If we think of a certain pair of new comedies as ruminations on the modern male psyche, as windows to hurting souls of the testosterone-laden, maybe they’ll be less painful. What do men want? Let’s look.
Two of the most reviled new shows of the season bow tonight, and the countdown to cancellation begins.
“Cavemen” and “Carpoolers” lead my personal list of shows that should quietly evaporate. Of course ratings have a way of defying expectations (witness “Bionic Woman” unaccountably blasting ahead of “Reaper.”)
To be fair, ABC’s “Cavemen” has been significantly reworked since the awful rough cut sent to critics last summer. The revamped pilot is not available for preview (bad sign), so we all get to critique it together at 7 p.m. on KMGH-Channel 7.
This is the sitcom based on the insurance commercial characters that initially was offensive on two levels. It was not merely a one-note concept that tended to be unfunny, but it was unfunny in a way that could be interpreted as racially biased against African-Americans. The most that can be said for the cast – Bill English, Nick Kroll, Sam Huntington – is that they heroically support the heavy makeup.
ABC’s “Carpoolers,” untouched since the initial pilot and still a tedious, claustrophobic sitcom, pulls up at 7:30 p.m. on Channel 7. Four men, nothing in common but a destination, banter.
The admirable cast – Fred Goss, Faith Ford, Jerry O’Connell, Jerry Minor, Allison Munn, Tim Peper plus T.J. Miller as the requisite slacker son – is wasted in this already dated half-hour. Goss (“Significant Others,” “Sons and Daughters”), especially, deserves to find another ride.
Both “Carpoolers” and “Cavemen” can be understood as comments on the put-upon, misunderstood and routinely humiliated American male. Life is heartbreakingly difficult for single, married, divorced, young, old, majority and minority males.
The shows suggest that men desire the freedom to think small, to obsess about the trivial. They want to flirt while enjoying the safety of a relationship. Plus power, money, free time, acceptance and a parking space.
Essentially, men want what women want but with fewer manners.
“Gentlemen, let’s carpool!” the driver announces. They’re off on a shared cultural experience and a conversation that veers from minutiae to marriage to money – not in a good way.
“This ride is the only peace I have, 45 minutes each way!” cries a harried wage-earner. Thank goodness the show isn’t as long as the commute.
In the original “Cavemen” pilot, references to the minority group’s athletic and sexual prowess, their shunning and historic oppression by members of an exclusive (WASPy) country club, in addition to the suggestion of laziness were met with uneasy questions from critics.
The producers maintained that the cave men were not intended to represent any single minority group but rather a fictional one, invented for humor. It’s not about race, they said, it’s about prejudice of any kind. OK, we can imagine a funny scene where a Homo sapiens brings home a Cro-
Magnon, and the parents freak out – could be “Bridget Loves Bernie” or any two groups fearful of the others’ differences. But the gags consistently drawing on stereotypes get old.
Whether the producers have eliminated the more grievous aspects of “Cavemen” remains to be seen. All we know is that they’ve shifted the hairy guys to San Diego from Atlanta (the location is easier to fake from Los Angeles). Really, it’s a tribute to the producers’ imaginations that they’ve squeezed this much juice and media attention out of characters invented for a commercial.
Online only
NBC today launches an online-only soap opera, “Coastal Dreams,” slated to run a few minutes per episode for 12 weeks. See it at .
The sudser is the story of two 20-something women in a small Pacific Coast town, starring recycled “Passions” talent. New episodes will be posted every Tuesday and Thursday. The effort is overseen by Robert Angelo, the digital content producer who is also behind Conan O’Brien’s “Pale Force” website and the weekly “Jay Leno’s Garage” online.
It’s all about traditional media figuring out how to “monetize” entertainment on the Net.
Joanne Ostrow: 303-954-1830 or jostrow@denverpost.com
