Off Centre is an American sitcom that aired on The WB network from October 14, 2001, to October 31, 2002. Created by Chris Weitz, Paul Weitz, and Danny Zuker, the series was heavily promoted as "from the guys who brought you American Pie".

Synopsis

The series is centered on the lives of two twentysomething friends, British stud Euan Pierce and play-it-safe American Mike Platt, after they move into the posh Hadley Building on New York's Centre Street. Rounding out the cast are Mike's girlfriend, Liz Lombardi, their wacky friend, Vietnamese restaurant owner Chau Presley, and secretly sensitive gangsta rapper Status Quo.

Characters

Main

Supporting

Guest stars

Among the show's notable guest stars are Carmen Electra (as herself), and American Pie alumni Eugene Levy (as urologist Dr. Barry Wasserman), Jason Biggs (as Rick Steve, the man with two first names) and Shannon Elizabeth (as Dawn, a girlfriend of Chau's who adores seeing him get beat up). Tanya Roberts guest-stars in one episode as an older woman who ends up dating Euan. The show has one-off appearances by Jenna Fischer in "The Backup" and Zachary Quinto in "Diddler on the Roof" before they found fame on The Office and Heroes, respectively. There is also One Tree Hill star Bethany Joy Galeotti, and Perrey Reeves in "A Cute Triangle" prior to her turn on Entourage.

Episodes

Series overview

Season 1 (2001–02)

Season 2 (2002)

Cancellation

The show aired on The WB network on Sunday nights in its first season, and was renewed for a second season to be part of a new Thursday night comedy block. However, the move to Thursday did not help the lowly-rated show, and it was cancelled seven episodes into the second season, leaving two episodes ("Scary Sitcom" and "Chau's Hard Iced Tea") unfilmed.

Controversy

While it aired, the show was controversial for its raunchy content, as topics addressed included threesomes, circumcision, pornography and masturbation. On March 4, 2002, as the show faced pressure from watchdog groups such as the Parents Television Council (which voted Off Centre the second worst show for family viewing in 2002), The New York Post printed a memo from the WB's Standards and Practices Department to the creators of the show that stated: "It is essential to reduce and/or modify the significant number of uses of 'penis,' 'testicles,' 'foreskin' as well as euphemisms for the same, such as 'your thingie,'" the memo says in part. It also orders the exclusion of such references as "covered wagon", "unit", "turtleneck", "little fella", "anteater", "diddy", "cloaking device" and "my pig is still snuggly, wrapped in his doughy blanket." The episode which dealt with circumcision, "The Unkindest Cut", came under fire because of its treatment of the character Euan, who is British and has not been circumcised (the procedure is not routine and is uncommon in Europe and other parts of the world including Asia and South America), as well as the treatment of uncircumcised men in general.

Ratings