Off Centre

Synopsis

The series was centered on the lives of two friends, British stud Euan Pierce (played by Sean Maguire) and play-it-safe American Mike Platt (played by Eddie Kaye Thomas), after they move into the posh Hadley Building on New York's Centre Street. Rounding out the cast were Mike's girlfriend, Liz Lombardi (Lauren Stamile), their wacky friend, Vietnamese restaurant owner Chau Presley (played by John Cho), and secretly sensitive gangsta rapper Status Quo (Jason George).

Characters

Euan Pierce – A womanizing graduate of Oxford University, suave Brit Euan works as an investment banker and is reckless with money, as seen in the lavish apartment he shares with Mike, which includes of all things, a $2,000 airplane propeller. Among the skeletons in his closet are his "fruity" middle name (Crispin) and the fact that he used to riverdance. Loosely based on Chris Weitz's university friend and subsequent roommate Euan Rellie.

Mike Platt – Unlike his Oxford roommate Euan, Mike is hardly financially stable, and for most of the series he worked for a non-profit organization, writing letters on behalf of political prisoners, protesting overfishing of the delicious Chilean sea bass, and performing other deeds that he cared little about, as he chose the job because it was close to his apartment. Mike went on to a short-lived career at a video game company before working as the sound guy for porn films, and later into unemployment. Mike dated Liz for over a year, and his attempts to break up with her during the first episode of the second season were thwarted when she dumped him first. Before Eddie Kaye Thomas was cast as Mike, both Will Friedle (Boy Meets World) and Josh Radnor (How I Met Your Mother) were attached to the role at one time.

Liz Lombardi – Mike's girlfriend for over a year, Liz was frequently seen trying to get Mike to better himself and take more control of his life.

Chau Presley – Chau is Mike and Euan's Vietnamese restaurateur friend. His restaurant is called Qui Nhon. Some of his wacky antics consists of accidentally burning Mike's apartment, making money betting at illegal cock fights, and dating a homeless girl who showed signs of being mentally insane. He is the most free-spirited of the group. He is frequently looking for new schemes to attract the ladies, some of which work (such as claiming to be an MTV director when Cribs profiled Status Quo, and starting a fake band, The Chau Project, and booking a gig, despite not having any songs), and some of which don't (buying a ferret and carrying it on his shoulder for a week). His excuses and explanations are frequently outlandish. He once claimed that Euan had a bedspread made of puppies in order to woo a contestant on The Real World away from him.

Nathan Cole aka Status Quo – A Grammy-Award-winning rapper often followed by his "posse people" MC French and DJ Cheddar, he lets down his tough facade around his friends. He secretly enjoys cooking, owned a fastidiously groomed standard poodle named D'Artagnan, is close friends with Martha Stewart and once briefly dated Cher. He had a long-time crush on Liz, but they refrained from pursuing a relationship, realizing that they couldn't risk their friendship and Scrabble games.

Supporting characters

Dr. Barry Wasserman – Appears in "The Unkindest Cut" and "P.P. Doc II: The Examination Continues." Played by Eugene Levy, Wasserman is a urologist who inexplicably has a large cult following. Dedicated to his work, he calls his car "The Penismobile" (its license plate reads "PPDOC"), and he frequently has to explain to people that he's not joking. He is allegedly the urologist of choice for P.Diddy, Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan, which makes him irresistible to women. Wasserman moved into the Hadley building after his wife committed suicide. He frequently makes jokes about his dead wife that no one finds funny but him.

Jordan – Introduced as a sort of female counterpart to Chau, Jordan is Liz's friend, who, according to Euan, has no social filter. Played by Rayne Marcus. Jordan says whatever is on her mind with no concern for the people around her, which creates several embarrassing situations, especially in restaurants. She and Chau briefly dated, before an argument about who was hotter - Owen Wilson (her choice) or Luke Wilson (Chau's choice) ended their relationship. She works as an assistant to Dr. Wasserman. Jordan refuses to use slang words for the notion of 'sexual intercourse', thereby referring to it as such or otherwise as coïtus.

Notable guest stars

Among the shows notable guest stars were 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 also guest starred in one episode as an older woman who ends up dating Euan. The show also featured 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 was also One Tree Hill star Bethany Joy Galeotti. And Perrey Reeves in "A Cute Triangle" prior to her turn on Entourage.

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.

Cancellation

The show aired on The WB network on Sunday nights, and despite dismal ratings, was renewed for a second season. However, the move to Thursday did not help the show, and it was cancelled seven episodes into the second season, leaving two episodes ("Scary Sitcom" and "Chau's Hard Iced Tea") unfilmed.