On Mon, Jan 16, 2012 at 4:54 AM, Dave Sikula <[email protected]> wrote:

> 1) Work is work.
> 2) "Compelled?"
> 3) Is there maybe a chance they actually did enjoy the show and her
> work? Someone at the network obviously thought it was good.
>
> Granted, I wouldn't watch it on a bet, but I'm sure there are people
> who enjoyed it on some level.
>

Well, as has been reported before, when critics asked ABC President Paul
Lee why he greenlit "Work It," he pretty much said it was a stupid show but
it made him laugh out loud. It did not have the LOL affect on me (nor
seemingly to many other people, judging by ratings), but there you go.

Now, I sat down and watched *both* episodes. Why? 1. The bad reviews left
me curious. ( The same reason I watched "¡Rob!")  2. I have a friend who is
transgendered, who introduced me to the disparagement they face.

Anyway, the thing about the show is it's too good to be camp, too serious
to be burlesque or camp, but it isn't serious enough to be satire or
parody. The social satire point of "being in a mancession" is nothing more
than a flimsy excuse to have Ben Koldyke raid his wife's closet... though
how those clothes magically grew to fit his frame remains a mystery. In
fact, that is one of the problems... the scenes out of the office are
grounded enough so that you want to treat the show's universe as not that
far removed from this one, so there's *no suspension of disbelief* when
these two guys don wigs and dresses. Not a damn person should believe those
two guys are women. (There was enough slapstick and absurdity in "Some Like
It Hot" to excuse Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon. "Tootsie" and "Mrs.
Doubtfire" were smart enough to not try to have their leads pass as 20 or
30 something women, and showed them going through a significant amount of
work to pass as the women they pretended to be.) Funny enough, the second
episode to air acknowledged this fact as a joke during an early scene at
home. But then it continued on with the week's plot of having a doctor fall
for Amaury Nolasco, while Koldyke becomes jealous enough to try to seduce
his client, too. (Just look up their pictures to see why this is absurd.
OK, Koldyke's attempts horrifies the client.)

The performances of the actors are fine, but the show does not seem to
understand the central situation of the show is not enough to propel it.
And thus, it has been [robotic overdub] put on hiatus until further
notice.[/robotic overdub]

-- 
Wesley McGee
http://www.ambivi.com
http://sterlingnorth.vox.com
http://drawing-a-blank.tumblr.com

Twitter: @westwit
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