(S01E01) The Knights of Prosperity is a show with all the right ingredients, and yet, the result feels more than a little half-baked.
Donal Logue plays Eugene Gurkin, a janitor who decides he wants a change when a co-worker falls over dead on the job. Gurkin doesn't want to die never having made something of himself, so after a failed attempt at securing a loan to open his own bar, he decides to rob Mick Jagger. All of this happens in about the first ten minutes of the episode, so you either buy into the concept right away or you don't. This is a sitcom after all, and not a feature film, so they have to get into it right away. Still, a little more set up would have been nice.
As for Mick Jagger himself, he appears a few times throughout the episode, showing his luxurious home to a film crew for the E! channel. Like any eccentric millionaire, his home is filled with unnecessary things, such as a swimming pool made especially for his dogs. The scenes with Jagger would be much funnier if Jagger wasn't so obviously amused by what he was saying and didn't deliver his lines as if he were the lead in a high school play.
The Knights of Prosperity does have some funny moments and concepts: I laughed when Gurkin tells his crew of future Jagger robbers he wasn't born with a silver spoon in his mouth, but rather a "plastic spork in my ass." Later, he prays with his friends and asks God to help them rob Mick Jagger.
There's also Gourishankar, or "Gary" as his friends insist on calling him, who hires an intern to help them out. It's a funny idea, and it's a great way of showing that these men have no idea what they're doing. Unfortunately, the show is also hampered by too many comedy cliches and ideas that have been done before, like the riffs between people of different ethnic backgrounds, and the silent, androgynous Asian who lives with Mick. The Knights of Prosperity wants you to embrace these crazy characters and the crazy adventures they're about to embark upon, but wants to do it with as little effort as possible.
Granted, this is only the pilot episode, so maybe all those kinks will be worked out as the season progresses, and it does have at least one thing going for it in Donal Logue, who's an incredibly likable leading man. My initial response, however, is that a few scattered laughs isn't going to be enough to keep me glued to my TV screen.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1-04-2007 @ 10:30AM
Karen said...
Hmmm. I didn't have quite as negative a reaction as you, Adam. I thought Jagger lit up the screen every time he was on it--riffing a rock icon as Paris Hilton. The line that "Jonesy" gives before he dies was extremely funny. And the dynamic between the Knights pretty much worked.
It wasn't perfect. I thought the joke about women between Gary and the intern was unnecessarily crude, for example. But I think it's worth keeping on the DVR series list for now.
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1-04-2007 @ 10:31AM
Carl Winslow said...
I liked this show. I agree some things were a little shaky and need to be ironed out, but I found myself smiling the entire time. The preview for upcoming episodes looked promising too.
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1-04-2007 @ 10:37AM
Alicia said...
It gave me enough chuckles to give it another watch, for another two or three episodes. What I am afraid of is that it could become very formula very easy.
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1-04-2007 @ 11:19AM
BillS said...
I agree about Logue, and I also like Maz Jobrani a lot. A few spots in the pilot were rough, but the same could be said for 30 Rock, and that's grown into a winner. So unless it takes a real down turn, I'm sticking with Knights for at least the season.
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1-04-2007 @ 11:27AM
Mosh said...
This show has potential. Even if each season they decide to rob a new celebrity with even greater security to overcome. This show kinda reminds me that gem from the 80s "It's Your Move". I didn't find the intern and Gary conversation about women crude in the bad way at all, it was crude but that's what made it so funny. I was totally fooled into believing he would say "mind", but it was a brilliant un-PC joke. This is going on my download list for sure.
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1-04-2007 @ 11:56AM
Toner Refill said...
I watched it. Have kinda mixed feelings so far. I'm gonna keep the season pass on TIVO and monitor the show. I do think it has huge potential. Then again a lot of shows that do get mysteriously cancelled all the time on me. I'm still bitter about the early 90's cancellation of "dark shadows".
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1-04-2007 @ 2:15PM
Dusty T said...
All I know is I laughed my a** off during this show....And that is something I have not done for a long time during my self induced sitcom viewing coma...
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1-04-2007 @ 5:50PM
drake said...
Any show that uses "Apache" from the Incredible Bongo Band as it's backtrack has my support.
Certainly not the best new comedy this year, but it has smarts and assuming they're planning on robbing other celebs, could have enough legs for at least a good season.
Still seemed funnier in concept in it's original conceived title of "Let's Rob Jeff Goldblum." I guess they figured not as many folks would tune in for that.
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1-04-2007 @ 7:31PM
Stevie said...
i get the feeling it's going to get better as it goes along. i like that they didn't keep up the 'taxi 2' pretense for the intern, for example. one problem i had with the setup is when they were desperate to get the right key -- isn't everyone in that building filthy stinking rich? couldn't they settle for a different apartment?
i know, i know; that's not the point. the bottom line is, i like the cast, and if the show keeps going at this rate i think it'll be funny.
it's a damn sight better than the horrible horrible follow-up, 'in case of emergency.' woof! i've lost all respect for favreau.
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1-04-2007 @ 10:34PM
NickG said...
I thought it was funny, most notibly when Mick Jagger was on. Him kicking the soccer ball into the guy that works with him cracked me up. Also, I like the fort knox security at the end. Anyone notice that 'Start me Up' was playing in the background as elevator music as he was walking through all the security measures?
Was caught off guard that Dave Letterman is producing this. Plus it looks like there's a bunch of cameos coming up. Will definatly watch again.
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1-05-2007 @ 8:44AM
imdennycrane said...
Drake - is that the name of the song they played when they were walking w/ their shirts on? I couldn't get that out of my head for the longest time!
I got alot of laughs out of this one - I will definitely be recording it.
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1-06-2007 @ 12:00PM
GamerJunk.net said...
I thought it was a poor man's Ocean's 11 and really wasn't put together as well as I was hoping. I found "In case Of Emergency" to be a better show.
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