Gary Unmarried

The series centers around the life of Gary Brooks (Jay Mohr) and begins three months after he and his ex-wife, Allison Brooks (Paula Marshall), officially divorce. Gary owns a house painting business and bought his own place after his divorce. Now his life revolves around trying to move on from his marriage and get back out into the dating scene while constantly having to deal with his ex-wife because they have two children together.

For these reasons, he has difficulty adjusting to life without Allison, and matters are not helped by their still-antagonistic relationship. Despite their acrimonious relationship and constant flinging of cracks at each other, Gary and Allison affectionately make up at the end of most of their conflicts, as the two seem to have a soft spot for each other underneath all their hostility.

Their teenagers are sent back and forth between them so as to spend time with each parent. Their teenage son, Tom, is a brash 14-year-old who's already had a girl in his bedroom (though at the advice of his father), has tried drinking beer, spoken to Gary as if he's Gary's father, and has even spoken to one of Gary's girlfriends (Vanessa) in a flirtatious manner. Louise, their precocious 12-year-old daughter, is an intellectual who plays the cello, keeps photos of Mahatma Gandhi, Al Gore and Che Guevara on her bedroom walls, and watches C-SPAN.

Allison considers Gary to be irresponsible in his parenting while Gary considers Allison to be boring in her parenting; this is shown whenever they pick up their kids from the other's house. In the pilot episode, Gary starts dating a young divorced mom, Vanessa Flood, while Allison reveals that she's engaged to their former marriage counselor, Dr. Walter Krandall (Ed Begley Jr.). Tom begins a romance of his own when he invites a girl over for the first time. The three couples move forward uncertainly. Vanessa, however, breaks up with Gary after a short-lived relationship because of his inability to quit worrying about Allison.

In Season 2, Gary lands an on-air job at a local sports talk radio station, and eventually starts dating the station's new, young manager, Sasha.

The first season ran from September 24, 2008 to May 20, 2009. The series aired Wednesdays at 8:30 pm ET, following fellow CBS sitcom The New Adventures of Old Christine. They replaced the reality show Kid Nation. After an initial order of 13 episodes, CBS announced its order for seven more episodes of Gary Unmarried on November 14, 2008, calling it a full season pickup.[3] On January 7, 2009, the show won the "Favorite New TV Comedy" award at the 35th People's Choice Awards, beating one season cancellations Kath & Kim and Worst Week. On May 10, 2009, it was announced that executive producers Yeager and Swartzlander had left the series over creative differences.[4]

On May 19, 2009 it was announced that Gary Unmarried was officially picked up by CBS for a second season.[5] Season 2 premiered on Wednesday, September 23, 2009 at 8:30 pm ET.[6] It was replaced on the schedule by Accidentally on Purpose in March 2010, and was officially cancelled on May 18 of that year (alongside Accidentally on Purpose and The New Adventures of Old Christine).

• Mitch / Ronnie (David Denman): Vanessa's husband whom she has a very contentious relationship with. In episode 6 (Gary Meets The Gang), Mitch unwelcomely shows up at the restaurant where Vanessa works. Unaware that it was Vanessa's ex-husband, Gary befriends him. Later on in the episode, Mitch treacherously reveals to Vanessa all the comments Gary made about wishing to play the field despite the fact that he knew Gary was dating Vanessa.[9]
• Parker Flood (Charles Henry Wyson): Vanessa's violent only son with her ex-husband, Ronnie Mitchell. Parker is first seen when Vanessa brings him over to Gary's house to use the restroom. In episode 9 (Gary Gives Thanks) Parker persistently assaults Tom despite being younger and much smaller than Tom is.[10]
• Jack Brooks (Max Gail): Gary's eccentric father, who visited him for Thanksgiving (episode 9). He was lured away by Allison to celebrate Thanksgiving over at her place, in effect causing a lot of chaos.[11]
• Joan Plummer (Kathleen Rose Perkins): Louise's favorite teacher who Gary dates after his relationship with Vanessa ends. Gary was originally attracted to Joan's sexy teaching assistant, rather than Joan, who appeared rather plain. To prove to Louise that he wasn't shallow, Gary asked Joan out, discovered that her dowdy clothing hid her attractiveness, but was confronted by Joan, who revealed that she knew Gary was originally interested in the assistant and not her.[12] They eventually dated, however Joan was reluctant to pursue the physical aspect of their relationship.[13]
• Charlie (Martin Mull): Allison's discontented, henpecked, fun-loving father. Charlie is a man who's kept from many of his desires because of his wife. He is first seen on Thanksgiving as well. In retaliation for Allison luring Gary's father to her house, Gary lured Charlie to spend Thanksgiving over at his house. Charlie reveled in the freedom he had away from his wife, Connie. Charlie doesn't hesitate to show his dislike for Allison's fiancé Walter. His nickname for Allison is "Alligator."[11]
• Ira (Senyo Amoaku): A bouncer at Vanessa's work.
• Joe Torre (himself): Torre stars as himself in an episode. Torre visits Gary at the station and gets attacked twice by Gary's brother.

Ratings based on Live+Same Day.

On February 9, 2010, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment released the complete first season of Gary Unmarried on DVD in Region 1.[16]

• 2009 - People's Choice Awards - Favorite New Comedy - Won
• 2010 - Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a TV Series (Comedy or Drama) Supporting Young Actor-Ryan Malgarini-Won
• 2010 - Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a TV Series (Comedy or Drama) Supporting Young Actress-Kathryn Newton-Won

• https://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20225070,00.html
• https://www.variety.com/article/VR1117994552.html?categoryid=14&cs=1&nid=2565
• Marshall overturns her rep as a show killer

• Gary Unmarried at IMDb
• Gary Unmarried at TV.com