Reviewers Unhitched by gross-out humour
- Published by David Knox
- on
- Filed under News
Unhitched is being floated as a new sitcom from the Farrelly Brothers. In truth the two are amongst the Executive Producers, and directed the first episode.
But they actually didn’t create the show which looks at a group of newly single friends learning the lessons of starting over in their 30s.
The comedy opens with a gag about being violated by a baby ape, and reviews are already talking about the ‘primate’ style-humour and gross-out gags from the two hit filmmakers.
Most of the reviews have been negative, leading with various headlines with titles like New Fox sitcom just plain stupid, Fox comes Unhitched, Unhitched is just unfunny, and Farrelly Brothers don’t translate well to the TV sitcom genre.
The comedy is set to air on the Network TEN this year.
The Hollywood Reporter said, “The cast, a pastiche of different personality types, comes together to form a smooth laugh machine. Jones is fetching enough to attract eyeballs, and yet it’s still possible to believe she could have a bumpy love life. Bierko is a perfect everyman, and Sneed is hilariously horny. That leaves Majumder, who fares pretty well considering that his character, the clueless guy from India, is a species that threatens to overrun TV comedies….Normally, you never know if the rest of the series can match the mix of romance and anarchy in the pilot, but there’s reason to be optimistic with Unhitched.”
Daily Herald: “Viewers who don’t expect too much — and have a high tolerance for bodily functions — might be pleasantly amused….The hallmark of the Farrelly brand is humor that’s not stupid but stoopid, deliberately dumb, idiotic with a purpose and gleefully addicted to the gross and the tasteless. That’s all there in Unhitched, but it also has a wry, bemused, observational tone all its own. It displays a warmth for its characters that sets it apart from other, more typically cruel Fox sitcoms. It’s not quite as polished an ensemble piece as CBS’ more conventional How I Met Your Mother, but it’s not trying to be.”
But there were many more reviewers that weren’t laughing.
Variety said: “The show feels completely derivative, it’s wholly unconvincing that the central quartet would hang out together, and I’m frankly still fuzzy (mostly because after 10 minutes it’s difficult to give a damn) on what connects them beyond the not-that-jarring status of being single again in their 30s and, well, Seinfeld did it. Although Fox’s promotion bills the show as “outrageous,” the Farrellys also seem oddly shackled compared with even their lesser bigscreen endeavor.”
New York Daily News: “Explaining what’s wrong with the Farrelly brothers’ new sitcom, Unhitched, which debuts Sunday on Fox, can’t be done with words like “crude” and “obvious” – because in the Farrelly universe, those aren’t criticisms…….Some parts of Unhitched would be great as beer commercials, 30 seconds and out. The problem is that they have to fill 30 minutes, which conversely isn’t enough time to develop the subtle touches of humanity that made “Mary” or “Dumber” into more than just crude laughs.”
Winnipeg Sun: “Unhitched, however, is shockingly lame…..In a broad conceptual sense, Unhitched seems like something the Farrellys burped up one day after lunch. Majumder, Craig Bierko, Johnny Sneed and Rashida Jones play four newly single pals who rely on each other to navigate the goofy waters of dating in their 30s. Wow, ground-breaking, eh?”
5 Responses
I come to TVtonight to get the inside gossip and find out whats axed!
As much as I love Daves work, it has no barring on how I watch TV.
Like I said, I dont listen to critics and I watch the same things you do 🙂
lol, I came across looking negative?
Well critics give opinions dont they, just like we all have opinions.
And allow me to be more ignorant for a few more seconds if you dont mind, but if Joe Shmo from whatever.com says he likes a movie, to me that dont mean anything. He may like Spice Girls, The Frog Song and Reality TV for all I know, and what he likes, doesnt have anything to do with what I like.
If Im going out to see a band or watch a movie, I dont run to the internet and say, “Hey what does everyone else think and especially Joe Shmo because I cant think for myself and need someone to tell me whats good!” lol, a bit drastic but hey, its the net.
Sure if my best mate says hey check these guys out or check this movie out, I’ll think about it and if he buys me a beer at the show, I’m in, but its because he is a mate and he aint getting hits and advertising points for his opinion.
So lets just say we agree to disagree. I dont need couch potatoes telling me what I should see and not see, and you do! 🙂 lol
And I support my claim that people who analyze movies and claim to love movies so much become critics because they aint good enough (or dont have the b**ls)to make their own one.
Its the same with the industry I work in, Music, you have critics, who are 99.9% in bands themselves, and they just stand around telling each other what there doing wrong. Its a silly game of whos got their finger on the pulse, and see I’m right!!
Maybe I dont take TV and Film seriously enough to really want to listen to a critic, but I’m cool with that and its how I roll! 🙂 And I tend to see exactly the same movies and TV shows you do without critics 🙂
Sure I know people listen to em, but I cant understand why. And seeing though your so convinced what they say is Bible and everyone listens to them, looks like you learnt something yourself today!!
Peace!
🙂
I listen to reviews all the time and use it to decide on my viewing practices. Sure you’re not always going to agree but a good detailed reviewer will help you gauge if you should bother watching.
If the reviews universally pan something, you’re almost always guaranteed a stinker. If a film polarises audiences then reviews can be a great help you understand why so you can come to your decision.
It’s rare that you can watch a film or tv show without being influenced in some way by feedback. The fact that you’ve come to tvtonight almost proves this fact!
Many people listen to reviews, Dree. Its a fantastic world of entertainment critique and more often that not the reviewers are spot on with what they talk about. For example, Showtime and HBO shows tend to rate very highly with critics, and rightfully so as they really are some of the better television shows in existence. Others, like Bionic Woman and Cane get universally negative reviews which often lead to an early cancellation (not because of the critics saying they’re bad, but because audiences agree with them and lose interest in the series after a couple of episodes), although sometimes a gem rises like Moonlight which critics didn’t like at first but grew to admire after a rocky start.
If you open your mind to what the critics recommend, some of the stuff they say is really worth listening to. For example, I went to see Good Luck Chuck in cinemas and I thought it was awful, but I was surprised to find that the vast majority of critics despised it as well, with only 2% of viewers on Rotten Tomatoes giving it a good review. Although some of the stuff they recommend is IMO overrated (such as Juno being the best movie of last year, for me it was enjoyable but definitely not the best), they give some good advice.
Another website I’ll use to illustrate my point is the website TheFutonCritic. Their pilot previews section has been going on for the last couple of years, and if you take a look you’ll find they’re quite good at what they do and how they predict which series will find a strong audience in the long run. The series they praised this year like DSM, Chuck, Life and Pushing Daisies have all gone on to be renewed for second seasons and have found a broad, compelled audience of viewers around the world, while others which they slammed like Cavemen, Big Shots and Viva Laughlin and long since been axed. And then there’s gigantic websites like Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic and blog sites like this with thousands upon thousands of film/television critics and lovers who come together to discuss and celebrate what they love and don’t love about media. Its quite a larger world than you might think, and who knows, you might enjoy getting involved if you give it a chance. As for the cheap jab about critics being lovers of film who aren’t good enough to make their own, I’ll let that one slide as I’m sure you didn’t intend to come across as ignorant as you portrayed yourself to be when you said that. As for your initial question on asking if people really listen to reviews, the answer is yes, as I’ve evidenced in the last few paragraphs. Maybe you don’t really care, but there are many communities, businesses and film/TV lovers that thrive upon it, and you have probably been influenced by a review somewhere down the line, even if it was a friend telling you to watch a movie because they found it enjoyable. Wow, that was long. Hopefully you’ve learned something today.
Do people really listen to reviews?
Or is it that critics are just lovers of film who arent good enough to make their own?
I dont think I’ve ever used a review to determine if I’m going to view something ever!