Chicago's been playing home to a lot of TV in recent years thanks to Law & Order creator Dick Wolf shifting his milieu from New York to our own fair city. Still, given our metropolis' reputation for creating comic talent, we love seeing Chicago play home to sitcoms. The new FXX series Man Seeking Woman is a lively addition to the current stable of Chicago-set comedies like The League, Mike & Molly and Marry Me.
Following the bumpy dating life of newly single Josh (Jay Baruchel), Man Seeking Woman takes courtship metaphors to a new level. In the opening episode, a friend sets up Josh on a date with a troll. Let's be clear here, she's not a woman who looks like a troll, she is an actual "lives under the Wabash bridge" troll. The set-up goes about as well as you might expect and subsequent plots take similar advantage of the series' fantastical viewpoint. It's like a show composed entirely of the imaginative diversions of J.D. from Scrubs. It's a fun and fresh spin on the otherwise well-trod territory of the terrors of being single.
Unfortunately, much like the eponymous film, Man Seeking Woman substitutes Toronto for Chicago. While it's a bummer the show didn't shoot here, Canada's winter shots bear a much greater resemblance to our current city streets than any of the shows that trade Chicago for LA.
Catch this surprising and funny comedy tonight at 9:30pm on FXX after the 10th season premiere of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.