TVSquad

Episodes 101 & 102 - Believe it or not, this is a funny show with potential. John Stamos is your standard likable rogue of a hottie guy. A mover and shaker PR agent, Jake is trying to quit his womanizing ways and find a more lasting relationship. The interesting thing is, he's not doing this to woo any particular woman, as has been tried in the past. He seems honestly ready to change his life. Forget the unlikely idea of a straight male publicist and focus on the fact that Stamos is a likable guy. I mean, c'mon! Wasn't Uncle Jesse the only adult on Full House with any kind of cool at all?

Granted, I've only seen the first two episodes and Mädchen Amick's delightfully loony character is only in the pilot, but still, if the writers can keep the premise fresh...yeah, I know. That's a tough one, especially since the "one date per episode" premise was scrapped after the pilot.

Co-stars are great. Wendie Malick (Just Shoot Me) is as good as always as Jake's boss Naomi, Rick Hoffman (The $treet) is perfectly cast as Patrick, a depressed David Blaine-type (a running joke in the pilot) and Ian Gomez (Felicity) as Adrian, the vicariously-living miserable and married best friend. The writing is uneven, but Stamos does his best and often elevates the material. For example, in the pilot Adrian's wife is away and in trying to convince Jake to blow off a date and hang out he says: "No curfew, no guilt from the wifey...No faking an asthma attack to avoid talking about our relationship." Not so funny. Stamos' reaction shot? Funny. There are better jokes in the first two episodes, including the truism about ringing apartment buzzers: "They heard you the first time. Nobody likes a double-buzzer."

I guess, to use a rather obvious line, Jake in Progress is in progress.