Written By: Nathan Liu
On the surface, “Sunnyside” sounds like a sitcom you’ve seen before. And, in a sense, it is. You’ve got an arrogant, selfish lead, who used to have a good job but has since been disgraced, and is now using a study group to regain that former glory. That’s essentially the premise of “Community.” Except, instead of the lead being a white former lawyer wanting to cheat a Spanish class, “Sunnyside” tells the story of an Indian American New York City councilman helping a group of immigrants study for their citizenship tests. He’s only doing this because he needs the money and because he thinks helping these people will boost his re-election prospects.
In this regard, the series does provide a (marginally) fresh take on old tropes and does offer a bit of timely commentary. It’s also got a very talented cast, including Kal Penn of “Harold & Kumar” fame as the selfish, disgraced politician, and comedian Joel Kim Booster as a rich kid who would prefer to buy his way out of every problem. Unfortunately, the show’s noble intentions and its fun, diverse cast never quite manage to make the enterprise feel fresh.
The biggest problem is the fact that the characters aren’t particularly well drawn. Everyone is essentially a sitcom archetype, and unlike “Community,” where the show directly acknowledges how stereotypical everyone is and then subverts your expectations by giving them unique traits, “Sunnyside” plays things straight, and comes off as out of touch. As a result, the show feels less like a comedy with funny characters playing off each other, and more like a thesis statement about the inequities of the American legal system with such on-the-nose lines as “even if I had gotten through to them, politicians don’t spend their days trying to help people like you.”
The show is not subtle, particularly when it comes to its views on immigration being fundamentally positive for America. This message is made painfully clear through the recurring motif of baseball. The writers use it as a kind of metaphor for the American experience; people come from afar to play the game, and ultimately make it better with their unique perspectives and backgrounds. This sentiment is actually stated explicitly in one scene when Penn takes his class to a baseball game. First, he monologues about how baseball, the “American pastime,” is an immigrant’s game with 30% of all major league players being born outside of the U.S. Then he asks, while looking directly into the camera, “How much worse would the game be without those guys? How much worse would America be without all the people who came here from all over the world and brought their history and culture with them?” Okay, guys, we get it!
It almost feels wrong criticizing this show, since the cast is so talented and the messages are so noble. And, to be fair, it does have some admirable technical qualities. The cinematography, editing, and pacing are all adroit. There are some funny lines, such as an exchange between Penn and his sister, played by Kiran Deal, about Anthony Weiner. And there are scenes that talk about very relevant, real-world issues. One of the students, played by Moses Storm, was brought over from Moldova as a baby and only knows the U.S. as his home, but is now facing deportation because his mother overstayed her visa. That’s a predicament that thousands of “dreamers” are facing right now. This show gives those people a face and a voice.
Unfortunately, I can’t remember what any of the characters are called because there isn’t anything to them other than their predicament. One used to be a heart surgeon but now works as a cab driver. One has a thousand different jobs just to make end’s meet. The only characters with any kind of personality are Joel Kim Booster and Poppy Liu as a pair of rich Asian siblings who say everything in a bored monotone, and who flippantly spend exorbitant amounts of money on everything.
All that said, this is just a pilot. This is a jumping-off point from which other writers can create better, funnier stories with these characters. Hopefully that will happen soon. And hopefully future episodes will flesh the characters out to more than just their predicaments. For this reason, the fact that the show is written by and stars Asian Americans, and that it talks about immigration, gives the series a chance. Just don’t expect the pilot to wow you.
UPDATED: “Sunnyside” premiered on NBC on September 26 as a part of its fall programming. The show can now be streamed on Hulu.