Review: CBS’s ‘Me, Myself & I’ Doesn’t Know Itself Yet

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CBS would love to have another “How I Met Your Mother,” a jovial and nostalgia-tinged sitcom with a built-in sense of both youthful folly and warm wisdom. The existence of “Me, Myself & I,” a comedy that aims for that same sensibility, this time showing a character at the ages of 14, 40 and 65, is not therefore a mystery. But the execution is confounding.

Why, for example, would they not cast actors who have even a passing resemblance to one another? Jack Dylan Grazer (recently of the box office hit “It”), who plays young Alex, looks nothing like Bobby Moynihan, who plays 40-year-old Alex, who in turn looks nothing like John Larroquette, the 65-year-old Alex. I know what John Larroquette looked like at 40. I have seen “Night Court.” America has seen “Night Court.”

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O.K., O.K., they cast for vibe and appeal — so everything else must be pretty shipshape. Alas, no. Young Alex falls for his classmate Nori(Reylynn Caster), though their love is thwarted by a social catastrophe at a dance. Older Alex of course bumps into her years later, and lo, they really hit it off. However, adult Nori (who now goes by Eleanor) is played by Sharon Lawrence. Alex and Eleanor are supposed to be the same age. Mr. Larroquette is 69 years old. Ms. Lawrence is 56. This … shows.

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Come on now, stop it. It’s a sitcom, not a deposition, so as long as the story is vibrant and compelling, we can all let casting choices slide. Perhaps one could, but the story here is emotionally hollow, and wrongly convinced that Alex is somehow an underdog. Young Alex moves from Chicago to Los Angeles when his mother gets married, and because he’s a Bulls fan he feels he is in hostile territory, though his new stepfather (Brian Unger) and stepbrother (Christopher Paul Richards) are completely lovely. In middle age, his wife cheats on him, but he clearly has plenty of support and resources, and his loving, healthy daughter doesn’t seem negatively affected. In older age, he’s a business success who has survived a minor heart attack, and geez, he has no idea what he’s gonna do now that he’s all rich and unencumbered. He has no problems. Jumping around in time doesn’t make it seem like he’s conquered anything; he seems like he’s never had to conquer much at all.

But at least it’s not sexist? Bad news. In the world of “Me, Myself & I,” women are at best reflecting pools for the men around them. When Eleanor complains about false rumors regarding her romantic interests, the show positions this as an “in” for Alex, rather than as a substantial moment for Eleanor. Middle-aged Alex tells his little girl that the song that reminds him of her mother is “Psycho Killer.” Said mother — reasonably — tells Alex that he is an underemployed sad sack who lives in a garage and is therefore not suitable for full custody, yet this is very uncool to say, and his daughter does indeed go live with him. Also women keep making Alex eat salad! Ugh! Salad! A food for girls! Basketball good, salad bad.

CBS only made one episode available to critics for review, as networks still often do for some reason, and while pilots are often overly expository or forced, that’s not the problem here. A pilot is a sales pitch; this is what the show’s about, this is how you’ll feel, this is who you’ll root for. Alex is an inventor and entrepreneur, but there’s no reason to buy what he or the show is selling.

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