemistry" between Amanda Peet and David Walton. ''The NY Times'' went on to say that Jeffrey Tambor is "hilarious" playing David Walton's Dad, a frustrated actor. ''The Times'' commented that if you " tch two episodes, you begin to catch the rhythm; watch four, and you might be hooked. ''Daily Variety'' says ''Bent'' is "the kind of charming romantic comedy TV frequently aspires to but seldom delivers." And that ''Bent'' is "straight up" worth watching. The ''Star Tribune'' says "Chemistry Sets ''Bent'' Afire." ''Huffington Posts TV critic says "It's really charming." ''TV Guide'' gives "5 Reasons to Fall for the NBC Romantic Comedy ''Bent''" "In what might be his best role since ''Arrested Development'', Tambor shines as Pete's dad, Walt" -- ''TV Guide'' ''Vulture'', however, predicted the show's cancellation, noting that "when the romantic relationship is the ONLY source of comedy, it's forced to become so winky and witty that it loses any value as a realistic simulation of actual human behavior".

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 1839417, Bent 2010s American romantic comedy television series 2010s American single-camera sitcoms 2012 American television series debuts 2012 American television series endings English-language television shows Television shows set in California NBC original programming Television series by Universal Television