Courtesy of CBS
Sidney (Sarah Michelle Gellar) has another blast from the past when an old coworker shows up to declare his love…or his obsession? Meanwhile, Simon (Robin Williams) works his hardest to land an account from two Australians. But the big mystery is, when will this show actually get good?
Let’s bitch…
Here’s the deal: I love comedies. I love to laugh. Most of the shows I have reviewed on this blog have been comedies, but even the dramas I love (Buffy, Veronica Mars, etc) have a large amount of comedic content in them. I am just a guy that loves to laugh, and believe me, it doesn’t take much to do it. So why am I not laughing when I watch this show?! Over the past seven weeks, if I gathered all the great funny material from all the episodes, I would have around 10 minutes worth of content (and that figure includes the gag reel at the end of every episode!). I start off every episode eagerly anticipating the funny moments, but for the most part they just don’t come.
Am I being too hard on this show? Are my expectations too high? The short answer is no. The fact is I came in with lowered expectations because I haven’t been a huge fan of Robin Williams of late(let’s be honest: his schtick got old somewhere around 1996). Williams has basically been repeating the same accents and jokes since he voiced the Genie in Aladdin. That’s not to say that he’s never funny; he still has his moments, but they have certainly been few and far between on this show.
Courtesy of CBS
The problem is that the lines delivered from the other characters just aren’t that funny, either! That might not be as much of an issue if the characters were interesting (at least we would want to continue watching), but that’s not the case, either. This group of coworkers just don’t really spark much interest. Since our introduction to these characters in the pilot we haven’t really found out anything new about any of them. They’re all still stock characters: Simon is the loose canon/crazy one, Sidney is the tightly wound one, Andrew (Hamish Linklater) is the weird and nerdy guy, Zach (James Wolk) is the man candy, and Lauren (Amanda Setton) is the beautiful stalker girl. That’s pretty much it. Not much to go on. The thing with comedies is that they can still be somewhat successful with one-dimensional characters (Hello Will and Grace!) but that means that the jokes have to be funny.
Which brings us to this week. As usual, the jokes often fall flat. The pitch to the Australians is painful to watch, not only because I don’t really get Simon’s hatred for them but because I saw the mute bit coming from a mile away. Obviously he’ll forget to press the mute button and say something awful. Also, I got embarrassed for them during the montage pitch. From the cutesy kangaroo to the Priscilla get-up, it is just all so bad.
I know this might seem like I am through with the show, or that I hate it, but I’m not and I don’t. I just expect more out of it and I don’t think I am being unreasonable. Look at the talent behind this show: Robin Williams, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Hamish Linklater, James Wolk, and David E. Kelley. There is some big talents involved, but they just aren’t delivering a funny or exciting show. I still think they can turn it around, but as the weeks pass that hope is dwindling. Maybe next week…
Other observations:
- It’s great to see Josh Groban doing something. He’s actually one of the bright spots in the episode.
- So Lauren is a creepy, stalkerish girl? I guess that’s kind of funny.
- The flashback to Simon’s birthday is sweet. I still stand by my comments about his relationship with Sidney: it’s one of the best parts of this series. I just wished the writers exploited it more.
What does everyone else think? Are you enjoying the show? Do you think I am crazy or too critical? Did you laugh more than once during this episode? Sound off below.
The Crazy Ones airs Thursday nights at 9pm EST on CBS