Mr. Sunshine Season 1 Episode 1 can be watched on Wednesday at 9:31pm EST on WABC (ABC) TV channel. Title of the brand new episode is: Pilot. Synopsis of the episode is: Ben spends his 40th birthday trying to get rid of a hockey rink that won't melt, looking for an elephant lost in the building, and trying to fix a PR nightmare; Alice ends her casual relationship with Ben.
Mr. Sunshine is an American television series for the ABC network. The single-camera comedy was co-created by Matthew Perry, who also stars in the series. ABC started airing the series during the 2010-11 television season as a midseason replacement. It began airing in the US on February 9, 2011 at 9:30 pm.
Ben Donovan (Perry) is the sports arena manager for the Sunshine Center, a second-tier arena in San Diego. He goes through a mid-life crisis when he turns 40, while dealing with the unusual demands of his job and his unpredictable boss.
Mr. Sunshine is based on a concept by Matthew Perry, which Perry himself planned to co-write, star in and executive produce. The highly sought-after project sparked a bidding war among the networks, with ABC landing the comedy in October 2009. The deal came with hefty penalties if the pilot did not make it to series. Perry teamed with Sony writers Alex Barnow and Marc Firek to pen the script.
A green-light to produce the pilot came from ABC in early January 2010. Thomas Schlamme, of Shoe Money Productions, will direct the half-hour pilot. Perry, Schlamme, and co-writers Barnow and Firek were all listed as executive producers for the pilot, along with Jamie Tarses of FanFare Productions.
Casting began in late January, with Allison Janney as the first actor added to the cast as Ben's boss. In February, Andrea Anders was tapped as Ben's "friend with benefits," and Nate Torrence brought on board to play Roman, the son of Ben's boss. The casting of Portia Doubleday as Ben's assistant, and James Lesure as an ex-basketball star, was announced at the end of April.
In May 2010, ABC picked up the pilot for the 2010-2011 television season. Tarses and Schlamme will serve as executive producers for the series.
