TV REVIEW: ABC Family's "Roommates"

This young adult comedy series is about a guy named Mark (Tyler Francavilla) who plots to move in with his high school crush Katie (Dorian Brown) and her two roommates James (Tommy Dewey) and Hope (Tamera Mowry--yeah the twin). With encouragement from his zany BFF and former roommate Thom (David Weidoff), Mark gets the courage to begin what he believes to be a beautiful relationship. We, however, are fully aware that he looks to be stuck in the friend zone.

When Mark isn't stalking his high school crush, he's temping, while he waits for his big break. The Mr. Bean lookalike is actually an aspiring actor. Katie...well, I don't know what Katie does, but I do know she's kind of dense...and desperate. When a guy tried to break up with her, she refused to let him go and continued to bribe him with sex. Why is it that adorable sweet guys always obsess over girls who aren't worth the time or the effort? There to help her through all of her romantic entanglements is Hope. Mowry plays a sassy know-it-all (can you say stereotype?) who got fired from her top-paying TV job and now reluctantly and ineffectively serves coffee at a nearby cafe. The problem is she never told her roommates that she was fired. While I'm not quite sure how she can still afford the rent, the real reason they introduced that little tidbit is because Mark, who first meets her when she incorrectly serves him coffee when he asks for tea, is the only one who knows her secret. Meanwhile, James, a bonafide man-whore with dry humor, is the only one who has figured out that Mark has a major crush on Katie. They should've called it Secretive Roommates.

While the episode was pretty funny, it's nothing to gather your friends around the tube for. Maybe ABC Family should stick to hour-long shows. They seem to do those better.