{alltv} Perry jumps back into television

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Matthew Perry saw an entertainment opportunity so big he could drive a Zamboni through it.

Well, that's being a bit flippant. But Perry's new sitcom Mr. Sunshine - which debuts Monday, Feb. 7 on CTV, and Wednesday, Feb. 9 on ABC - did require lots of thematic thought on his part.

"When I initially wanted to write something, you write what you know, so I wanted to write a show-business thing," Perry recalled. "But all the networks just went, 'No, you can't do that, people don't relate to it.'

"So I tried to figure out something that was sort of similar, had some entertainment aspects to it. And I just know for most people, going to these places (arenas) for concerts or (sports) events is a big, fun, exciting night for them. Why not try to do a show there?"

In Mr. Sunshine, Perry - who is best known for playing Chandler on Friends - stars as Ben Donovan, a self-involved manager of a San Diego sports arena called the Sunshine Center.

As he turns 40, Ben is questioning his selfish existence and is trying to take baby steps toward being a better person. On a daily basis, though, his co-workers and the goofy challenges of his job - for example, what do you do when the circus is in town and the ice won't melt? - test his patience.

"That's exactly what happens in the pilot, there was hockey the night before and the next night it's the circus," said Perry, who was raised in Ottawa. "We did a little research and found out that actually was okay to do.

"For the most part the ice is just there all the time and they put the boards over it. At the Staples Center (in Los Angeles), it takes them two and a half hours to do it. But when the circus comes to town, they really melt the ice, because they don't want elephants to slip and fall.

"If they don't make it, they have 18,000 people going, 'You didn't make it.'" Perry's overall goal is to make Mr. Sunshine an ensemble comedy, and in that sense he has acquired a strong cast.

Allison Janney (The West Wing) plays Crystal, the flighty and unstable owner of the Sunshine Center who often leaves massive public-relations messes for Ben to mop up.

Andrea Anders (Better Off Ted) plays Alice, the cute marketing director who to this point has been Ben's friend with benefits.

And Nate Torrence plays Crystal's good-natured but incompetent son Roman, who is foisted upon Ben with instructions from Crystal to "find him a job" somewhere in the building.

"I am going to make a TV star out of this guy (Torrence) somehow," Perry promised. "He's unbelievably talented and the character he's playing is this innocent, likeable guy who's just sort of hanging around. We have good banter and hopefully we'll be funny together.

"We aspire to be a work-place comedy like Taxi and Cheers and The Office." Nonetheless, as the star, co-creator and co-executive producer, Matthew Perry really is standing at centre ice with Mr. Sunshine.

"Yes, I was scared, and that's why I did it," said Perry, who had one of the lead roles in the much-hyped but ultimately ratings-challenged series Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip back in 2006 and 2007.

"You can't just sit at home and play video games for three years in a row. You have to figure out something to do."