TV Review: It Isn’t Easy Being Green on Showtime’s ‘The Green Room’

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CHICAGO – “I don’t even know what to do on this show. We just talk?” asks comic Bobby Slayton in episode four of the new Showtime series “The Green Room with Paul Provenza.” Yes. And therein lies the problem.

Television Rating: 3.0/5.0

Certainly, the premise of “The Green Room” is not new. Jon Favreau’s IFC series “Dinner for Five” was also an unscripted, round robin, celebrities-just-talking-for-30-minutes style of show. But while the success of “Dinner” hinged somewhat on the selection of guests on each episode, host Favreau was charismatic, a little cocky and, ultimately, interesting enough to make the show work most of the time, regardless of the cast.

Paul Provenza on The Green Room.
Photo credit: Cliff Lipson/Showtime

“The Green Room” is different. Paul Provenza, comedian and director of “The Aristocrats” hosts an ever-changing cast of celebrity comedians that come on to tell jokes or talk about their lives and careers, but when the guests are B- or C-list stars, do not gel well together, or their jokes fall flat, Provenza doesn’t have the chops to rescue the show. Provenza can be funny, but not always funny enough, is friends with his guests, but cannot seem to control the direction of their conversation or always unite them to work well together. Plus, he is among the least well-known of any of the comedians on the show, and so his interactions with his guests, especially the famous ones, can border on the sycophantic. And that makes their interactions less interesting and comfortable to watch.

“The Green Room” is great when the cast works well together, like in episode two, where Bob Saget, Roseanne Barr, Sandra Bernhard and Patrice O’Neal affectionately and honestly talk about selling out (Saget) and about being unable to keep their mouth shut when they should (Barr). It’s also great when genuinely funny guests like Eddie Izzard, Drew Carey, and classic ‘60s comic Jonathan Winters are given free rein to be themselves. But in episode four, when the sanctimonious Paul Mooney gets on his soapbox, snarking at Mafioso-type and antagonistic Bobby Slayton, sweet Rain Pryor and deadpan Aussie Jim Jefferies, Provenza is powerless to stop the steamrolling.

Beyond the casting inconsistencies, there are other downsides to the show. The opening credits’ gimmick is schlocky. The stage door is closed to us, the audience, kept out by a different comic every episode who gives us a, usually lame, reason why we can’t come in. Then tells us if we’re “cool” we can come in and hang out with them.

All in all, “The Green Room” is worth watching only if you like the guests. If not, it’s a tired premise. After all, Paul Provenza is not.

By EMILY RIEMER
Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com