I didn’t see a thread on The Crazy Ones, so apologies if I missed it.
Frankly, I’d have called it Mork on Madison Avenue. I couldn’t make it thru half of the show. It was inane, trite, predictable, and I’m pretty sure I won’t waste any more time watching it in the future.
Did anyone like this show? Was there something about it that I missed - some nuance that eluded me? Or is it as crappy as I thought it was?
The biggest problem was that Sarah Michelle Gellar is really not the right person to pair with Robin Williams. She just doesn’t have the comedy chops for it. The other guy that was not Hamish Linklater was pretty good though.
Well, all I can say is it was not as wretched as I expected it to be, but also did not find particularly funny - and exactly how much did McDonald’s pay for this pilot episode?
I think it is safe to say this will not remain on our DVR list.
I thought it had potential. I plan to give it another try. There was some good chemistry I thought except for SMG. Hopefully she and the writers can give her character better direction. Robin Williams is still funny to me.
And yes, that probably was the most product placement ever. It blows away the subway placement in Chuck & Community. McDonald’s must of footed most of the cost of that pilot.
My dislike of Robin Williams runs deep and long but I gave him a couple of minutes on The Daily Show and confirmed he is still doing the same style of comedy and knew I couldn’t watch the new show. If they’ve given him a role designed to showcase that kind of thing it’s not for me. Sorry to hear it’s not good even for folks who like him.
So – we could’ve had Alyson Hannigan here, and Cobie Smulders as a regular on Agents Of Shield, if only HIMYM had wrapped last season?
I was surprised; I had expected it to be terrible, but it was pretty good.
I give all the credit not to Williams or Gellar, but to David E. Kelley, who produced and wrote the episode. Kelley has had a pretty good track record.
She has good comedy chops, but is she the straight person in this comedy? Wasted talent if she is.
Yeah, she’s the straight person. It seemed her biggest ‘job’ was to try to clamp down on the Robin Williams character, who plays her dad BTW. I just think they needed to make the character more like the Berta character on Two and A Half Men. Someone who would get in his face more. I think she did pretty well in the more serious parts though. I guess I’ve never seen her as a comedy type person.
I thought it was OK. Williams wasn’t as manic as he might have been, and that’s a good thing. A few good laughs, and the supporting cast has promise. I’ll keep it on the list for now; if the cast starts to gel and Geller’s character gets more interesting, the show could be quite good.
Of course, it might go the other way, too…
According to the producer there was no deal with McDonald’s beyond permission to use their name, no compensation went in either direction, and McDonald’s had no say on the content of the episodes. That they did it because they thought it would play better than a made up brand.
Probably a hijack, but why don’t you like him?
I think the guy is an absolute genius, he can run a joke in 8 directions at once, he can draw from and mix diverse subject matter instantly, and he can find the funny in seemingly any moment in time. And yet–there is something about the greater package that turns off my laugh box. It baffles me that he doesn’t make me laugh. Steve Martin, who has a similar eclectic & off-the-wall approach, and who also tends to get a bit sappy–I lose my breath laughing at him. What is Williams missing?
Personally, I get the feeling that Williams is always trying too hard. Somethings he’s done have amused me, others just annoyed me, and I find I’m annoyed more than I’m entertained.
Robin Williams, Ray Romano, Drew Carey, Don Rickles, Richard Lewis. None of them has ever made me so much as crack a smile.
And I love to laugh. I laugh so hard my stomach hurts at a wide variety of comedic styles, from Norm McDonald to Dave Chappelle.
It was okay. I will probably watch it again when I’ve exhausted all other shows, including The Middle. It’s better than that new dads show.
He can run a joke in 8 directions at once, but only one of those directions is mildly funny, if that. Constantly throwing random stuff out hoping something works just reeks of desperation and comes across as trying too hard. Nevertheless, that is his schtick–if you keep moving, they won’t have time to think about how inane the antics are.
It was much better than I expected. And a lot better than others that have been getting more hype, like the Michael J. Fox Show and Mom.
Williams played the part well, showing his endless riffing as a defense mechanism and something that gets annoying to others. That may be Kelley’s contribution but if so it was exactly right. The advertising pitch boiled half a season of Mad Men down to three minutes and did it better. Who expected that?
SMJ was worthless, though. The part was badly underwritten and she’s just too stiff, even if she is supposed to be his opposite.
Lots of promise to this show. It looks like Community, a show that can go off in a different direction in every episode. That meant high highs and low lows but I’d prefer that to mediocre mediums.
Norm Macdonald has never said a funny line since SNL kicked him out.
I read a review on line of this show and I swear, the writer had to have seen a completely different program, based on the raves and adoration. On the other hand, people do have different tastes in humor. After all, there are those who think Carlos Mencia is hilarious and I think he’s juvenile and completely without class…
I agree with the other posters – it’s way too “trying too hard” and self-conscious for me. Look at me, I’m funny and now I will do this zany thing!! My taste runs more to telling a story well or throw away jokes, otherwise I have that spectator embarrassment. I don’t like most stand-up comedy because of the same thing, but I like people like Jim Gaffigan and Daniel Tosh because they refer to the fact that they are doing an act, they don’t just put on an act. Hard to explain.
I don’t know if I would like Don Rickles in performance, but I liked him on Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee because it was just him and he’s funny just talking. Same way with everyone Jerry’s had on except Michael Richards, who used it to do a monologue. Again, just be funny in conversation, not performing.
I think Robin Williams is one of the best comedians of his generation, but if ever a preview stank of desperation, it was for this show.
They must be paying Williams a buttload of money, and [del]if[/del] when it tanks, somebody is going to have to explain why they thought it was a guaranteed success just because Mork and Mindy was fresh thirty years ago.
Of course, anything I don’t like is likely to last for a dozen seasons, so FWIW.
Regards,
Shodan