Mr. Sunshine Episode 1.01 Pilot

Ben Donovan (Matthew Perry) is the Manager of Operations at the Sunshine Center sports arena in scenic San Diego. There's always something happening here. Today, the circus is town. That's why Ben is troubled to see that the ice from the hockey game the night before is still on the main floor. The other thing that bugs him is the fact that everyone seems to know that today is his 40th birthday.

Ben doesn't know the name of his head maintenance guy (though we know him as Jorge Garcia from LOST). Ben just calls him Bobert. Anyway, the hot water pump is busted and Bobert needs to find a way to melt the ice. That's one problem. Ben's second issue involves a text from Alice (Andrea Anders) saying they need to talk. Bobert says that's never good. Alice, by the way, is the beautiful marketing executive Ben's been casually dating. Whenever they're not having sex, they are both free to date other people.

Ben's boss, Crystal (Allison Janney), hates when the circus invades her arena, as she's terrified of clowns. That's why she feels the need to pop a curious little pill to calm her nerves. Clowns aren't the only reason Crystal's on edge. She's taking part in a charity event to make up for an investment in an illegal Himalayan dog track. Also, the son no one knew she had is sitting in Ben's office in need of a job.

Alonzo (James Lesure) is a former basketball pro who is currently the happiest man in the world, though Ben isn't sure why. Alonzo runs the arena's charity and community outreach program. He's also the guy who found Ben's new assistant, Heather. She's very sweet and always on time. The fact that she once lit a man on fire is ancient history. Heather has a little crush on the dreamboat sitting in Ben's office. That would be Crystal's less-than-dreamy son, Roman (Nate Torrence).

Roman has no discernable skills, but he does like boats and mafia movies. So Ben sticks him in the kitchen. Then he searches for a missing elephant. Yes, there's a five-toed pachyderm loose in the arena. But the great elephant hunt is put on hold when Crystal asks Ben to help out with her charity speech. He suggests not opening with the line "Yay, black kids." There's also an ethnically-charged song his boss should probably avoid.

A surprisingly lucid Crystal has Ben wondering about the fact that he's going to be alone on his birthday. Maybe not though. When Ben finally does have that talk with Alice, he asks if she would like to go to dinner with him. It would be a big step in their relationship. Unfortunately, the relationship of which he speaks is now over. Alice says she's been asked to take part in a committed one with someone else. Ben's floored when he learns that the other guy is Alonzo.

Aaaaah! That sound that's echoing through the arena is not Ben's head exploding. It's the anguished cries of the Sunshine Center's newest ex-French fry guy. Those big white bandages wrapped around Roman's hands happen to match the color of the ice that still hasn't been removed from the arena floor. Ben distributes axes to every circus clown in sight. Dozens of big floppy feet take to the ice to chip away at this frozen mess because the big show must always go on. But first…

Crystal takes center stage at her charity event. The words in her speech are surprisingly poignant. Her comments about a life lived only for oneself being empty hit Ben hard. Alice, too. Yes, Crystal's speech was aces right up until the moment she breaks into song. She sings, "Oh, the blacks and the whites and the Asians and the Himalayans, too…" No need to go on. You get the gist.

Things go from bad to worse at the photo session when several clowns with axes storm the room. There were some great snapshots of Crystal using a child as a human shield. Ben manages to fix things by doling out lots of hush money. He also makes things right with Alice. They'd been doing the friends with benefits thing for some time. Now he's willing to be "just friends." Nice.