Mrs. Rabbit: Thumper!
Thumper: Yes, mama?
Mrs. Rabbit: What did your father tell you this morning?
Thumper: (clears throat) If you can't say something nice… don't say nothing
at all.
Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved
"Work It," that new high-concept comedy which premieres
tonight (8:30 – 9 p.m.) on the ABC Television Network is … Well … er … um …
Oh, to hell with it. This genuinely unfunny sitcom makes me
really, really, REALLY miss "Cougar Town."
You remember "Cougar Town," right? That adult comedy which
used to air on ABC on Wednesday nights right after "Modern Family"? This Bill
Lawrence production may have had an awful title. But "Cougar Town" was smart
and irreverent. More to the point, it
had a terrific ensemble (Courtney Cox, Christa Miller and Ian Gomez among
others) who clearly enjoyed performing this show's sharply written scripts.
The cast of ABC's "Cougar Town." (L to R) Busy Philipps, Josh Hopkins, Courteney
Cox, Brian Van Holt, Ian Gomez, Christa Miller and Dan Byrd as Travis. Photo by Bob
D'Amico. Copyright American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. All rights reserved
But as ABC executives were putting together their schedule
for the 2011 – 2012 season, they seem to have decided to go another way – at least
when it comes to sitcoms. So smart and irreverent was out (Which is why "Cougar
Town" got benched 'til mid-season. Not to mention having its initial order for
Season 3 of this ABC Studios production pared back from 22 episodes to 15) while
crude & crass were in.
Which isn't necessarily a bad thing. As Mel Brooks has
proved over the course of his 60+ year career, being crude & crass can sometimes
translate into comedy gold. Likewise having men dressed up as women has been a
proven laugh-getter for as far back as Aristophanes.
So if that's really the case, then why doesn't "Work It" work?
I honestly don't know what to tell you here, folks. But from the very first
scene of this show's pilot, it's clear that something very wrong has gone on behind-the-scenes.
Because viewers are being asked to buy into a highly unlikely premise where
extremely unlikable characters then do dumb things that would never ever happen
in real life.
Finding a job in this economy was a real drag for Ben Koldyke as Lee and Amaury
Nolascoas Angel in ABC's "Work It." Photo by Bob D'Amico. Copyright American
Broadcasting Companies, Inc. All rights reserved
And – yes – I know. This is a sitcom. And over the history
of television, there are lots of very successful sitcoms which featured highly unlikely
premises. But you wanna know the difference between those TV shows and "Work It"?
Those sitcoms were funny.
And that – in a nutshell – is "Work It" 's real flaw. It's
just not funny. And I say this as someone who gets a lot of enjoyment out of
watching ABC's "Wipeout." Which shows that I can go for crass-and-crude comedy,
especially if it's well executed.
And speaking of execution … Here's hoping that ABC puts "Work
It" out of its misery fairly quickly. So that there'll once again be room on
this network's schedule for a smart, irreverent sitcom like – say – "Cougar
Town."
Bill Lawrence confers with Courtney Cox on the set of ABC's "Cougar Town."
Photo by Bruce Birmelin. Copyright American Broadcasting Companies,
Inc. All rights reserved
And speaking of "Cougar Town" … To help build buzz for the as-yet-unscheduled-return
of this ABC Studios production, Bill Lawrence has recently begun staging special
screening parties for this sitcom around the country. So if you're a "Cougar
Town" fan who lives in Austin, Boston, Connecticut, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia,
Phoenix, San Diego or San Francisco, you might want to sign up for Bill's
Twitter feed.
That way, you'll be among the first to get the heads-up
about any "Cougar Town" events that are to be held in your neck-of-the-woods in
the coming weeks. And if the screening parties that were held last Tuesday night
in Atlanta, Louisville and Sarasota are any indication of what's to come, you
can expect to meet at least one really-for-real member of this show's cast plus
a member of "Cougar Town" 's writing staff. And there'll be live on-site games
of Penny Can. And did I mention that you'll get to see episodes from Season 3 BEFORE
they air on ABC?
Just to be clear here: These are not Disney or ABC
sanctioned or sponsored events. Lawrence is using social media to set these up
all on his own. More to the point, Bill's paying for these special "Cougar Town"
screening parties out of his own pocket.
The cast of ABC's "Work It" : (L to R) John Caparullo, Beth Lacke, Hannah Sullivan,
Amaury Nolasco (standing), Ben Koldyke (seated), Rebecca Mader, Kate Reinders,
Kirstin Eggers and Rochelle Aytes. Photo by Bob D'Amico. Copyright American
Broadcasting Companies, Inc. All rights reserved
You know what strikes me ironic about this whole situation?
Here's Bill Lawrence working so hard, putting in all of the extra time &
effort into making sure that viewers don't forget about "Cougar Town" while it's
off the air. And then there's the "Work It" production team, who couldn't be
bothered to put in the time & effort necessary to come with a workable
premise for that sitcom before it aired on ABC.
Sorry. That's not very Thumper-like of me, is it?
Okay. One final "Work It" -related note. To make sure that
the ABC Television Network knows that the viewers haven't forgotten about "Cougar
Town," as "Work It" is airing from 8:30 – 9 p.m. E/PT tonight, fans of this
Bill Lawrence show are going to try and make Cougar Town a trending topic on
Twitter.
Copyright American Broadcasting Companies, Inc.
All rights reserved
I'm not sure if using social media like this will have any
real lasting impact when it comes to the twits who run the network. But when it comes to "Cougar Town" fans, I have to admit that I do admire their (Penny) can-do spirit.
Your thoughts?
And speaking of Penny Can, have you noticed JHM's new tip jar? I bet that you could hit it from here if you tried …
