ABC show bombs with overdramatic relationships

"What About Brian" tries to be a male version of "Grey's Anatomy," but fails because it focuses on a male character as the lead role. The other characters are unsympathetic, the dialogue is forced and the dramatic scenes are predictable.

The reason everyone is asking about Brian (Barry Watson) is because he's single. At 34. Heaven forbid. Brian decides he's in love with his best friend Adam's (Matt Davis) fiancée Marjorie (Sarah Lancaster). Brian's sister Nic (Rosanna Arquette) is trying to have a baby with her Italian hubby. And Brian's business partner Dave (Rick Gomez) is married with kids to Deena, a stay-at-home mom. Everyone wants Brian to get married so he is no longer the seventh wheel, even though all of these couples are unhappy.

Having a male character as the focus of a show about relationships doesn't work, and there is no appeal in watching a 34-year-old man acting like a neurotic teenage boy. No wonder he's single when he can't even break up with the girl he only started dating two weeks earlier. If the audience had a reason to accept Brian's reluctance to mature, he might be more likeable, but two episodes in, he merely seems pathetic.

Brian's friends aren't much better. Brian and Adam make a juvenile pact to break up with their girlfriends. Instead, Adam decides to propose the day after he dumped Marjorie because "she was stellar. She was like a guy. She was stoic." Sounds like a good reason to get married, especially since Marjorie kisses Brian while Adam is away. Deena suggests an open marriage to Dave, who is the best character on the show. He is devastated by the idea and spirals downward into self-doubt and jealousy. Why exactly he doesn't tell his wife of 13 years he doesn't like the idea isn't made clear.

The dialogue is overdramatic and unrealistic. After kissing Marjorie, Brian dramatically asks Dave, "Do you ever have a day where you question every decision you've ever made in your life?" Just as gravely, Dave answers him, "Yeah. Every day."

Deena justifies her desire to sleep with a yoga instructor by telling Dave, "It's about us giving each other a gift. Gift of an adventure. Without lying. Without losing each other."

Brian is always put into predictable situations that are boring to watch. While showering at a girl's apartment, her roommate walks in, thinking he is her roommate. Rather than tell her he's in the shower, he awkwardly fumbles when she asks for her razor. In another scene, he drives to Las Vegas to tell Marjorie he has feelings for her. When he comes to his senses, which apparently didn't happen during the five-hour drive, she sees him.

With all the self-created drama, it is no wonder these characters are so miserable. Aside from the character of Dave, the problems facing the rest of the characters are ones they brought on themselves. This doesn't create sympathy, it's annoying and whiny.