Romantic Comedy Cliches Abound 'In Men We Trust'

Just because the WEtv and PersonalScreen Media have put a stylish budget and four attractive actresses behind the online original series, In Men We Trust doesn’t mean that it can stand in high heel comparison to the legendary Sex and the City. The creators, Michael Salort and Maureen Brogan make an attempt to take four girls through a romantic roller coaster of dating game rituals, but fail significantly when they neglect any type of Carrie-ish, clever, puntastic dialogue or a semblance of an engaging story arc.

In the first episode, Men Are Like Mirrors we learn that the series follows a number of women drowning in a dating pool that’s filled with romantic comedy cliches.

The hapless femmes enroll in a dating boot camp and look to teacher Mariel (played by Phoebe Jonas) to instruct them on how to find and keep the perfect man. Mariel, who lethargically makes her way through the series reacting inconsistently to a weak story line, bequeaths her knowledge of dating onto her female students based on, er…I guess her ability to maintain a manipulative relationship?

In the second episode: Ugly, Ugly, the women have to perform a homework assignment of chatting up ugly men for fifteen minutes. (I feel sorry for any man who auditioned at that casting call). The episode reeks of discrimination towards any guy who isn’t GQ cover quality. If Mariel’s class is supposed to be “Dating 101,” then these girls should definitely get their money back. The plot drags on and on, taking forever to reach each hackneyed punch line it can squeeze out of our modern, platonic conception of the art of dating.

By the third episode, Marial’s love life falls down-boom when she finds her “perfect” man, Everett (Ian Kahn of As the World Turns) in bed with a girl named appropriately, Candy. Now that her relationship is in the tank and she has smacked her boyfriend in the head with a frying pan, the handcuffed Everett manages to manipulate Mariel, persuading her to let him teach a class on The Holy Grail of Dating in exchange for taking him back. (I would have rather she tied him up Nine to Five style and left him for Candy.)

Hunky Everett, by far the best actor on the series, is the token “guy” in the show, offering the down-low on what makes men tick, but nothing can save the series except a complete rewrite. Everett’s grand Grail is a generalized idea that men think about sex constantly and score women based on a “set of assets.” Who knew?!?

The supporting femmes, Kelly Brady as Emma, Aya Cash as Liza, and Trace Turville as Grace are cute enough, and have likable, comic timing, but the script never allows any of their encounters to reach full potential. The newbie writers/creators need to think about what really makes women tick before they scribe their next show.

Watch out In Men We Trust at WEtv.com.