On September 10th, TBS broadcast the hour-long season finale for the superb comedy My Boys, and on the 11th Variety reported that the show will return for Season Two. Excellent news, this. I didn’t realize that Season One had been divided into two parts; the pilot and subsequent 13 episodes aired in November and December of 2006, and the remaining nine episodes aired in from July to September 2007.

The Boys’ appeal comes from the best places – the writing, directing and acting all combine to produce a witty, yet unassuming show. The finale was a perfect example; while listening to P.J. and Stephanie discuss last minute Italy trip details, Andy suggested that they all spend a special day right at home in Chicago seeing the sights, “like Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.”

With that mentality in mind, the day included a stop at the Art Institute of Chicago. Interestingly, instead of stopping to ponder Seurat’s Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, the gang checks out a different impressionist’s work, Paris Street, Rainy Day by Gustave Caillebotte. It was a nice reference to the John Hughes film without trying too hard. Of course, when Andy later manages to commandeer a tour bus in order to sing "Danke Schoen" to Brendan – there’s not a lot of subtlety there – but it’s still great comedy.

Also, in a genius bit of un-credited casting, the episode “D-Bag in the City” had the fantastic Ryan Reynolds (Amityville Horror, Van Wilder, Blade: Trinity) playing the part of “Hams”, Brendan’s new friend that brings out all his nasty “douchey-ness”. The “D-Bag” episode also went for an obvious gag; a subplot parody of Sex and the City. P.J.’s old college friend arrived from New York with a mini entourage of women folk who all seemed like Quantum Leap-alternative dimension versions of Samantha, Miranda, and Charlotte and Carrie. (Read – quite scary)

The only problem fans now have is the “who shot J.R.?” type conundrum as Season One ended with the “who did P.J. bring to Italy?” cliffhanger. Fan forums and message boards are filling up with guesses and conjecture. I’m picking Thorn, he probably had the money for the first class upgrade, and he and P.J. have the strongest emotional history, with the exception of Brendan – but ‘Brando’ lacks the funds and the emotional wherewithal to handle it. So, I and many, many fans will be awaiting the answer come Season Two. See you at Crowley’s!