TV News and Reviews

So, TV.com has word on Amy Poehler’s new sitcom. It’s apparently going to be an <i>Office</i> style mockumentary, with Amy Poehler as a Parks and Recreation Department worker in Indiana. The plot will center around the characters trying to get a construction pit turned into a city park. The plot sounds completely inane, but sometimes sitcoms aren’t really about the plot–it’s about the characters and the dialogue. I love Amy Poehler, but have never found <i>The Office</i> funny, so I’m not getting my hopes up.

Somewhere along the line it seems that America’s sense of humor has changed, and I don’t get it. Well, I don’t get some of it. I love Big Bang Theory and often laugh until it hurts; How I Met Your Mother is uneven but often very good comedy. Julia Louis-Dreyfuss has to play the idiot a bit too much in her Christine sitcom, but she makes the absurdity work a lot of the time with the help of some skilled physical comedy–and the supporting cast are hilarious. Gary UnMarried sometimes grates because he gets nearly all the best lines, and his ex-wife borders on shrill shrew too often, but those good lines are awesomely devilish, making sarcasm an art form.

So yeah, I can still find funny in primetime TV. But The Office–well, I tried. It just didn’t make me laugh. Maybe having dealt with annoying clueless coworkers and bosses in real life has made me irritated by such characters rather than finding it hilarious satire. The most the show ever got out of me was a mild smile or two. I truly don’t get how enamored people are with The Office. I also don’t get the 30 Rock mania, though in fairness I haven’t watched it in awhile. I gave up on it when Tina Fey’s character started being the typical female character on sitcoms–in other words, a completely clueless loser. Alec Baldwin was still ridiculously outrageous and is a major contributor to the success of that show–without him, I’m not sure it would have lasted this long. And while I loved Tina Fey on SNL, I just don’t see the appeal here so much.

So another show in this vein just doesn’t inspire me with confidence. I’m willing to check it out to see if Amy Poehler can make something out of it that I find watchable, but if it’s going to be uber dry, lifeless droning mockumentary that strives to make everyone watching uncomfortable…er, not so much. I wish Amy Poehler success, and it seems that even if I don’t like it, there may be a whole audience of Office lovers who go crazy for it.

Amy Poehler’s going out on a good note. With guest host Hugh Laurie at the helm, and the best work I’ve seen out of the current cast in awhile, Amy Poehler got to say her farewells in true SNL mad style.

The first treat of the night was a reunion of Amy Poehler and Maya Rudolph for a Saturday Night Live favorite, Bronx Beat. The two women did their finely tuned routine of talking over one another about their physical ailments, husbands, and the sexiness of their guest, the local British butcher (Hugh Laurie). This sketch was a perfect testament to these ladies’ gift for comedy: they made Hugh Laurie laugh. In the middle of a sketch. This is a respected, talented, lifelong comedian and actor, who has worked with both Stephen Fry and Rowan Atkinson, and here he was, laughing helplessly at the craziness of the Bronx Beat hosts. It was impossible not to crack up as they begged him to “talk British” and say “schedule” and “crisps”, denounced his mention of “blood sausage”, and then swooned when he said “vitamin” (with a short “i” of course).

Here’s my favorite all-time Bronx Beat episode, with Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, and Jake Gyllenhaal:

It was the first time in awhile that I’ve laughed at every sketch up to and including the news. A conservative family in their Christmas sweaters and immaculate haircuts sniped at each other over each and every comment, then broke into a singalong of “Silent Night”. They captured perfectly the bizarre mix of forced cheer and palpable tension that define a lot of family holidays. Jason Sudeikis did a brilliant turn as a frustrated emcee at a wedding with an endless string of toasts from various obscure family members. Once again, Saturday Night Live struck the right note by creating absurd characters that weren’t so far from the reality we’ve all witnessed at weddings.

Amy Poehler and Seth Myers did their turn at the news, cracking each other up as always, and treating us to one last installment of “Really?” in regards to Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich’s corrupt ways and bad hair. Their endless stream of jibes at his “toupee that’s wearing a toupee” were right on the money, the best being when Poehler compared it to when you put one of those little Fisher Price figure’s hair on backwards.

Fred Armisen created a hilarious portrait of New York governor David Paterson, working the physical comedy angle with one squinting eye and the other pointed inward as he spun the wrong way in his chair and held charts upside down. He also made frequent references to sex scandals and drugs, and how one of his criteria for replacing Senator Clinton was to find someone “a little bit off”. The clincher came when Amy was giving a tearful farewell speech, and Armisen-as-Paterson wandered in front of the camera, seemingly lost. Poehler couldn’t help laughing as she tried to give the remainder of her goodbye around his head, which was blocking most of the camera lens. It was the perfect absurd goodbye for a great SNL performer.

I wish Amy Poehler much success in her future career and life. She’s given us all a lot of joy in her time on Saturday Night Live, and it won’t be the same without her.

Watch SNL on Saturday nights, at 11:35pm Eastern/10:35pm Central on NBC.

You’ve probably already heard that Lipstick Jungle and My Own Worst Enemy have been cancelled. I never watched Lipstick Jungle, because last year I erroneously chose Cashmere Mafia instead–though perhaps it was better to watch the show that got axed before I’d invested in it. It is a shame to see Andrew McCarthy get work, however, only to have the rug pulled out from under again.

My Own Worst Enemy had promise, and Christian Slater was doing a really incredible job of playing the super spy with a man-made split personality. The show did have some plot holes, but it was suspenseful and a change from your standard drama/cop/lawyer shows, but alas, it just couldn’t hold the ratings. It probably didn’t help that its lead-in, NBCs heavy-hitter Heroes, isn’t doing all that awesome either. I’m sure Christian Slater is hoping that the right people saw enough of the show to land him a job in something else. Based on his performance in My Own Worst Enemy, I’d say he deserves it.

As for other floundering shows, Saturday Night Live’s loss of Amy Poehler has led to the hiring of Michaela Watkins and Abby Elliot in featured roles. The show definitely does need more women, and critics thus far seem to approve of the choices. It remains to be seen how well they do–I still haven’t decided if SNL is faltering because of the writing or because their performers don’t have enough charisma. It may be a little of both, or may be just that these writers don’t mesh with these performers. Entertainment Weekly pointed out their disappointment that no black women were hired for the show, and it is a bit ridiculous when Kenan Thompson has to play all the black female characters (though I have to admit his Whoopi impression is pretty funny). You can’t tell me there aren’t any funny black women out there, but maybe they don’t want to do SNL!