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''The Random Years'' is an American
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 ...
created by Michael Lisbe and Nate Reger that aired for four episodes on the United Paramount Network (UPN) in March 2002. The series centers on childhood friends Alex Barnes (
Will Friedle Will Friedle () (born August 11, 1976) is an American actor and writer. He is best known for his role as Eric Matthews on the ABC sitcom ''Boy Meets World'' (1993–2000). In animation, he voices Terry McGinnis / Batman on ''Batman Beyond'' (19 ...
), Wiseman (Joshua Ackerman), and Todd Mitchell (
Sean Murray Sean Murray may refer to: * Sean Murray (field hockey) (born 1997), Lisnagarvey player and senior Ireland international * Sean Murray (footballer, born 1993), Dundalk FC player and Irish youth international * Sean Murray (Gaelic footballer), Dubli ...
) and their lives after graduating college while living in Chinatown, Manhattan. Storylines focus on the characters' jobs and romantic relationships, often including their neighbor Casey Parker (
Natalia Cigliuti Natalia Cigliuti (born September 6, 1978) is a Uruguayan-American actress, best known for her roles as Lindsay Warner on '' Saved by the Bell: The New Class'' and as Anita Santos Warner on ''All My Children''. Career Cigliuti was born in Monte ...
) and their building superintendent Steve (Winston J. Rochas). Lisbe and Reger based ''The Random Years'' on their own experiences living in New York City. UPN produced the show, along with ''As If'', as mid-season replacements for ''Roswell'', which was not performing well with its ratings. Friedle was initially cast in '' Off Centre'', a sitcom for
The WB Television Network The WB Television Network (for Warner Bros., or the "Frog Network", for its former mascot, Michigan J. Frog) was an American television network launched on broadcast television on January 11, 1995, as a joint venture between the Warner Bro ...
, but appeared in ''The Random Years'' after being replaced by
Eddie Kaye Thomas Eddie Kaye Thomas (born October 31, 1980) is an American actor who rose to prominence as Paul Finch in the ''American Pie'' film series. His other notable appearances include Andy Rosenberg in the ''Harold & Kumar'' series, Jeff Woodcock in ...
in the former. ''The Random Years'', along with ''As If'', received the lowest ratings of any original program aired that season on network television. UPN canceled the series after four of its seven filmed episodes aired. Some critics described the show as enjoyable despite its predictability while others criticized it as too formulaic. Although certain actors were praised in reviews, the cast as a whole received negative feedback.


Premise and characters

''The Random Years'' follows three childhood friends—Alex Barnes (
Will Friedle Will Friedle () (born August 11, 1976) is an American actor and writer. He is best known for his role as Eric Matthews on the ABC sitcom ''Boy Meets World'' (1993–2000). In animation, he voices Terry McGinnis / Batman on ''Batman Beyond'' (19 ...
), Wiseman (Joshua Ackerman), and Todd Mitchell (
Sean Murray Sean Murray may refer to: * Sean Murray (field hockey) (born 1997), Lisnagarvey player and senior Ireland international * Sean Murray (footballer, born 1993), Dundalk FC player and Irish youth international * Sean Murray (Gaelic footballer), Dubli ...
)—as they attempt to navigate life after graduating college. They were friends since
elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...
and during the series, they are in their early 20s and share a loft apartment in Chinatown, Manhattan. Alex is a researcher and an assistant to a
rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
critic for ''Music Week'' magazine; he runs his own website, but dreams of being a
music critic ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of mus ...
. A
mama's boy Mother's boy, also commonly and informally mummy's boy or mama's boy, is a term for a man seen as having an unhealthy dependence on his mother at an age at which he is expected to be self-reliant (e.g. live on his own, be economically independent) ...
, Wiseman only became a dental technician to please her and is not interested in being a dentist. At the start of the series, he strives to act more independently. The unemployed Todd does not have any plans for his future, and instead relies on schemes and is frequently shown watching television. He connects everything to ''
Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...
'' to the point of saying: "I don't make fun of your religion, you don't make fun of mine." The series characterizes Alex as lovesick, Wiseman as eccentric, and Todd as a slacker. Critics compared Wiseman to Cosmo Kramer from the
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 ...
''
Seinfeld ''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld. It aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, over nine seasons and List of Seinfeld episodes, 180 episodes. It stars Seinfeld as Jerry Seinfeld ( ...
'', writing that both have uncontrollable hair and are idiot savants. Alex hires Casey Parker (
Natalia Cigliuti Natalia Cigliuti (born September 6, 1978) is a Uruguayan-American actress, best known for her roles as Lindsay Warner on '' Saved by the Bell: The New Class'' and as Anita Santos Warner on ''All My Children''. Career Cigliuti was born in Monte ...
) to help him with his website. Casey is a temp worker who attends New York University Stern School of Business. Having only recently moved to New York City, she struggles to make it on her own, but the show portrays her as ambitious. She moves into the men's building, with Alex's assistance, in the second episode. Her apartment was previously used by Steve (Winston J. Rochas), the building superintendent, to store his brother's stolen goods. Casey enjoys watching ''Antiques Roadshow'', and she and Todd play a form of strip poker based on the show. Alex, Wiseman, and Todd each want to date Casey. On their website, the United Paramount Network (UPN) promoted the characters as forming "an oddball kind of family" and the series as about "somewhere between high school and the rest of your life". Storylines focus on the characters' jobs and romantic relationships. ''
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''s Tom Dorsey described ''The Random Years'' as potentially "a what-do-women-want sitcom", while other television journalists likened the show to a buddy comedy. In a ''Variety'' article, Phil Gallo believed the episodes were aimed at a primarily male audience, and ''People'''s Terry Kelleher associated the series with a " frat-house atmosphere".


Production and broadcast history

Show creators Michael Lisbe and Nate Reger based ''The Random Years'' on their experiences living in New York City after graduating from college. Discussing the premise, Reger explained: "It's sort of that time in your life pre-any responsibilities. You can get involved in any sort of adventure that happens. Your work life hasn't become that important to you yet. It's sort of just about your relationships with your friends and the people you meet out in the city." Lisbe and Reger had previously worked together as writers for the sitcom '' Spin City''. ''The Random Years'', developed under the working title ''Life as We Know It'', was produced by Big Phone Productions in association with
Paramount Television The original incarnation of Paramount Television was the name of the television production division of the American film studio Paramount Pictures, that was responsible for the production of Viacom television programs, until it changed its name ...
. John Peaslee and Judd Pillot served as the
executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights o ...
s while Lisbe and Reger were the supervising producers. Dan Dugan and Mary Fukuto acted as the show's
producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...
s. The
production designer In film and television, the production designer is the individual responsible for the overall aesthetic of the story. The production design gives the viewers a sense of the time period, the plot location, and character actions and feelings. Wo ...
was Wendell Johnson and the director of photography was Jerry Workman. Episodes were edited by Sharon Silverman, the music done by Bruce and Jason Miller, and the casting was handled by Tracy Kaplan. The series was filmed in Los Angeles. Prior to the show's production, Will Friedle was scheduled to star in '' Off Centre'', a sitcom for
The WB Television Network The WB Television Network (for Warner Bros., or the "Frog Network", for its former mascot, Michigan J. Frog) was an American television network launched on broadcast television on January 11, 1995, as a joint venture between the Warner Bro ...
, before being replaced by
Eddie Kaye Thomas Eddie Kaye Thomas (born October 31, 1980) is an American actor who rose to prominence as Paul Finch in the ''American Pie'' film series. His other notable appearances include Andy Rosenberg in the ''Harold & Kumar'' series, Jeff Woodcock in ...
. When asked about the casting changes, Friedle responded: "I'm on the show that I really wanted to be on. And I'm doing what I really wanted to do. And I think we're all happy to be where we are now and just ready to get started." In January 2002, studio executive Les Moonves presented ''The Random Years'' as part of a panel of shows scheduled for the upcoming spring and summer. These new programs were not put forward with a
television pilot A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television network or other distri ...
or definite premiere dates. ''The Random Years'', along with the sitcom ''As If'', were mid-season replacements for the science fiction show ''Roswell''. To make room for the two new sitcoms, UPN placed ''Roswell'' on hiatus for seven weeks, and scheduled it to return on April 23 and continue to
May sweeps Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the #Nielsen TV ...
. According to a 2002 ''
Broadcasting & Cable ''Broadcasting & Cable'' (or ''Broadcasting+Cable'') is a weekly telecommunications industry trade magazine published by Future US. Previous names included ''Broadcasting-Telecasting'', ''Broadcasting and Broadcast Advertising'', and ''Broadcast ...
'' article, ''Roswell'' received low ratings; the magazine reported that UPN was scaling back on the series and would likely cancel it. The network denied these claims, saying they were "just making room for its midseason shows". Television journalists described ''As If'' and ''The Random Years'' as aimed at a younger audience. Premiering on March 5, 2002, ''The Random Years'' aired on Tuesdays at 9:30 pm EST after ''As If''; its first episode was watched by 1.4 million viewers. ''As If'' and ''The Random Years'' had the lowest ratings on network television for the season and both series had a lower viewership than ''Roswell''. The March 12 episodes of ''As If'' and ''The Random Years'' lost two-thirds of the viewers from their lead-in program ''
Buffy the Vampire Slayer ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon. It is based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film), 1992 film of the same name, also written by W ...
''. UPN canceled ''The Random Years'' after three weeks, and the final two aired episodes were shown on March 19, though more were produced. The following week, both shows were replaced by the premiere of the
reality show Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...
''Under One Roof'' in the same time slot. Seven episodes of ''The Random Years'' were filmed, although only four were aired. In 2016, Irvin listed the series in his book ''Forgotten Laughs: An Episode Guide to 150 TV Sitcoms You Probably Never Saw''. According to ''
TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...
'', it is not available for
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on any digital platform.


Episodes


Critical reception

Critics described ''The Random Years'' as enjoyable yet unoriginal. Caryn James, while writing for ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', felt the series was "not painfully bad, just by-the-numbers and predictable". ''
Deseret News The ''Deseret News'' () is the oldest continuously operating publication in the American west. Its multi-platform products feature journalism and commentary across the fields of politics, culture, family life, faith, sports, and entertainment. Th ...
''s Scott D. Pierce appreciated the show's humor, but questioned if stories only about friendships in the city would be sustainable. In the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'', Scott Sandell considered ''The Random Years'' to be derivative of ''Seinfeld'', and thought both focused on the minutiae of daily life. Despite criticizing the storylines as predictable, Sandell found the humor and characters to be enjoyable. David Kronke of the ''
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'' and Phil Gallo praised the show's premise, writing there was potential in exploring post-college life, but both reviewers were critical of the execution. Gallo did not think there was enough material to keep viewers engaged, and Kronke said the episodes would benefit from better scripts. ''The Random Years'' received criticism for its writing, which reviewers felt relied on clichés. The ''
Tampa Bay Times The ''Tampa Bay Times'', previously named the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It has won fourteen Pulitzer Prizes since 1964, and in 2009, won two in a single y ...
''s Eric Deggans panned the series as having "a serious case of sitcomitis", writing that the character types and the humor's focus on sex and dating were formulaic. Dismissing the show as a "pedestrian comedy", Allan Johnson for the ''
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'' questioned its purpose while criticizing the producers for not handling the matter in either an insightful or a funny manner. In the ''
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'', Ken Parish Perkins wrote that ''The Random Years'' was too generic to attract an audience and said it would only appeal to those who "get a kick out of watching ships sink". Critics unfavorably compared the series to the sitcom ''
Friends ''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting ten seasons. With an ensemble cast starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa ...
.'' While reviewing its series premiere, the ''
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''s John Levesque said ''The Random Years'' would "soon find its place among the other ''Friends'' pretenders in the great dustbin of shows lacking that magical combination of smart writing and lucky casting". The cast's performances were highlighted by some reviewers.; ; ''
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''s Noel Holston praised Murray for conveying "effortless slacker charm", and wrote that he elevated the ''Antiques Roadshow'' strip poker scene to be the first episode's only highlight. Despite being critical of the rest of the cast, Gallo appreciated Cigliuti's comic timing and believed her appearance would appeal to male viewers. Terry Kelleher said Cigliuti added a much-needed female presence to the mostly male cast, and praised Murray's delivery of his jokes and Friedle's likability. Other critics had more negative reviews for the cast.; ; Kelleher and ''
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''s
David Zurawik David Lee Zurawik (born October 26, 1949) is an American journalist, author, and professor. He has been the TV and media critic at ''The Baltimore Sun'' since 1989 and is an assistant professor of communications and media studies at Goucher Colleg ...
criticized Ackerman's performance; Zurawik believed he was unconvincing as an idiot savant, while Kelleher thought he "pushes his oddball caricature too hard". Ann Hodges for the ''
Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With it ...
'' dismissed the cast as a "gang of lightweight newcomers" who could not act.


Notes


References


Footnotes


Citations

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External links

* (archive) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Random Years, The 2000s American sitcoms 2002 American television series debuts 2002 American television series endings English-language television shows Television series by CBS Studios Television shows filmed in Los Angeles Television shows set in Manhattan UPN original programming