Whitney not to come back?

There was a point, early on, that I wanted to give Whitney a chance, even though you could easily see in the promo’s for the series last summer and into fall, the show (based around her comedy act) was not going to be revolutionary. In fact, it seemed, more destined to be a comedy modeled on Two and Half Men in some ways, raunchy and predictable; either loved or hated (much like 2 Broke Girls that she created with Sex and the City creator Darren Starr).

I had heard of her, but had never seen any of her comedy routines, but seeing how this format had worked before, what could go wrong? Of course, for just as many successes with this format, there had been failures. Still, early in the 2011-12 TV season, why not give it a chance? So I did, and the pilot was pretty unfunny. The only person who showed any sort of timing was her co-star Chris D’Elia. At times in the first few weeks I watched this show, I thought he was good, and deserved a better co-star (and the fact that I read they were long-time friends indicated to me that no matter what direction the series took, he would never say nothing). 

Plus, the show was shoved into NBC’s far superior Thursday night lineup, which consisted of Community, 30 Rock, Parks and Recreation and The Office. Whitney was a show that clearly did not belong there, because the show was boring, with bland stories and repeated jokes. Cummings, who maybe likeable when not trying to act like a man, is a little much to take after about a minute or so. Her whole shtick seems to be based on the idea men and women are different. It’s about relationships, which, in a clever comedy series can work, but in this format comes off as crass, familiar and about as novel as rock. 

The supporting characters are undefined and one, Mark, is creepy and was not funny in the 1980s when these type of stereotypes existed. And why do these supporting characters need people like Whitney to like them?

I guess for me, the racket ball episode was proof why this show deserves never to come back. Okay, I might believe she did not know certain things about Alex (though, again, another sitcom staple that makes the show safe and predictable).  But, you sort of knew from the start, that there was going to be a blue ball joke, and when it comes, it fails at being funny or raunchy or even interesting. 

The story, in the end, is pretty safe. Some will say this type of predictable show (one where you can skip over a week or two and come back knowing that nothing has evolved) is more preferred than 30 Rock because it does not require brain cells. It does, I think, insult the viewer’s intelligence, even though it’s very clear on its identity. So, like I said, some people will hate it and others will love it but no one will be confused to what it is exactly.

And in today’s multi-platform access, and if you want people to watch, you have to stand-out. Whitney could have something, but because they leeched all the creativity out of it to appeal to the lowest common denominator, it is nothing but the same-old same-old we’ve seen done for the last 70 years of TV. 

That’s why it deserves to get cancelled.