Committed (NBC)
2005

I thought that sitcoms hit bottom in the mid-90s with that endless stream of shit like The Single Guy, Caroline in the City, and Suddenly Susan. While I sort of looked forward to the day when the next generation of twentysomethings would be pandered to as mine was back in those days, it turns out not to be as much fun as I'd expected. Committed is just, "same shit, different demographic."

NBC has really outdone themselves with this one. The leads, a phobic Ben Stiller/Jason Biggs/Adam Sandler type and a "free spirited" Drew Barrymore/Kate Hudson/Cameron Diaz type, seem like they were invented by marketers instead of writers, following a bemused, merlot-influenced viewing of 50 First Dates. "It's gotta be quirky and irreverent!" they shout at the writers. "That's what the kids love!"

The only thing that makes this even marginally different from Dharma & Greg, besides a total lack of chemistry between any of the cast members, is the added layer of "taboo-smashing" humor, by which I mean the marketers felt NBC ought to sprinkle a bit of Arrested Development into the mix for "edginess." Hence, the girl lives in an apartment with a dying clown (Tom Poston) in her closet (?) because of some strange loophole in her lease; the guy brings her a gas mask as a token of affection (?); there's a guy in a wheelchair (groundbreaking!); and Darius McCrary is, for some reason, the guy's best friend—oh wait, there is a reason: they needed a black guy.

So unfunny and shitty. If it lasts more than a few weeks, I may have to take a hit out on the executive producer. Well, I won't have to, but I do got some money burnin' a hole in my pocket.

this shit blows

Loud Bassoon rating scale

Review by La Fée © 2005