# NBC's "Whitney" starring Whitney Cummings: I'm giving up on you **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 18, 2011, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-whitney-starring-whitney-cummings-im-giving-up-on-you/603368 "2011-11-18T17:58:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunshine_and_Smiles)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-whitney-starring-whitney-cummings-im-giving-up-on-you/603368/41 "2011-11-19T06:10:37Z")
My friend one day was going off on how bad ‘Whitney’ was. I told him I hadn’t seen it, but she was decent on the Roasts (and the eyes), and I saw **Chris D’Elia** (who plays the boyfriend, and always looks like he needs a shower) featured on a 2011 episode of _Comedy Central Presents_ and he was hilarious. My friend then sheepishly admitted he hadn’t really watched it, only ‘caught a little bit of it.’ So being the alpha I am, I made him watch it with me. …and it was okay. As the southerners might say, it was “tol’able”. A couple chuckles here and there (you laugh more around people, but it’s still genuine), some eye-rolls at other things but it wasn’t a completely wreck, nor a waste of time. I agree with the others who have said the boyfriend (Alex according to imdb, just doesn’t stick for some reason) is the best part. I also agree that the relationship between Whitney and Alex feels way more natural than anything else on the show. Their interactions and the way they talk to each other are great; they seem like a couple that would actually have sex off screen. And that wouldn’t be too bad to watch, either. “Two Broke Girls”, however, is an utter shambles. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-whitney-starring-whitney-cummings-im-giving-up-on-you/603368/42 "2011-11-19T06:31:22Z")
I like Roxanne. “Let me drink about it,” has entered my lexicon. I still maintain that if Kat Dennings and Whitney Cummings switched roles, both shows would be a lot better. ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-whitney-starring-whitney-cummings-im-giving-up-on-you/603368/43 "2011-11-19T20:33:50Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > I still maintain that if Kat Dennings and Whitney Cummings switched roles, both shows would be a lot better. Brilliant ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-whitney-starring-whitney-cummings-im-giving-up-on-you/603368/44 "2011-11-19T20:56:21Z")
Whitney’s stand up and roast work is brilliant. It’s a shame this is such shit. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-whitney-starring-whitney-cummings-im-giving-up-on-you/603368/45 "2011-11-19T21:00:55Z")
I gave up on it ~3 episodes in. Watched one episode of 2BG. (Sort of. Used the FF button a bit.) That was really awful. I can see why CBS put it on Monday night. The museum of predictable sitcoms. So NBC can dump it and keep _Community_ on the schedule, right? ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-whitney-starring-whitney-cummings-im-giving-up-on-you/603368/46 "2011-11-19T21:01:36Z")
The boyfriend will always be the [cool pedophile](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8kFHWWPM_c) from workaholics, i just couldn’t picture him as a regular guy. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2011, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-whitney-starring-whitney-cummings-im-giving-up-on-you/603368/47 "2011-11-20T06:00:01Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > Same here. Is the boyfriend supposed to be homeless or something? He always looks like he just crawled out of a dumpster. > > Or maybe he’s just prescient about his career future and wants to adopt an appropriate look. > [@Death\_of\_Rats](#): > > He is supposed to be a photographer or something, so I think the look was meant to be “arty”. To me, he looks like he just woke up from a “Lost Weekend”-esque bender. > [@Acsenray](#): > > Eh, if you saw him on the street, he’d just look like any other dude. Actually, he’d be one of the better looking guys out and about. I think our expectations about how people should look on television are artificially enhanced. I disagree. He needs a shower, shave, and a haircut. His greasy-looking hair is so repulsive, IMHO, that I don’t know how the viewer is supposed to take his character seriously as anything other than a portrayal of a homeless person. Personally, I find it extremely jarring every time I see him on the show. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-whitney-starring-whitney-cummings-im-giving-up-on-you/603368/48 "2011-12-02T17:27:13Z")
Okay, so I left the TV on NBC and caught yesterday’s episode. So, Whitney finally admits that she might want to someday get married and have children. Plus, the douchy cop and the slutty friend find a kind of sympatico. So, isn’t this a complete character arc? You could end the series right here and it would seem like a complete story. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-whitney-starring-whitney-cummings-im-giving-up-on-you/603368/49 "2011-12-02T17:42:16Z")
> [@kushiel](#): > > I like Whitney, but I’m one of those crazy abnormal people. I would rather stick a fork in my eye than watch Seinfeld, +1. I tried watching Seinfeld because I loved his stand-up but I could not stand the other cast members. > [@](#): > > and while I recognize the quality of The Office, on a personal level I would rather jump off a cliff than watch it. At least I can have BBT on as background noise. Assuming “BBT” = Big Bang Theory; it’s one of the few reasons I miss satTV. However, I recently discovered the CBS page that shows whole eps, so I’m good. > [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > Why on earth did you have you compare all this new sit com drivel to a timeless classic. I loved Alf! > > ALF: “Putting humans in charge of the earth is the cosmic equivalent of letting Eddie Murphy direct.” 😃 ROTFLMAO! I don’t know why, but “Whitney,” while not my new favorite-of-all-time show, I find occasionally funny. I do find the main characters to be fairly real. Which is more than I can say for “Community.” ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-whitney-starring-whitney-cummings-im-giving-up-on-you/603368/50 "2011-12-02T23:02:16Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Okay, so I left the TV on NBC and caught yesterday’s episode. So, Whitney finally admits that she might want to someday get married and have children. I thought it was sad because it seemed to me that Alex feels that if they ever do talk and she says she doesn’t wank kids, he’ll have to leave her and Whitney realized that and now has to weigh her desire to be kidfree against her desire to maintain the relationship with Alex. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-whitney-starring-whitney-cummings-im-giving-up-on-you/603368/51 "2011-12-03T01:06:50Z")
While I appreciate the occasional efforts to dress Whitney up all slutty, her compulsive need to make her boyfriend jump through her circus hoops of flaming insanity wore thin. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-whitney-starring-whitney-cummings-im-giving-up-on-you/603368/52 "2011-12-03T03:11:00Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > While I appreciate the occasional efforts to dress Whitney up all slutty, her compulsive need to make her boyfriend jump through her circus hoops of flaming insanity wore thin. Have you ever met a real live human female? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-whitney-starring-whitney-cummings-im-giving-up-on-you/603368/53 "2011-12-03T06:30:28Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > I thought it was sad because it seemed to me that Alex feels that if they ever do talk and she says she doesn’t wank kids, he’ll have to leave her and Whitney realized that and now has to weigh her desire to be kidfree against her desire to maintain the relationship with Alex. A sad arc is still an arc ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-whitney-starring-whitney-cummings-im-giving-up-on-you/603368/54 "2011-12-03T07:10:42Z")
I only mentioned it because you felt there was closure to end the series here and I feel that in my mind the Whitney/Alex relationship would be a total downer. I’m thinking they’re setting up for a series finale Talk and someone’s gonna Leave Forever. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-whitney-starring-whitney-cummings-im-giving-up-on-you/603368/55 "2011-12-03T07:27:11Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > Have you ever met a real live human female? Yes, but never one as willfully and pointlessly irritating as Whitney (or if I got that vibe early on, I bailed before immersing myself in her insanity). I know there are indeed crazy women, but I’ll assume that most women are reasonably rational. Frankly, the boyfriend’s compliance is another negative point for the show. That he doesn’t simply and flatly declare at any point “No. This is stupid. I’m not participating further in your obsessive-compulsive delusions and competitive roleplaying games.” ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-whitney-starring-whitney-cummings-im-giving-up-on-you/603368/56 "2011-12-03T08:17:02Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Yes, but never one as willfully and pointlessly irritating as Whitney (or if I got that vibe early on, I bailed before immersing myself in her insanity). I know there are indeed crazy women, but I’ll assume that most women are reasonably rational. > > Frankly, the boyfriend’s compliance is another negative point for the show. That he doesn’t simply and flatly declare at any point “No. This is stupid. I’m not participating further in your obsessive-compulsive delusions and competitive roleplaying games.” Ah. You’re single. So am I. Seriously, “crazy woman” is redundant. (I’m not saying that men are any saner, but at least it is an insanity that passes for normal.) ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-whitney-starring-whitney-cummings-im-giving-up-on-you/603368/57 "2011-12-03T09:09:25Z")
Yeah, ha-ha, your sexism is the result of the wearying growth that is life among women, etc. Comes wisdom to us by the awful grace of Maude. ---
**Author:** ![lindsaybluth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90db22/32.png) [@lindsaybluth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lindsaybluth)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-whitney-starring-whitney-cummings-im-giving-up-on-you/603368/58 "2011-12-05T21:28:32Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Not one, but two. Looking at her wikipedia page, I don’t see any particular reason for this except she is possibly rich and well-connected, and apparently quite intelligent. I don’t see any marriage to the head of NBC. Psh, my generation doesn’t get married. She’s neither rich (sounds upper middle class but nothing to get her a sitcom) nor well connected. She was on Chelsea Lately and Chelsea handler came right out and said “you fucked someone to get your shows”. So did handler, of course, but Cummings looked stunned (and outed). So she fucked her way into two shows. That said, I like her boyfriend and her spastic older friend on the show. I watch it for them alone. ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-whitney-starring-whitney-cummings-im-giving-up-on-you/603368/59 "2011-12-05T22:12:18Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > Ah. You’re single. So am I. What a surprise. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-whitney-starring-whitney-cummings-im-giving-up-on-you/603368/60 "2011-12-05T22:13:42Z")
Yeah, it’s pretty much going to stay that way for the rest of your lives. Real dolls _are_ pretty realistic looking, though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-whitney-starring-whitney-cummings-im-giving-up-on-you/603368.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-whitney-starring-whitney-cummings-im-giving-up-on-you/603368.md?page=4)