Sitcom’s a tricky business
By Casey Gillis on Apr. 02, 2008
Crafting a good sitcom is tricky business.
Sometimes you hit pay dirt with a classic like “Seinfeld” or “Friends.” But more often than not, you wind up with a miss.
That’s exactly what happened with Fox’s midseason entry, “Unhitched,” which just aired its season finale Sunday. Let’s all say a little prayer that it was actually a series finale, so we never have to hear from this show again. It was awful.
Take, for instance, the finale’s opening segment. Awkward doctor Freddy (Shaun Majumder) was riding in the car with his date when she got pulled over for speeding.
“Don’t worry,” she said, undoing the top few buttons on her shirt. “I’ll take care of this.”
Cut to Freddy sitting in the car while his date takes care of it by, um, taking care of the two cops who pulled her over.
“All I could do was just sit there and watch them finish … processing her,” he later told his pals, played by Rashida Jones, Craig Bierko and Johnny Sneed.
I can handle crude humor, but it has to actually be funny. “Unhitched” wasn’t.
And it completely wasted the talents of Jones, who was much better as Karen on “The Office.” I kept wondering why and how her character was friends with the other three losers.
The only real laughs came from Sneed as the caddish Tommy, but even those were few and far between.
Bierko, who possesses no comic timing, didn’t fit at all, and was constantly saddled with painful, tasteless storylines.
This week was no exception. After a rat got loose in Jones’ apartment, the three guys saved the day by trapping the rodent in her microwave. You can guess what happened next; they fried the poor thing.
Gross, not funny, right?
Well the punch line, if you could call it that, came next. On his way out to dispose of the microwave, he encounters a pretty new neighbor who — wait for it — is looking for her missing pet rat. Still not laughing? Neither was I.
Only two other sitcoms have debuted this spring. If you blinked, you missed Fox’s “The Return of Jezebel James,” which was pulled from the air after only three airings.
The best of the bunch is ABC’s “Miss Guided,” which airs its final two episodes tonight at 8 and 8:30 p.m.
Star Judy Greer is a gifted comic actress who has excelled at playing the best friend/sidekick in movies like “13 Going on 30” and “27 Dresses,” as well as the canceled-too-soon CBS series “Love Monkey” a few years ago.
She plays Becky Freeley, a woman who returns to her old high school as a guidance counselor, while trying to forget about the gawky teenager she used to be.
But she’s thrown back into the drama of those younger years when her old nemesis, former cheerleader Lisa (Brooke Burns), is hired on as an English teacher. The rivalry is renewed when both ladies lust after hot Spanish teacher Tim (Kristoffer Polaha, who is definitely swoon-worthy).
The show can be uneven at times, but Greer usually saves it with her awkward charm.
Most of the storylines so far have centered on Becky trying to keep up with Lisa in some way or fit in with the other teachers. She’s almost childlike in those moments, like when she tries to impress Tim by chugging a beer or acting wilder than she actually is.
Becky is much more likable and worth rooting for when she’s just being herself, whether she’s doling out advice to her students or sharing a quiet moment with Tim, sans Lisa.
Chris Parnell is another standout as vice principal Bruce. Like many fictional vice principals before him, Bruce is weasely, self-righteous and hilarious. His man-crush on guest star Ashton Kutcher’s substitute teacher was one of the show’s funniest gags so far.
The show has boasted several famous guest stars, including Kutcher, an executive producer, and Jamie Lynn Spears. Tonight, Rumer Willis, daughter of Bruce and Demi and stepdaughter of Kutcher, drops by as a goth troublemaker.
Maybe the writers can find a role for Rashida Jones next season, so she can fall in with a classier cast of characters than those guys over on “Unhitched.”
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