The train wreck that is The Wanda Sykes Show

Cafe Society
#1

Good lord. As a big fan of Wanda’s stand-up and her roles in Curb and Christine, I was really looking forward to this show.

The first show had two good segments - both Wanda doing stand-upy material solo in front of the camera (and this is an hour long show). There wasn’t a single laugh in the rest of the episode. Everything fell completely flat. I couldn’t even imagine how the test shows went to the point they felt this was going to be any kind of a success. But, first show, okay, I’ll cut them some slack.

Second show - even the stand-up segments were dreadful. Audience only clapping their ‘approval’, never even giving up a chuckle.

Third show - turned it off after the opening segment. This show needs to be cancelled and taken out of it’s misery. Ti’s just not a good format for Wanda’s talents, and she’s going to sully her reputation in the business if this continues much longer.

#2

You made my morning. Forgot to tune in, now I’m glad I didn’t.

#3

Yes, it really is that bad. The thing is, she is really talented, but this kind of show just isn’t working for her.

It’s nearly as bad as Wanda At Large.

:eek:

#4

I’ve been trying to find time to see this show, now maybe I shouldn’t bother. (Another topic altogether, but could it be worse than Wendy Williams? I had to watch her one day and I swear I now suffer PTSD.)

#5

10-15 minutes of Wanda is great 1 hour not so much. There is no way this show will survive.

#6

Doesn’t surprise me, Sykes has just never struck me as funny. She’s shrill, sarcastic, and bitchy… her shtick always came off kinda lowbrow and mean, but hey, if that’s your thing.

Maybe she should go back to accosting and insulting teenagers for calling funny Italian Chef statues, “gay”. Now, that’s hilarious!

#7

I also think Wanda Sykes is overrated. Get past the “sassy black woman” premise and her material is not that funny.

#8

Well, in all fairness this is “dead time” I would imagine, being in the same time slot as SNL. Nobody is watching TV at this time, and if they are, they’re watching NBC. So there’s probably not a lot of concern about getting eyeballs on the screen, I’d think.

I did have it on briefly the other day but I’ll be honest, I had the sound down pretty low and switched it over to SNL. I like Wanda, and I liked her first sitcom back in the day…

#9

Is Wanda Sykes’s new program any worse than George Lopez’s new program? I mean both are best at some sarcastic political, racial and ethnic stuff that may make the producers a bit nervous.

#10

I’m continuing to give it a try. It’s only been what? Four episodes so far? It does take time to get a chemistry of a show right. Fox was stupid to cancel MadTV, which was often hilarious. I work early Sunday mornings, so I’m the person sitting at home watching this stuff on Saturday night.

I thought she nailed the whole Tiger Woods car wreck/domestic argument thing and it cracked me up. (Others may have done it too, but she was the first I saw.) I also liked the bit about her sidekick guy having had a crush on her “BL” (Before Lesbian) and what she told him at the time: “I can’t have a relationship with you–I WILL cheat on you.”

It hasn’t been great, but I’ve gotten a few chuckles. I’m giving her more of a shot than I gave the new Conan (1 ep–and I always liked him at the later hour) and new Jay (Didn’t watch an ep. I didn’t think he was funny late and NBC has lost the 9 hour for me.)

I think I’m giving her more of a shot b/c it’s a lot harder to turn around a once a week show than a once-a-weeknight show.