davidallenxyz

I've watched a lot of Partridge over the years and this show made me realise something I hadn't picked up on before.

Partridge monologues are not particularly funny. They rarely surprise you. What is funny is his interactions with other people, because these are what bring out the consequences of his inherent awkwardness.

"How are you" is 80% monologue. These occasionally raise a smile because of the wordplay, but big laughs are few and far between.

The frustration is that all the ingredients are there to make a much better show. Lynn is there. Sidekick Simon is there. Alan has a new girlfriend. But they barely appear. The new girlfriend in particular is completely undeveloped.

This needed a lot more time spent on it. It's intended to look cheap and rushed, but it also feels cheap and rushed.

Alan dressing as Rupert Bear by mistake will stick with me though. Back of the net!

Granted I'm rating this a 6/10 but that's not because I didn't find it funny.

I found half of the sketches funny. Some of them very funny. And the other half missed the mark.

They are at their best when they lean into being middle-aged - acknowledging the triviality of their interests and their growing misunderstanding of the younger generation. Sketches like "Middle Aged Man Island" or the one where Mitchell's daughter "comes out" are great examples.

They also have a sharp eye for media satire, demonstrated in the Writer's Room sketches and "The Weeping Shed".

When they miss the mark it's usually by relying on vulgarity and absurdity - a few too many knob jokes, basically. They are much better at smart humour than the sweary, abstract stuff.

The supporting cast are pretty decent too.

I tried really hard to stick with Boston Legal despite its obvious flaws, but couldn't take any more mid-way through the third season.

In brief - the sexual shenanigans the show repeatedly indulges in are far too embarrassing for the solid legal drama that sits underneath to overcome.

Season 1 is a case study of a show that is commissioned before anyone really knew what it was about. Burdened by a mystery health diagnosis for William Shatner's Denny Crane (which is rarely mentioned in later seasons), it is a revolving door of hotties for James Spader's Alan Shore to lech over, until panic casting of Candice Bergen forces it to get a bit more serious.

And the next two seasons are characterised by the struggle between weird sexual adventures (that are way beyond what would ever be suitable in the workplace) and really insightful courtroom drama that exposes serious issues in the US legal system.

As charismatic as Shatner and Spader are, you can only lose patience with how dumb the "comedy" aspects of the show become. Watching two lawyers fist fight over their mutual friend-with-benefits (also a lawyer) while dressed as Buzz Lightyear was the breaking point for me. Or was it the running gag of not noticing that a dwarf was listening in to your conversation?

In a parallel universe there is a version of this show that is played straight. That version would rate an 8. Sadly our universe is stuck with the version that rates a 3.