# Cavemen: I tried, but no....it was unwatchable **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 17, 2007, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cavemen-i-tried-but-no-it-was-unwatchable/423092 "2007-10-17T21:15:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2007, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cavemen-i-tried-but-no-it-was-unwatchable/423092/21 "2007-10-18T19:51:27Z")
[QUOTE=Antinor01] Heh, I don’t think I’ve ever been quoted so many times in one thread. [/QUOTE] Really? ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2007, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cavemen-i-tried-but-no-it-was-unwatchable/423092/22 "2007-10-18T19:58:28Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] Really? [/QUOTE] My posts seem to get overlooked a lot. Ehh, no big deal really. I just found it amusing in this instance. ---
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2007, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cavemen-i-tried-but-no-it-was-unwatchable/423092/23 "2007-10-18T20:25:33Z")
I don’t see what so bad about it. It’s at least great looking (all ABC shows are, now that I think about it. Maybe it’s the Disney in 'em). And I appreciate the yuppie commentary (I thought the Yogurt Berry opening was cute, and spot on. I guess urban eatery fads is an easy target, but still it was spot on). The whole show works for me in general, actually. ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2007, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cavemen-i-tried-but-no-it-was-unwatchable/423092/24 "2007-10-18T20:31:20Z")
[QUOTE=Taber] No, there was a laugh track - but they didn’t find any of the jokes funny enough to use it. [/QUOTE] Funny! One problem for me is that the cavemen in the commercial have a distinctive look, and the “main” one- the one in the airport with the tennis racquet- isn’t in the show. They didn’t get that people enjoyed those specific cavemen, not just any caveman. It’s like if they made a commercial with let’s say Eddie Murphy and decided to make a show about it, and then substituted generic black comic for Eddie Murphy. Another problem was that the half show I saw was just plain not funny. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2007, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cavemen-i-tried-but-no-it-was-unwatchable/423092/25 "2007-10-18T20:50:55Z")
Here, the first episode was pre-empted by the local affiliate for an interview show with our local NFL coach, and was rescheduled for 1:35 AM. So I set my TiVo to record it, but ended up with 30 minutes of a latenight infomercial. So I figured if the station programmers went to such great lengths to make sure no one saw the show, it must not be very good. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2007, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cavemen-i-tried-but-no-it-was-unwatchable/423092/26 "2007-10-18T21:17:07Z")
[QUOTE=BarnOwl] But that’s just it. The commercials are a one trick pony. I severely doubted the sitcom would be any better. I was right. (For once.) [/QUOTE] (I think **drm** was making a joke…) ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2007, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cavemen-i-tried-but-no-it-was-unwatchable/423092/27 "2007-10-18T22:20:37Z")
[QUOTE=Wee Bairn] Funny! One problem for me is that the cavemen in the commercial have a distinctive look, and the “main” one- the one in the airport with the tennis racquet- isn’t in the show. They didn’t get that people enjoyed those specific cavemen, not just any caveman. It’s like if they made a commercial with let’s say Eddie Murphy and decided to make a show about it, and then substituted generic black comic for Eddie Murphy. Another problem was that the half show I saw was just plain not funny. [/QUOTE] Umm…I’m sorry to say, I have trouble telling them apart. Cavemen, that is. I don’t know who was in the commercials and who wasn’t. And on the show, I really can’t tell Nick, Andy, and Joel apart. This doesn’t make me a bad person, does it? ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2007, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cavemen-i-tried-but-no-it-was-unwatchable/423092/28 "2007-10-18T22:41:55Z")
What are you saying, all cavemen look alike? ---
**Author:** ![H3Knuckles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ba8739/32.png) [@H3Knuckles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/H3Knuckles)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2007, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cavemen-i-tried-but-no-it-was-unwatchable/423092/29 "2007-10-18T22:48:52Z")
See, I actually really like the ads, and the concept is a great framework for little jokes, but… I knew the moment I heard there was going to be a show that it would be terrible, and it would tank. The concept just doesn’t have the meat/legs/whatever metaphor to make a 30 minute episode, let alone a full series. It works in small bites, like a knock-knock joke. The advertisements were the perfect medium for this. Although a gag-a-day comic strip would probably work well too (for a few years, too long and it burns out and becomes another B.C.). ---
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2007, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cavemen-i-tried-but-no-it-was-unwatchable/423092/30 "2007-10-18T23:29:22Z")
[QUOTE=H3Knuckles] See, I actually really like the ads, and the concept is a great framework for little jokes, but… I knew the moment I heard there was going to be a show that it would be terrible, and it would tank. The concept just doesn’t have the meat/legs/whatever metaphor to make a 30 minute episode, let alone a full series. It works in small bites, like a knock-knock joke. The advertisements were the perfect medium for this. Although a gag-a-day comic strip would probably work well too (for a few years, too long and it burns out and becomes another B.C.). [/QUOTE] I think you guys are misguided about what the premise is. Though superficially it seems like a high-concept show about cavemen in a modern world, it’s more about three yuppie roommates with clashing personalities. A slacker, mooching grad student with a huge ego, an eager-to-please wimp, and the guy who’s on his way to having everything together, but is too nice to cut the other two loose. That they’re fictional ethnic minorities peppers their experience, yes, but it’s not the basis of all the humor. EDIT: It’s like “Dinosaurs”. Dinosaurs was less a vehicle for a bunch of prehistoric puns than it was an effective satire on contemporary American life (you guys did like “Dinosaurs”, right?). ---
**Author:** ![Soapbox\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Soapbox\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soapbox_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2007, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cavemen-i-tried-but-no-it-was-unwatchable/423092/31 "2007-10-19T00:03:35Z")
[QUOTE=pizzabrat] EDIT: It’s like “Dinosaurs”. Dinosaurs was less a vehicle for a bunch of prehistoric puns than it was an effective satire on contemporary American life (you guys did like “Dinosaurs”, right?). [/QUOTE] Dinosaurs was an amazing show. Coincidentally, it was also funny. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2007, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cavemen-i-tried-but-no-it-was-unwatchable/423092/32 "2007-10-19T00:37:38Z")
[QUOTE=Wee Bairn] It’s like if they made a commercial with let’s say Eddie Murphy and decided to make a show about it, and then substituted generic black comic for Eddie Murphy. [/QUOTE] C.f. The **Blade** series which did not have Wesley Snipes, but another actor with absolutely zero on-screen presence. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2007, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cavemen-i-tried-but-no-it-was-unwatchable/423092/33 "2007-10-19T04:07:47Z")
[QUOTE=Antinor01] My posts seem to get overlooked a lot. Ehh, no big deal really. I just found it amusing in this instance. [/QUOTE] I knew what you meant. I was quoting you, again, because you seemed tickled by it. And now it seems I just did it again. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2007, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cavemen-i-tried-but-no-it-was-unwatchable/423092/34 "2007-10-19T04:10:46Z")
[QUOTE=IvoryTowerDenizen] (I think **drm** was making a joke…) [/QUOTE] yep. ---
**Author:** ![Rachael\_Rage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71c47a/32.png) [@Rachael\_Rage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachael_Rage)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2007, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cavemen-i-tried-but-no-it-was-unwatchable/423092/35 "2007-10-19T08:12:57Z")
[QUOTE=cochrane] Umm…I’m sorry to say, I have trouble telling them apart. Cavemen, that is. I don’t know who was in the commercials and who wasn’t. And on the show, I really can’t tell Nick, Andy, and Joel apart. [/QUOTE] According to [this](http://www.duncans.tv/2006/geico-cavemen) only one of the original cavemen will be in the show, but only a few episodes and not as one of the main cavemen: > [@](#): > > Joel (Bill English), his younger brother Andy (Sam Huntingdon), and his best friend Nick (Nick Kroll), are three cavemen living in modern-day Atlanta. _[snip]_ Jeffrey Daniel Phillips, one of the original three actors in the commercials, plays the character of Maurice in four episodes in the first series. And according to [this](http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070726/D8QK93DG1.html) the other commercial actors were “unavailable.” Yeah, that or “didn’t want to get stuck in a crap show.” It seems the upside of playing a caveman is that it renders you [completely unrecognizable](http://www.johnlehr.com/) , so you can collect the paycheck, drop the failed sitcom from your resume and move on. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2007, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cavemen-i-tried-but-no-it-was-unwatchable/423092/36 "2007-10-19T08:54:29Z")
Talia Shire was the therapist in that one Geico commercial? :eek: Yo, Adrian! ADRIAAAAAAAANNNNNNNN!!! ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2007, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cavemen-i-tried-but-no-it-was-unwatchable/423092/37 "2007-10-19T16:17:53Z")
I didn’t see an episode until the “Fruit Berry” yogurt one, and I thought that one was hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2007, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cavemen-i-tried-but-no-it-was-unwatchable/423092/38 "2007-10-19T16:28:51Z")
I saw most of this week’s episode and it was very close to unwatchable, yet light years more watchable than \*Carpoolers \* or whatever that turd was called. Holy crap, that’s some bad TV. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cavemen-i-tried-but-no-it-was-unwatchable/423092.md?page=1)