TV Review: ABC’s Lame ‘Work It’ is Insulting to Both Genders

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CHICAGO – I try to approach every new series as a blank slate. However, it would be naive to say that things like pedigree and incessant advertising don’t have the same impact on me as they do you. I’m a fan of J.J. Abrams and so I look forward to his work more than, say, the team behind “According to Jim.” And the ads for ABC’s “Work It” sent a shiver down my spine like a high school teacher talking about a term paper that you knew you’d have to do eventually and would probably hate writing. Did it live up to my low expectations? Actually, no. It’s much, MUCH worse.

Television Rating: 1.0/5.0

Perhaps ABC slated “Work It” as the first new program of 2012 so no one would remember it by the time they were writing their Worst of the Year lists in eleven months. Because there’s sure no way that it’s still going to be on the air. I don’t expect it to survive the thaw. Perhaps they saw the relatively bad reviews for “Last Man Standing” and wanted to put something on with it that would make it look good by comparison (which should have worked with the horrendous “Man Up!” but didn’t quite do so.) There have been a handful of truly horrendous shows in the 2011-12 network season but only two programs have felt like a kick to the critical groin — FOX’s “I Hate My Teenage Daughter” now has a partner.

Work It
Photo credit: ABC

Lee Standish (Ben Koldyke) is one of many unemployed family men in St. Louis. In fact, he’s friends with a few more, including Angel Ortiz (Amaury Nolasco) and Brian (John Caparulo), and the three guys drown their economic sorrows in, one presumes given their location, Bud Light. After seeing the success of a pharmaceutical saleswoman after a doctor’s appointment and hearing her say that they’re hiring, Lee has a brainstorm. He dresses up like a woman, even going as far as to get buddy Angel a job in drag. Apparently, all most men have to do to get work in today’s market is put on a skirt. Think about that for a second ladies and TRY and not be insulted.

Work It Photo credit: ABC

Using the economic crisis as a jumping-off point for a traditional sitcom isn’t the worst idea. Wouldn’t it be great if someone could find the comedic truth in the current dynamic like Ms. Barr did with the great “Roseanne”? There have been plenty of great blue collar sitcoms. From the beginning, “Work It” is not a blue collar sitcom. The star of the show is a man whose unemployment insurance is about to run out and he lives in a home that’s probably bigger than yours. This is Hollywood’s version of the recession — none of it feels real. And so it borders on offense, if it weren’t so dumb.

The cliches abound. The first act of the series premiere features multiple jokes about getting a prostate exam, guys drinking beers and complaining about women getting jobs, and a string of sexist assumptions about the workplace that would have made Archie Bunker roll his eyes. Koldyke was an interesting choice. He’s such a square-jawed, straight man (and I mean that in the comedic sense not sexual) that he seems like an unusual choice. He doesn’t quite have an everyman quality, seeming like an actor who would typically be offered the “other guy” role in romantic comedies. You know, the boyfriend that Katherine Heigl leaves for Ashton Kutcher. And I don’t mean that as much of an insult as it may sound. It’s just that he doesn’t quite have the charisma yet for a lead role in a network sitcom. However, he looks like a future Emmy winner compared to the miscast Amaury Nolasco and Caparulo is simply awful. When the women that Lee works with get involved in the comedy in the second act, they bring a little life to the piece, but they’re such broad (no pun intended) cliches (men eat large sub sandwiches while women eat dainty lunches!!!) that even Katherine Heigl and Ashton Kutcher would tell the writers to try harder.

The cast is not to blame (OK, maybe Caparulo a bit). It’s all bad plot writing, stale direction, and insanely unrealistic dialogue that includes a man saying “teets” and excusing leaving football on his resume by saying that he played lingerie football. By the time they get a to a getting-dressed montage set to Black Eyed Peas’ “My Humps,” I could literally feel my skin crawling. “Bootylicious” played less than five minutes later and I threw up a little in my mouth.

When the set-up is this paper-thin, where could “Work It” possibly go from here? It’s only going to get more desperate, presuming it’s on long enough to do so. Many people have compared it to “Bosom Buddies,” forgetting that while that show helped launch the career of a future Oscar winner, the concept fell apart back then too and it was canceled after less than two seasons and only 37 episodes. It didn’t work then and “Work It” doesn’t work now.

By BRIAN TALLERICO Content Director HollywoodChicago.com brian@hollywoodchicago.com