Let's dance, kids. Back again in record time, it's "Entertainment on Jeff's Terms", welcoming you back to my ongoing look at the most jam-packed day of new programming so far in this, the 2011-2012 television season.
Mere hours ago, I brought you my look at CBS new nerd-friendly drama Person of Interest.
Now, it's time to head over to the network that has made Thursday nights a broadcast television legend for almost three decades, NBC and the newest edition to "Comedy Night Done Right" (do they still call it that?), a rare multi-camera comedic programme called Whitney.
Are all the countless months of internet snark and prejudicial hatred appropriate?--Let's find out.
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THE GIST OF IT
It's morning and our central couple Whitney (Chelsea Lately regular Whitney Cummings, playing a fictionalized namesake) and Alex (Chris D'Elia of the execrable and thankfully-cancelled TBS "comedy" Glory Daze) are playfully jockeying for position in front of their bathroom mirror. Alex is trying to shave. Whitney is applying eyeliner...and shaving her upper lip. (It happens.)
Moments later, they're dressed and ready for yet another of their casual acquaintances' weddings. Once there, they're joined by their four closest friends: overly-affectionate couple Neal (Maulik Pancholy, best known as Jack Donaghy's obsessive assistant Jonathan on 30 Rock) and Lily (Zoe Lister-Jones of Adult Swim's Delocated), chauvinistic police officer Mark (Dan O'Brien), and bitter recent divorcee Roxanne (most recently of TNT's Franklin and Bash). Banter and awkward comedic shenanigans ensue. (It's not that it wasn't substantial; there's just not much to recap about it.) Later that night, Whitney and Alex discuss their plans for their three-year anniversary tomorrow. As it stands, they don't have a great track record of making the day special and both go to bed mulling over the possibilities.
The next day, Whitney, Lily, and Roxanne head out to an erotic novelties shop and look at some options. When all is said and done, they decide some role-play might be fun.
Cut to that night, as Alex comes home from work to find Whitney waiting in a classic "sexy nurse" outfit. After Whitney gets a little too into her role (she presents him with realistic waiting room paperwork), Alex begins to disrobe and heads for the bedroom...until he slips and hits his head on the kitchen counter, leaving him unconscious. Whitney rushes him to the emergency room where the admitting nurse (the delightful comedienne Loni Love) refuses to allow her into the exam room as she's not Alex's spouse.
The pair's friends all gather in the waiting room to keep Whitney company, later joined by her mother Patti (Malcolm in the Middle's Jane Kaczmarek) who lobbies for Whitney to consider marrying Alex to avoid situations just like this. Eventually, Whitney is allowed in to see the now-conscious Alex. Emotional, she kneels and proposes but Alex declines, and both of them are humorously relieved. Alex understands Whitney's misgivings about marriage (both her parents have been divorced three times apiece) and is willing to wait until the day she's ready or even if she's not. The two embrace and decide to give their role-play another try...until Alex falls off the bed.
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MOVING FORWARD
Next week, Whitney and Alex realize they've actually never had a real, traditional first date and set out to recreate the experience, complete with all the awkward rituals and sleeping in different beds...or so IMDb tells me. It's a comedy. Once again, I still haven't figured out how to use this section properly for comedies.
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IN ESSENCE, MY FRIENDS...
...I realize this is going to bother some people...but I really rather enjoyed that. That was immensely charming and elicited some of the biggest laughs I've had this season so far.
I truly can't believe the levels of bile and violent hatred that have been tossed at this show over the past few months. I've come to the conclusion that the vast majority of such criticisms are obviously BEYOND prejudicial. Look, I agree that some of the promotional materials have been hacky and that the "silent treatment" ads in particular verged on somewhat bothersome but seriously?--All the hate for this?
Is everyone really just that immediately dismissive of a multi-camera sitcom on NBC?--I mean, after torrents of duds like 100 Questions, Joey, and the much-maligned Americanization of Coupling, I can understand people being somewhat wary (jaded, even), but I reiterate my utter disbelief at just how hardcore hateful people have been toward this show. For shame, all of you.
Let me reiterate something else: this was delightful.
Now, I'm not disputing that some of the characters dipped into sitcom stereotype on occasion (looking at you, Mark and Roxanne), but in this show's defense, it doesn't celebrate them for it. Lesser shows would really try to force-feed us the idea that Mark and Roxanne are supposed to be our favorite characters because "LOOK! SHE'S SO BITCHY AND HE'S SUCH A THOUGHTLESS HORNDOG! AREN'T THEY EDGY?!"...but this show is as tired of these two as we are, and kindly says, "Don't worry, viewer. We're laughing at them, not with them." As for Neal and Lily...they're harmless (much like this show, so CALM THE FUCK DOWN, EVERYBODY).
Now, let's talk about our central couple.
I'll be honest. Whitney Cummings isn't my favorite comedienne. I wouldn't go out of my way to watch one of her specials or anything...but I've always appreciated her somehow. I dig the cut of her jib, I guess. As an actress, she's a little green, but to be fair, look at some of our favorite stand-ups-turned-sitcom-stars. Jerry Seinfeld had to work at it. Roseanne had to work at it. Drew Carey...well, maybe he's still an acquired taste (which I personally DID acquire, but that's neither here nor there). Even Louis C.K. had to work on his range a bit...and look at how all of those turned out.
I had a great conversation with my best friend about a month ago in which we discussed Whitney's potential for success in the grand scheme of comedians with sitcoms. One of the things that will work in Cummings' favor is the fact that while she's somewhat known via her work on Chelsea Lately and the Comedy Central Roasts, but she's not THE comedian, you know? Even beyond the ever-widening distaste for him over the years, Dane Cook--arguably the most popular (to a fault) comedian of the last decade--has attempted to sell three pilots to the networks in that time. All have failed, and the reason: OVERSATURATION.
Another example...in 1995, Jeff Foxworthy was one of the most widely known and--truth be told--overexposed stand-ups in the country. His self-titled ABC sitcom was cancelled after one season and only barely revived for a second life on NBC the following year. People got tired of "the redneck guy". I won't lie. I'm a Foxworthy fan (judge me if you must) and I can wholeheartedly understand. (The same could also be said for his later TV experiment Blue Collar TV; an idea so ill-advised that Ron White--always the most shrewd and intelligent of the Blue Collar boys--would only appear in very sporadic cameos. He knew it wouldn't end well, because even by that point, America was sighing a collective "We get it, can we move on now?")
It's a proven formula. The lesser known the stand-up, the more successful the show. The more famous the stand-up, they'll be cancelled within weeks; months, if they're lucky. Whitney's gonna be okay.
All that rambling aside, let's get back to my point. Whitney and Chris D'Elia's Alex are adorable together. We can believe that they love each other and that they have no reason or intention of changing that anytime soon, if ever. Part of that can be attributed to the fact that--unlike most TV couples of the last few years--they aren't in such a constant state of hateful barb-volleying and bickering that we can't fathom why they're together. They're certainly sarcastic with each other on occasion, but you can tell that all of it comes from a place of affection, which is all too rare on television these days.
Much like FOX's wonderful New Girl, Whitney (promotional materials aside) is optimistic and sweethearted and...well, I love it. There. I said it.
Hell, if I can be perfectly frank...they had me at "Whitney is taped before live studio audience. ...You heard me." Yes, I did. See you next week, show.
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THESE ARE BLURBS
Remaining wonderances (not a word, but I'm going with it) on Whitney...
- Still wondering where Maulik Pancholy stands regarding 30 Rock. If the ratings are any indication, we may be seeing Whitney stick around for a while, so...no more Jonathan? (Although, to be fair, I can see the friend characters being quietly phased out eventually, so...we'll see.)
- You know, as years have gone on, I've come to realize that I kind of hated Malcolm in the Middle, and Jane Kaczmarek's Lois, in particular. I can think of few more unforgivably hateful parents in television history...and yet I literally golf clapped when she appeared on screen here. I shrug.
- I know somebody's going to be a smartass and be all, "Jeff, it may be filmed with an audience but they still used a laugh-track so...meh-burgabur." I really kind of don't care. That they're even trying the studio-audience method (which I would argue gave us a slight majority of our on-screen laughs here) is wholly commendable, and I'd be willing to bet they're using it to figure out how to tweak the show when necessary. I trust them. You don't have to, but I do.
- WHITNEY AIRS THURSDAY NIGHTS AT 9:30pm EST ON NBC!
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...and I don't know about you, but my spirits are lifted.
Coming up before day's end (or possibly even sometime tomorrow), it'll be my look at NBC's take on the series that made Dame Helen Mirren a star, Prime Suspect. Its ratings are admittedly already pretty dismal...but it still deserves our attention...AND SO IT SHALL HAVE IT!
Until then, this is what happens when the biggest comedian in the country headlines a sitcom. Don't count Whitney out. Have an open mind...and smile.
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