Show People

So we walked out of Show People, and Lydia said, "Don't bother posting about this one, it's not worth your time." Sad, but oh so wrong. Bad reviews are so fun to write. It's the one thing that redeems the show; its sole source of entertainment. So here I am. For some lucky reader(s) (that is a hopeful (s)), I am trying to save the two hours of wasted life that I had to sit through and replace it with 5 minutes of blog-reading time. But before you think this show is altogether horrible, let me outline some of its slightly more redeeming qualities.

1. Liev Schreiber was in the audience. That was cool. I sat almost next to him during the second act (he was across the aisle). So at least when the show got boring, I could turn to my left and go "oooh, look! a famous person's foot!" You can't imagine how often I did this. Creepy, I know. Sorry Liev.

2. Judy Greer was in the show. So I'm not saying Judy Greer was great in the show, and I'm not saying that her performance was even comparable to the Judy Greer we know and love (I say, "we" because if you are not familiar with Judy Greer now, in about four sentences I am going to force you to go out and rent perhaps the single funniest television scene in recent history, and by "force" I mean urge you with my emphatic rhetoric). So whenever the show got dull, you could always make yourself laugh by thinking of one of the greatest scenes from one of the greatest shows on television. I make myself laugh just thinking about it. I just spent like an hour at work looking for the episode, and I found it: http://the-op.com/episode/106 "Visiting Ours" from "Arrested Development." Hair up, Glasses off... It hurts I am laughing so hard thinking about it. Go watch this now.

Okay, so now we've gone over the two highlights of the show. I guess we can move on to the rest of it. I almost forgot I was writing about Show People. Man. I just got really depressed. Like I was riding that high from thinking about the Arrested Development episode, and then Bam! I thought about Show People. Now I'm kind of bummed. Tough.

So the show. Paul Weitz wrote it. And you might be thinking, oh yeah, Paul Weitz, he did American Pie, and In Good Company, and About a Boy. Should be good, right? WRONG. If you saw "Privilege" at Second Stage last season, you would understand why. Let me summarize: Privilege - sucked. Show People - sucked. Apparently, I am too generous with my second chances.

The show basically started out, and something happens plotwise, the ground is set, and it's a little like, hmmm. what's he trying to do with this? And then it gets weirder, and seemingly more pointless. And you're watching this show, and you're just like, this plot is not really a plot, we haven't really progressed, it's not contributing to anything, the dialogue is awful, the characters are not likable, the acting is bad (okay, that has nothing to do with plot), but, you think, with an inkling of hope, if he twists it at the end, just maybe, it might be able to redeem itself, it might even be kind of a little cool. And there is a little twist at the end, I guess, but [SPOILER ALERT] IT SUCKS. Yeah, you're just like. Wow, that was bad. Conceptually, it had potential. It seemed like it could be kind of neat. I only dozed off once. I tried really hard not to, because I was in the front row, and Lydia kept me in line, but after about 20 minutes, it was just hard to help.

That was my plot summary. Obviously it is a very intriguing, well-written show. As for other baffling elements - there was a lot of laughing. Like loud, guffawing. I laughed three times in two hours, I think. I also sat there with a confused look on my face while everyone was laughing and thinking, did I miss something? But Lydia looked the same way, so I felt better. And I turned around and Liev wasn't laughing either. So I must be cool. Yes, I was watching to see if Liev laughed at bad jokes (I use the word "jokes" loosely). Creepier, I know. Sorry Liev.

So the show was not funny. I think about why everyone was laughing, and I attribute it to the same principles and reasons that got our president elected. I might be alienating some of our reader(s) here, but you know the something's wrong with the show when I'm comparing it to Bush. But anyhow, enough politics for me. Back to the show. I admit, Judy Greer has one funny line in the show. I laughed at it. I even remember it. But I won't spoil it for you. All the other bad lines she makes up for by being in that episode of Arrested Development (mind you, she has many good scenes in other episodes of Arrested Development, that is just the pinnacle of the world in my eyes). Unfortunately, the other cast members are not so lucky.

And the cast. Yeah, it was poor. Some poorer than others. And they're pretty much all in American Dreamz, which Paul Weitz I believe also wrote. Guess how much this makes me want to see that movie. Yeah, zero. The whole show kind of channeled something like a bad SNL skit, especially when the mother character talked. You know that whole this-is-so-not-funny,-stop-trying,-please-end-now-or-give-me-a-shotgun-so-I-can-blow my-own-head-off feeling. That's the one. I just thought of it! It was totally like Lisa Kudrow in HBO's short-lived "The Comeback." Like when Lisa Kudrow is in the television show that she's in in "The Comeback" (Room and Bored, I believe it was called). Like cheesy, bad, painful, unfunny sitcom, I'd rather be chewing on aluminum foil feeling. With a laugh track...which would explain the laughing in the audience. A laugh track! Man, it was just painful to watch.

So in summary. Don't go see the show. And if you are going to, make sure you watch that episode of Arrested Development first and that someone famous (preferably as cool or cooler than Liev Schreiber) is in the audience.