They’re working a narrow niche, but the world of independent film provides great material for two raunchy new comedies debuting Friday on IFC.
Both borrow techniques from Larry David’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and other single-camera comedies, light-years removed from laugh-track sitcoms. Both delight in the live action style and cable-ready raw language.
Where David’s “Curb” views L.A. through the eyes of a successful yet neurotic misanthrope, these comedies see the town through the eyes of dysfunctional wannabes on the fringes of show business.
“The Minor Accomplishments of Jackie Woodman,” at 9 p.m., and “The Business,” at 9:30 p.m., are eight-part series on IFC.
“Minor Accomplishments” brings chagrin, insider gossip, guest stars (Sally Kellerman in the first episode, Andy Dick in the second) and a flip ‘tude to the subject.
“The Business” makes fun of the B-movie and soft-core porn worlds. As a running joke, the video within the video is “Drunk Chicks 6.” We are left to imagine 1-5.
It’s not that the porn merchants are unaware of their dehumanizing attitudes toward women. The producers organize a women’s protest to draw attention to their production company, serving coffee and muffins to the gals on the picket line.
World of wannabes
Laura Kightlinger (“Will & Grace,” “Lucky Louie”) created and stars in “Minor Accomplishments” as Jackie Woodman. Tara Wentzel (Nicholle Tom from “The Nanny”) is her best friend. Together they bump up against scripts, agents, stars and the rest of the population who dream of making it.
Jackie is a frustrated screenwriter making a living as a scribe for a second-rate indie film rag. On a slow writing day, she exclaims what any talented writer does: “(Expletive), I’m never gonna get a nap today!”
Tara has a menial job at a film production company and a boyfriend who’s secretly gay. As Tara and Jackie bumble through La-la-land, it’s as if the “Absolutely Fabulous” babes had been shipped west without money for champagne.
Tara and Jackie are not far removed from Patsy and Eddy: They argue over whether they save time by referring to a cellphone as a “c-phone.”
When they run into Kellerman – actually she runs into them and doesn’t have car insurance – the pair are drawn into a self-help cult.
First, of course, they have to get to know the “M*A*S*H” actress.
“Miss Kellerman. …”
“Oh, please, call me Sally Kellerman.”
From there on Sally Kellerman gets to ham it up as a cult member.
The background characters are equally inane. Topics of interest range from Goldie Hawn’s face (post-surgery?) to Ted Bundy – “hot,” Jackie’s assistant determines, “as serial killers go.”
“Do you ever feel like you have someone else’s teeth in your mouth?” Kellerman asks.
“All the time,” Jackie answers.
Maybe you have to be there.
Male viewpoint
“The Business” delivers a certain male point of view, from the team that created last year’s “The Festival,” about the indie film-fest circuit.
That ensemble comedy, billed a verité-satire, was told from the perspective of a fictional IFC documentarian, Cookie. Cookie followed one Rufus Marquez (Nicolas Wright), a young director making his first trip to the prestigious Mountain United Film Festival (MUFF.) Rufus was looking for a distribution deal for his film, “The Unreasonable Truth of Butterflies.” Vic (Rob Deleeuw) was the aspiring producer who picked up the award-winning film. Now Vic wants respectability.
In “The Business,” we follow Vic as he tries to segue from smut DVDs to mainstream film.
To begin the transition, Vic adds a “-stein” to his name and converts to Judaism. His first project will be an indie thriller, cheap set and all. He persuades Julia Sullivan (Kathleen Robertson) to quit her job at IFC and produce for Vic’s Flicks.
A nightmarish run through investors, changing directors, manic actors and tricky nude scenes follows. The inside jokes are less inside than ever as everyone becomes expert in the ways of Hollywood.
TV critic Joanne Ostrow can be reached at 303-820-1830 or jostrow@denverpost.com.
