(S01E05) This review is not going to be pretty, boys and girls, because I'm starting to lose my patience with The Class. There's too many stories and not enough laughs. Right now, the only storyline that has any redeeming qualities, the constant efforts of Kat to bring Ethan out of his nice guy shell, really is just being used as a goofy side-story to all of the other, more emotional stories. But the problem is, those stories are becoming less entertaining by the week, and the "complications" that the writers are throwing in are just distractions.The Kyle/Holly storyline is straight out of the Bad Sitcom Misunderstanding Handbook. Kyle can't tell Holly that she's annoying, so he says he doesn't want her and Oprah around his school because he's still got feelings for her. Then he finally pulls strings after an appeal from Perry, who makes the obvious statement of the year: "We all have feelings we don't want, but we push them right down." Uh, yeah. No shit. Anyway, when Kyle finally tells Holly why he lied, she still thinks he has feelings for her. Hilarious. Send all of these characters down an elevator shaft and The Class automatically gets 33% better.
It looks like Richie and Lina are going to continue to be star-crossed. Richie's wife -- Sara Gilbert, of all people -- constantly insults him. He needs money, so he goes to work for Duncan at Yonk and Nicole's place. They can sort of talk about the stuff that gets in the way of what they want, but not really. Yeesh. The presence of Richie's wife makes the story with him and Lina less funny and more angsty, neither of which is helpful. So now we have two triangles to deal with (Duncan/Nicole/Yonk and Richie/Richie's shrewish wife/Lina) and right now neither is that interesting.So, back to the only decent story: Kat getting Ethan to try ten samples at the frozen yogurt shop and then not buy anything. It's funny because Kat always has good lines; when Ethan tells her what he wants to get in the opening scene, she deadpans, "It's exciting going behind the scenes of your order." And it was kind of funny that she had Ethan hold her ground on line, even though a kid whose dog just died was behind him. But I have to wonder, where are these two characters going? Are they going to date? Just stay friends? Why is Kat even trying to transform the too-nice Ethan? There's nothing beneath the story; the irony is, though, that it's the only pair where "story" isn't getting in the way of "humor." So maybe the whole show should be about Kat and Ethan and leave it at that.
Oh, and we see how well Lina's doing back at her receptionist's job. Nice of her company to not make any effort to adapt her workplace to her current disabled status, huh? Anyway, there's no reason why she's there beyond showing the latest cliffhanger: Richie's wife works in her building... as the janitor! OOOOOOHHH! Can't wait to see what happens next!
Well, not really. Like I said, this show is starting to lose me. I'm giving it one more week, and if fails to bring the funny, I'm walking away. It's a shame; after How I Met Your Mother, I'm primed to laugh. Too bad The Class is failing to deliver.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-17-2006 @ 12:01AM
Tony C said...
I'm with you all the way and then some, Joel. Been waiting for someone to post the TVS review so I could spill my rant.
The first episode I caught of The Class was last week's and I thought it was awful. Completely unfunny, devoid of any sense of intelligent writing and so badly carried off it's just sad. Decided to give it another go and this week, it only got worse.
None of the characters are likeable, everyone is selfish and is either involved with cheating on their spouse, an accomplice to the deed, or on the way there. And hey, lets just say that it's just completely wrong to be "nice" and everyone should just bilk food vendors of unlimited free samples while completely alienating yourself from the world standing inconsiderately in line behind you.
They don't know whether to do sitcom-on-bad-crack, completely canned gay men (does Holly make them that way, or does she have a knack for finding the closeted guys in denial?), semi-serious relationship stories or scrape along a few scenes of god-awful physical humor from the girl in a wheelchair with both legs set in casts. Is it trying to create some new kind of television lifeform? The really-bad-half-hour-dramedy? Because the TV landscape could well do without.
Not only can I not believe that Sara Gilbert would work on this drivel, but that she would allow herself to be limited to what amounts to a worthless cameo role.
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10-17-2006 @ 12:15AM
Porchland said...
W-R-O-N-G.
The board is set; the pieces are moving. Now that the show has firmly established the characters, it is freed to start moving them around. We saw the beginning of the various storylines converging, and I think we're going to see more realignment as the season progresses.
The twists near the end of each episode have sort of become the show's thing, and I think they work.
I missed seeing David Keith and Carmello's mother, but the cast is so large that it can't hit everyone every week.
Lucy Punch (Oprah's mommy) and the Lina character grated on me in the pilot, but they've both grown on me.
Pairs well with "How I Met Your Mother."
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10-17-2006 @ 3:06AM
gaur said...
Even though the show is uneven at times it still gives good funny. What the show is doing is putting opposites together in awkward situations and then try to milk it for all it's worth. I laugh at the show because while the writers may not be great at making that template flow perfectly, they have a darker edgier comic outlook then most sitcoms, it's different and I like it's non cookie cutter take on the modern sitcom. I mean it's miles funnier then "Two and A Half Men" or any number of other sitcoms which have been around for years. It's not "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" good, but it's still got a freshness and a smartness and an edge. Give it time.
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10-17-2006 @ 8:23AM
Michael said...
Funnier than Two and a Half Men?!? I must disagree.
Men always has at least one or two laugh out loud lines or moments per show. The Class has yet to make do more than chuckle in the few weeks its been on the air. I think part of it is the Class is so full of cliches while Two and a Half Men, at least the comedy comes from our knowing the characters and their personalities.
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10-17-2006 @ 8:36AM
Ginny said...
I liked the premise of this show at the beginning but am really not liking these people much now.
Ethan is a nice guy and a story could be written with him as a nice guy.
Kat is selfish and rude and I wouldn't want to know her.
Duncan was a good guy until he hooked up with the cheating Nicole. I don't like watcing cheaters or those who they are cheating with.
I love Lina. She's sweet and innocent and trusting. I just hope Richie is living with his sister or cousin or ex-wife because of money problems and that he's not a cheater too.
I'm only going to give this show a few more episodes before I flip the channel.
I just can't see sticking around for two (Ethan and Lina)(three? Richie?) nice characters out of so many - especially if one of them (Ethan) is going to become a jerk.
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10-17-2006 @ 9:08AM
Brian said...
I really want to like this show. Last week's ep was sort of a let down but I liked the cliff hanger. I've yet to see this week's ep but I'm cautiously optimistic.
My biggest problem with this show is the chemistry and acting. It still feels stilted and/or forced to me. The laughs are there (for me) occasionally but it's not as smooth as I think a successfull show needs to be. The Class needs to find it's chemistry quick or I'll be forced to move on.
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10-18-2006 @ 7:39PM
renee said...
I like this show more with every episode. except for the Kyle/Holly story line, I think they are all interesting, and the laughs are unexpected, not formulaic. I think its the best new sitcom this year. ok thats not saying much, but its great!
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10-17-2006 @ 10:36AM
Adrienne Gilbreath said...
I try and try to like The Class, but I can't. It has too many stories and none of them are very good.
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10-17-2006 @ 2:18PM
SamMalone said...
The nice thing is I skipped through the whole Kyle/Holly storyline on my DVR (apparently that's what those boring people's names are) and didn't miss a thing.
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10-17-2006 @ 11:13AM
mobile_army_sugical_hospital said...
I find myself disliking the show more with every episode.
After watching last night I have removed it from Season Pass.
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10-17-2006 @ 12:28PM
jttv said...
This show gets more unlikable by the week.
I'll give it one more try then
The Class get cancelled.
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10-17-2006 @ 5:46PM
ladi said...
I really wanted to like this show, and I did enjoy the first couple of episodes. But I just removed it from my TIVO last night.
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10-20-2006 @ 11:49PM
soundacious said...
Someone in the last post mentioned that The Class reminded them of "Soap". That is completely on the money. This show is essentially 21st century Soap. It can't be an accident, it's just too on the money.
Personally, I'm laughing my ass off.
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