# Whoopi's new show -- worst since "Baby Bob"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 9, 2003, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoopis-new-show-worst-since-baby-bob/200481 "2003-09-09T08:22:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2003, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoopis-new-show-worst-since-baby-bob/200481/21 "2003-09-09T20:28:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tars Tarkas \* > \*\*That show’s being hyped up like Gabbo, to the point i hate it already. Raunchy Friends, on NBC of all places? Sorry. > \*\* How did the TVGuide put it? " The US’s answer to the UK’s answer to ‘Friends’." Since I don’t really like Friends in the first place, I’m pretty sure I’d rather keep watching **The OC** than Friend’s second cousin once removed. [sub] Gabbo is from the Simpsons, right? I seem to recall a terrible episode involving a plot about Bart being usurped by something called Gabbo. [/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Isabelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b5a626/32.png) [@Isabelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isabelle)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2003, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoopis-new-show-worst-since-baby-bob/200481/22 "2003-09-09T20:31:54Z")
How many “hotel” sitcoms must we endure? The worst one was with Jaime Fox. I cringed everytime I saw the ad for that. ---
**Author:** ![RexDart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b77776/32.png) [@RexDart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RexDart)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2003, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoopis-new-show-worst-since-baby-bob/200481/23 "2003-09-09T23:01:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Isabelle \* > \*\*How many “hotel” sitcoms must we endure? The worst one was with Jaime Fox. I cringed everytime I saw the ad for that. \*\* John Larroquette at the _train station_ (!!!) was probably the worst setting for a sitcom ever. You can throw Jamie Fox into anything, and it will suck. Three words: Nielsen Box Poison. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2003, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoopis-new-show-worst-since-baby-bob/200481/24 "2003-09-09T23:38:33Z")
Did NBC not get the “Whoopi Goldberg is not funny” bulletin? From Rex Dart: > [@](#): > > John Larroquette at the train station (!!!) was probably the worst setting for a sitcom ever. Actually, it was a bus station. Not that it helped any. It DID suck. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2003, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoopis-new-show-worst-since-baby-bob/200481/25 "2003-09-09T23:46:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RexDart \* > \*\*John Larroquette at the _train station_ (!!!) was probably the worst setting for a sitcom ever. \*\* _Bus_ station. I happened to like it. Sure, it had some stinkers but there were some very clever moments. Like John coming off a marajuana brownie-induced high and seeing a couple of ~10 foot tall Mummenshanz puppets. David Crosby as his AA mentor. Bob Goldthwait as the boss’s nephew. ---
**Author:** ![nisosbar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c37758/32.png) [@nisosbar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nisosbar)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2003, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoopis-new-show-worst-since-baby-bob/200481/26 "2003-09-09T23:48:12Z")
I knew she was bad when I walked out of “The Telephone”, the ONLY film for which I’ve ever done that. Totally agree with the OP. And Lord Ashtar. Don’t know how she continues to get work. The most unfunny comedienne EVER. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2003, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoopis-new-show-worst-since-baby-bob/200481/27 "2003-09-09T23:59:20Z")
I absolutely loved **The John Larroquette Show**. It was a very dark, quirky sitcom that dealt with some serious issues (alcoholism, religion) and characters that aren’t normally seen on sitcoms (prostitutes, homeless people, janitors). In addition to multiple Emmy winner Larroquette, it featured amazing performances by Liz Torres, Darryl Mitchell, Chi McBride, Lenny Clarke (mentioned above for a new sitcom, which I might check out just to see him), and Elizabeth Berridge. O.K., enough love for the John Larroquette Show – I agree that Whoopi looks like a stinker. But it’s worth mentioning that the point of the Arab jokes is that the character in question is _not_ an Arab, he’s Iranian, which is an entirely different thing. I haven’t watched a sitcom regularly since Niles married Daphne, and I doubt I’ll start again this season. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2003, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoopis-new-show-worst-since-baby-bob/200481/28 "2003-09-10T00:21:05Z")
So far I’ve seen half the pilot, and it’s really enough for me. Tired, stale, forced, stereotype-based comedy. Whoopi can be great with the right material; obviously this isn’t it. (I’ve never known a Persian who sounded like the guy in this show.) Every so often somebody comes up with a fresh, funny show that doesn’t use tired sitcom techniques (e.g., “Scrubs” or “Freaks and Geeks”), yet year after year we get unfunny, stagey sitcoms using the three-camera setup Norman Lear was using thirty years ago. Incidentally, I enjoy “Coupling” when I see it on BBC-America, yet I know I would hate an American version (just as I hated “Friends”). Somehow, the English and Welsh accents make it work for me. ---
**Author:** ![omni-not](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8dc957/32.png) [@omni-not](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/omni-not)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2003, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoopis-new-show-worst-since-baby-bob/200481/29 "2003-09-10T00:43:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by widdershins \* > \*\*I thought people might take to Whoopi in a sitcom since her movie career has fizzled so badly, but this looks retched. So Arab stereotypes are OK if the show stars Whoopi? Even “Boondocks” dropped its white girl speaking hip-hop slang. > > I doubt this would have ever gotten on air if Whoopi weren’t part of it. American sitcoms set in hotels have such a great track record. > > About the only thing that looks as bad is that new ABC sitcom _It’s All Relative_ starring Lenny Clarke. Oh look, tired " working class Irish Catholic" stereotypes, played out “flaming gay” stereotypes, and unoriginal “dopey straight white guy” stereotypes all in one show. Guess they couldn’t find room for the wacky neighbor or the minority co-worker? Wonder if they’ll add a slutty best friend of the female lead? \*\* That’s in the \*second \* episode… ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2003, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoopis-new-show-worst-since-baby-bob/200481/30 "2003-09-10T01:16:58Z")
I planned on taking the bullet and reviewing it for you guys but I turned it before the opening credits came on. I turned it back after it went off and watched the Laroquette sitcom. It was halfway decent… the daughter was really cute. \ ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2003, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoopis-new-show-worst-since-baby-bob/200481/31 "2003-09-10T01:39:16Z")
Isn’t the daughter the girl from the trash bag commercials? ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2003, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoopis-new-show-worst-since-baby-bob/200481/32 "2003-09-10T01:54:01Z")
Now that you mention it, I think you’re right. I’m now less attracted to her for having remembered her Gilbert Godfried impersonation. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2003, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoopis-new-show-worst-since-baby-bob/200481/33 "2003-09-10T02:26:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Aesiron \* > \*\*Now that you mention it, I think you’re right. I’m now less attracted to her for having remembered her Gilbert Godfried impersonation. \*\* But, man, did she nail it! ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2003, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoopis-new-show-worst-since-baby-bob/200481/34 "2003-09-10T02:37:05Z")
Oh God…I watched them both. Are they trying to win a prize for worst sitcoms of the season? **Woppi** plays like a couple of stand-up comics going out of their way to offend each and every member of the audience- but there are people in a hotel who have to endure their annoyance too. And **Happy Family** …shouldn’t they spent a couple of minutes trying to build up the “things were going well…until today” angle? That way maybe the characters would feel less whiny and death-worthy. Longest hour of TV ever. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2003, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoopis-new-show-worst-since-baby-bob/200481/35 "2003-09-10T02:39:55Z")
Whoopi was like having hot pins stuck into your body for 30 minutes. Nothing big enough to cause serious harm, but enough pain that you never want to go through it again. I didn’t watch all of Happy Family, but it wasn’t that bad. It might have legs. At least the two leads are much better actors. ---
**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:** [September 10, 2003, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoopis-new-show-worst-since-baby-bob/200481/36 "2003-09-10T02:58:50Z")
I’d just like to say that the best movie Whoopi was ever in was a taut 80s drug-cop thriller called _Fatal Beauty_. And I’d also like to say that the movie would have been much better if a _good_ actress had been cast instead of Whoopi. I mean, that movie would’ve been greatly improved if Kathleen Turner, or even Tina Turner, had played the lead. Her standup routines are boring, too, and she tainted every episode of _Star Trek: The Next Generation_ she was in, with the smugness of her character. ---
**Author:** ![Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bambi_Hassenpfeffer)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2003, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoopis-new-show-worst-since-baby-bob/200481/37 "2003-09-10T03:16:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by widdershins \* > \*\*About the only thing that looks as bad is that new ABC sitcom _It’s All Relative_ starring Lenny Clarke. Oh look, tired " working class Irish Catholic" stereotypes, played out “flaming gay” stereotypes, and unoriginal “dopey straight white guy” stereotypes all in one show. Guess they couldn’t find room for the wacky neighbor or the minority co-worker? Wonder if they’ll add a slutty best friend of the female lead? \*\* Yeah, in a commercial for this beauty during Monday’s Bucs game, I heard a really inappropriate comment from the father character. He said he had to fix the “faguccino” machine. I did a double take, asked my brother if that’s what he heard too, and hit replay on the TiVo to make sure, and yep, that’s what he said. In what way is _that_ supposed to attract anyone to this show? I know that to most of my countrypersons, the f-word is not particularly offensive, but to my eyes it’s as bad as the n-word (I’m self-censoring in the Café) or any other racial or ethnic slur. Since I don’t actually watch ABC, it’s not like I’ll miss anything by skipping it, but still, that’s really unacceptable. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2003, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoopis-new-show-worst-since-baby-bob/200481/38 "2003-09-10T03:21:06Z")
Whoopie Goldberg is in that show? You wouldn’t know it from the commercials. I thought it was the Fat Screaming Arab show. You know how they say a show is past its prime once they stop focusing on the main characters and start focusing on the wacky side characters? What does it say about a show that’s doing that before it airs its first episode? ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2003, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoopis-new-show-worst-since-baby-bob/200481/39 "2003-09-10T05:30:12Z")
As he keeps telling people, he’s not an Arab, he’s a Persian. ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2003, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoopis-new-show-worst-since-baby-bob/200481/40 "2003-09-10T06:08:19Z")
1. _Whoopi_ had not a single laugh. The white girl talking street slang bit was funny when Barbara Billingsly did it in _Airplane_. It hasn’t worked since, because nobody seems to understand _why_ it worked so well there. It worked because it wasn’t just one straight forward joke, it was part of a half dozen things all going on at the same time. A: It was June Cleaver doing it. B. It was wayyyy over the top, while coupled with subtitles that used extremely formal English. C. The “jive talking” black guys were played against type–they appeared to be ordinary, well-dressed businessmen. D. Nobody was playing it tongue in cheek–they all played it straight, as if it were a serious drama. 2. _Becker_ has been a consistently funny show for several years. Yes, I realize that admitting that makes me officially middle aged. 3. I loved _The John Larroquette Show_ enough that I’d buy season sets dvd’s, or even a complete series (I think it went only two seasons) set. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoopis-new-show-worst-since-baby-bob/200481.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoopis-new-show-worst-since-baby-bob/200481.md?page=3)