A million little things about ABC: TV review

A million little things could have been designed by an algorithm programmed to synthesize popular TV shows. As That's usit's a drama set to provoke gasps and tears. As 13 reasons whyit occurs as a result of a suicide. And, as with anything that a computer could write, many of its plot points feel put off and improbable at the same time.

At the center of the show, airing on ABC from September 26, are four middle-aged friends in Boston who have reached their crossroads. Eddie (David Giuntoli of Grimm) channel his rock-star dreams upset in an extramarital adventure while having the courage to leave his wife. Gary, a breast cancer survivor (psychJames Roday) distracts from fears of relapse by sleeping with women in his support group. Rome (Weeds alum Romany Malco) aspires to become a filmmaker but is stuck running advertisements; in his first scene, he writes a suicide note. It is Gary who saves the life of Rome by calling with the news that their fourth friend, Jon (Ron Livingston), has just jumped to his death.

The three friends who survived are shocked, especially because Jon seemed so happy, a dynamic and energetic real estate mogul whose motto was "everything happens for a reason". When the men met, years earlier, in a locked elevator, Jon sealed their new friendship with season tickets for the Bruins. The tradition has endured and after his death, the band has promised to use these hockey games to create the same kind of links as in this elevator.

Although the pilot is disordered and drifting, and the subsequent stronger episodes may still feel exhausting, there is good reason to hope A million little things will continue to get better. It is the rare spectacle of men who embarrass themselves to bloom their wives, their girlfriends and their children, and its distribution of veteran television actors gives a dimension to its characters. The stories that take male friendship seriously are rare between the two and now that the word male is often associated with the word toxic, this softer form of masculine identity seems ripe for exploration.