Two Guys a Girl and a Pizza Place Review

Perhaps you have heard the news that Scarlett Johansson and Ryan Reynolds are engaged. Who would have thought ten years ago that the star of Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place would be engaged to one of the hottest young actresses in Hollywood? The answer would be no one since Johansson was only 13 at the time. That would be like a 14 year-old Katie Holmes saying that one day she would marry Tom Cruise, 16 years her elder. Ridiculous! Anyway, 10 years after the debut of Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place, let’s take a look back.

The plot of Two Guys (I’m going to shorten the title instead of typing it over and over again) was simple enough. There were three twenty-somethings, ironically one girl and two guys, who lived in the same apartment building and hung around a pizza place. The guys were Pete (Richard Ruccolo), a neurotic architecture student and Berg (Ryan Reynolds), the laid-back pre-med. Sharon (Traylor Howard) was a tough girl with a soft center. (I took this line as well as the descriptions of Pete and Berg directly from the IMDB plot summary). In my mind, Two Guys was an underrated show. ABC never knew exactly what to do with it and the show was somewhat limited by the long and self-explanatory title. By the third season, the show was re-titled "Two Guys and a Girl" and later moved to an awful Friday night timeslot. Two Guys may have been a precursor to How I Met Your Mother. If you think about it, would there have been a HIMYM without Two Guys? The answer is probably yes, but I like asking nonsensical questions occasionally.



The cast of Two Guys has done quite well from the humble beginnings. Reynolds is now engaged to Scarlett Johansson (if you happened to miss the first line of this post) and has had a very successful film career. Although he is not an A-list actor, Reynolds would definitely fit in the A- or B+ category. Reynolds starred in Definitely, Maybe, Van Wilder and Just Friends and had significant supporting roles in Smokin’ Aces, Blade: Trinity and The In-Laws. With Reynolds starring in the 2009 release of X-Men Origins with Hugh Jackman and Liev Schreiber coupled with the fact that he is engaged to Johansson, the future is very bright for Berg.

Unless you count the quickly cancelled Bram and Alice (not this Bram), Traylor Howard has had only one noteworthy role since Two Guys. However, the role is in the critically acclaimed USA show Monk starring Emmy winner Tony Shalhoub. In my book, 50+ episodes on a sitcom is a success.

Nathan Fillion, who was neither of the two guys in the tile, is one of those actors that you know by his picture but not by name. He’s been on Desperate Housewives, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Drive (which did not last as long as Bram and Alice) and an episode of Lost. Fillion also played the leading male role in Waitress and is the voice of Sarge in Halo 3. That would be a cool gig.

I would write that Richard Ruccolo, the guy in the title not named Ryan Reynolds, has not had a successful post-Two Guys career except that he was engaged to Tiffani-Amber Thiessen. That has to be worth something, right?

Suzanne Cryer also appeared in 39 episodes as Berg’s girlfriend who fought regularly with Pete, but let’s not talk much about her career. Actually, she has had roles in dozens of television shows included Desperate Housewives, Frasier, ER, Grey’s Anatomy, Bones and the Drew Carey Show. Unfortunately, she only seems to appear in one episode.

Based on my trip down the Two Guys memory lane, I’m sure that you share the same question that I have: will Howard, Fillion, Ruccolo or Cryer be invited to the wedding?