The appeal of Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart is almost impossible to resist, so when I learned that one of their star correspondents, Rob Corrdry was leaving after what seemed like an eternity, to forge new ground on his own, I was excited and delighted, but after just a few episodes, my delight turned quickly to dismay.
It's not just that the show sucks, which it does, but that there isn't anything good at all about it. Nope, not one single, solitary, sickly, sadly thing.
The casting is weak, with a love interest I'd have to be drunk to hit on, parents who aren't even believable as B-actors, and child stars who seem to be neither children nor stars. The only good casting involved is Corrdry himself, but come on, he's the star, he needs a solid supporting cast.
If Jerry Seinfeld had surrounded himself with unattractive actors who couldn't even act, his show would have been cancelled more quickly than "The Seinfeld Chronicles", which is another matter entirely and one we don't need to go in to. If Drew Carey or Ray Romano had put a backup crew behind them as sub-par as this, they'd have been cut more quickly than Titus, and that's not an insult as much as it is a judgment on how poorly put together Titus was. Good comic, poor execution. Sound familiar? Sounds like "The Winner" to me, but not "a" winner, which is really the goal for executives and viewers alike.
Honestly, it's worse than the colossal failure over at TBS ironically named Super Deluxe, featuring only half-funny people who are beyond ugly and have no business appearing in video, even though nobody is actually watching it.
The story line was original, but uninspired, uninteresting and about as compelling as a sales pitch for a new Volkswagen. You guys already know I want the car, but come on, it takes more than a dude in a suit named Larry to make me buy it.
Television lacks the high pressure so readily available in the car market, so it was a soft non-sell, and I wasn't buying.
The jokes were mostly predictable and tired, not to mention too sparse in the first place. I gave it a few episodes but the deal breaker for me was the production signature at the end. You remember "sit Ubu, sit", I'm sure. That's the trademark of the company invented just to take the blame when the show fails, which is why you almost never see the same one twice. In this case it was candy bar
oh dear gentle lord in darkest depths of hell, why candy bar?
It's this hideous monster of a middle aged man sitting in what appears to be a dentist's chair being poked in the nipple, as if to giggle like a Pilsbury Dough Boy, but instead he poorly cries out "candy bar!". Well, at least the dentist's chair is appropriate, because by the third episode there was nothing I could do but scramble for the remote once I knew it was coming in desperate efforts to hit any button I could find to remove that misery from my sights, but never quickly enough.
After episode two I swore if I ever had to see that whining bastard squeal "candy bar" again I'd cancel this poor show off my TiVo
and that's just what I did. Guys, be brilliant if you like, clever if you can, but given the opportunity, never be annoying on purpose. It only pays negative tribute to you and makes your viewers squirm in the deep indentation they're trying to nurture in what's left of their couches.
Perhaps I just speak for myself, but late released ratings suggest I'm not alone. Maybe it isn't the candy bar thing for the rest of your viewers, but for me it made the difference between a mediocre (or non) review, and this strong caution I issue instead.
Sucks to be you guys, but really, I only say that because it sucks to be a viewer of your show. "The Winner", sadly, is the biggest loser of the season, and I say this a big fan of Rob Corddry. No disrespect to him. Well, not too much disrespect, at least.
