Music: {allcanada} New Showcase sitcoms lack laughs

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

{allcanada} New Showcase sitcoms lack laughs

Almost Heroes is almost funny, while Single White Spenny is one spent penny.

Showcase debuts these two new Canadian sitcoms back-to-back on Thursday, June 2. They aren't linked in any way other than the coincidence of schedule, but while neither is going to move the needle forward on the TV-comedy scale, one is more watchable than the other in a least-disturbing kind of way.

When evaluating sitcoms we always point this out: Comedy is intensely personal. It's far more subjective than drama. All we can do is relay how we reacted to Almost Heroes and Single White Spenny, understanding that your reactions may be totally different.

With Almost Heroes, we get the impression that one of its stars in particular - Paul Campbell, who plays Terry - is funnier than the show. Edges have been rounded off, and what's left, while inoffensive, is fairly bland.

Almost Heroes follows Terry as he returns home after his father's death to help his younger brother Peter (Ryan Belleville) sell the family comic-book store. When Terry finds the store in financial and organizational ruin, he decides to help Peter get the biz back on its feet.

With his portrayal of Terry, Campbell is sending out a Jeff Winger vibe (the Joel McHale character on Community) as a cool guy among the uncool. But Almost Heroes, which also stars Colin Mochrie, Lauren Ash and Athena Karkanis, suffers from a rusty premise in 2011.

This comic-book-geek/videogame-nerd thing has been done to death.

And while one might argue that The Big Bang Theory (CBS, CTV) is the most popular sitcom on television, we would counter that most of the socially challenged characters on that show are successful in their professional lives. Merely parading out superhero-loving losers isn't interesting any more.

Nonetheless, despite its drawbacks, Almost Heroes looks like Seinfeld compared to Single White Spenny. We're just not sure what Single White Spenny - which stars Spencer Rice in the title role - is supposed to be.

Full disclosure: Kenny vs. Spenny never was our thing. However, we've been in rooms with people who were in hysterics over Kenny vs. Spenny, so open eyes and open minds.

While Spenny getting hit in the gonads by Kenny had its juvenile charm, Rice actually has to act with this reboot of his familiar character, and he's wooden in that regard.

The general plot of Single White Spenny - which also stars Deb McGrath and Amy Matysio - is that the title character is lookin' for love in all the wrong places, to quote the old song. Sounds simple enough, but we honestly were frustrated by the first episode, because we didn't understand it.

The murky and mucked-up story-line is based on the notion of "revenge sex." But who is getting revenge on who? And why would the other person agree to participate? It's quite indecipherable.

It seems the premise of Single White Spenny might have changed three or four times while it was being made. If the plot of a sitcom leaves anyone scratching their heads - even someone as simple as yours truly - that can't be a good sign.

To be fair, it's a steep climb for any Canadian TV show to make it to air, so kudos for trying. But to sum up:

While the first episode of Almost Heroes is pleasant enough, we didn't actually laugh one time.

And regarding the first episode of Single White Spenny, not only didn't we laugh, but it left us sort of confused and irked.

As stated earlier, comedy is personal. Maybe Almost Heroes and/or Single White Spenny will tickle you. Let us know what you think. But we were untickled.