The Sonny Disposition – A Stan sitcom you might not have heard of

The Sonny Disposition is a new sitcom streaming on Stan about podcasters and other creative types who work in a co-working space. With each episode lasting less than 20 minutes, it’s the kind of show that would normally be popping up on YouTube, so kudos to writers Simon Taylor and Josh Samuels for getting it onto a platform that people pay for.

As well as co-directing the show, Taylor stars as Sonny, a podcaster in his 30s who’s successful but not yet number one. The Sonny Disposition is about Sonny’s attempts to climb the podcast rankings whilst planning his upcoming wedding to Beth (Joanna McKinnon Ward), and dealing with co-host Toby (Oliver Robertson), show producer Angie (Claudia Greenstone), show engineer Danni (Desiree Katakis), co-working space receptionist Maddie (Maddy Tyers), and photographer Suren (Stefan Ranaja Weerarathna).

With all these regular characters, plus Sonny’s podcast guests and various others, there’s a lot going on, and there’s not as much time for character development as there should be. In fact, a lot of the characters don’t seem to have much of a character at all, in some cases, falling back on sitcom stereotypes we’ve seen done better before (the dumb receptionist, the fiancé obsessed with minor details about the wedding flowers). There’s also a will-they-won’t they/sexual tension plot between two of the characters, which presumably heats up as the series progresses.

The laughs, when they come, often feel easy or crude – a podcast guest who has a brand deal with an anal lubricant leads to lots of jokes about…yeah, you know. And some of the dialogue and plot rarely seem driven by the characters, although the sub-plot in episode two, when receptionist Maddie uses AI to write some slop, has its moments. We’re also enjoying the moment of background slapstick, which occurs once an episode, just for the hell of it.

Mostly though, The Sonny Disposition is an opportunity to poke fun at influencers, content creators, chatbots, UFC fighters and bro gym culture, which are relatively unexplored topics for sitcoms. Largely because almost no one makes sitcoms anymore.

We also respect the story in the show’s media kit, which says that when Taylor and Samuels took their self-shot pilot of The Sonny Disposition to a production house, the unnamed production house wanted them to recast the show with “established actors” rather than the lesser-known cast of actors and comedians they’d assembled. We’re glad they stuck to their guns and said no to that. It’s good to see some fresh faces and not Darren Gilshenan again.

The Sonny Disposition, while far from perfect, feels like the kind of show that leads to those who made it doing something better next time. It’s also the kind of relatively inexpensive show every streaming service should be putting out every other month. Give the lesser-knowns a chance. Give Darren Gilshenan a holiday.