Taking a great standup routine and making it work as a television sitcom requires some development and finesse. It's a difficult process that can go wrong in many ways. NBC's new unfunny comedy, "Whitney," fails to make that transition work.
Whitney Cummings' new sitcom is essentially a bunch of one−liners and insults thrown together and bandied around for a half an hour. Rather than crafting a show with logically constructed plotlines or jokes that serve its storyline, Cummings and her writers took a bunch of her standup bits and tried to string them together around measly plotlines.
This weak strategy wouldn't be such a crime if Cummings' jokes were original or even funny. Unfortunately, "Whitney's" sense of humor is sub−par, and the show mimics at least a dozen other predictable sitcoms about young couples trying to work out their quirky relationships.
Because the characters only talk about their relationships and over−share about their sex lives, it seems as though they have nothing else going on, which makes it hard for audiences to be interested in them. With no real character development, the cast of "Whitney" comes off as one dimensional and boring.
Take, for a prime example, the character of Roxanne (Rhea Seehorn). Roxanne spends half of her screen time stereotypically complaining about how awful men are and the other half whining about how she wants a boyfriend. Even with Cummings as the female showrunner, "Whitney" still pigeonholes Roxanne as the type of woman who defines her world by the men in her life. Frankly, it's sad that this portrayal of women — and type of woman — still exists today.
Other supporting cast members do not fare much better. Mark (Dan O'Brien), a police officer and Whitney's (Whitney Cummings) next−door neighbor, appears to walk into scenes for the sole purpose of centering discussions around the topic of sex. This kind of uninspiring characterization early in a show's run suggests it will have nowhere to go in the future — that is, if "Whitney" even has a future.
The show's weak characterization is worsened by its actors' stagy performances. Cummings, known for her strong stand−up acts, plays the title character too theatrically. Her delivery is distracting — she's cracking jokes instead of creating an actual character grounded in reality.
Another stand up comedian, Chris D'Elia, falls into the same trap as Cummings; he's tossing off one−liners instead of acting as Whitney's boyfriend, Alex. D'Elia deadpans all of his dialogue to the point where his lines completely lose their edge.
Recently, women have been a strong comedic force in the entertainment business. From the red−hot resurrection of Betty White's career to the wildly popular "Bridesmaids" (2011), women have proven that they can match — and often out−perform — their male−counterparts.
"Whitney," however, seems to have taken that progress half a step back with its old, stale sitcom techniques. The most annoying of these is the show's use of studio laughter: If a show needs to tell its audience when to laugh, it's probably not funny.
It's a shame, because Cummings has proven she can be edgy in her standup routine — if only she had brought her spunk to her TV show. Maybe then it would be worth watching.
It's unfortunate that NBC has placed this musty sitcom in the same line−up with shows like "Parks and Recreation" and "Community," which are some of television's strongest and most daring comedies. These shows would never phone in episodes and jokes the way "Whitney" already has.
Although a sitcom's main objective might be to elicit laughter — and viewers — it still needs developed characters and a plot to function, both of which "Whitney" lacks. Cummings is still an incredibly hilarious woman, but "Whitney" proves that there is a difference between being a great standup comedian and a funny character on a sitcom.
