reverendike-23348

One of the things you can depend on in the world of television is that, if a particular show succeeds, there will be multiple attempts to copy it in the hope that it's the formula that makes it a success. Unfortunately, formulas don't work by themselves, they need good writing. The mockumentary formula that made The Office, Parks & Recreation, and Abbott Elementary succeed falls flat on its face here thanks to abysmal writing.

When I first saw the cast list, I was looking forward to this show being released. But then I watched a trailer and was left shaking my head.

I love many of the actors in St. Denis Medical, but I can't believe they signed up for this after seeing any of the scripts. Or maybe they didn't read any and it was blind trust on their part. At any rate, they have no chance of saving this mess thanks to the clunky writing and ham-fisted directing. The fact that some viewers like this disaster is actually scary.

As with any showcase introducing a number of comedians that were largely unknown, there were hits and misses. Overall, though, I enjoyed it. As others have pointed out, there appeared to be some enhancement of the audience reaction, which seems a bit odd. Perhaps the audience was not advised that it was a recorded performance, or perhaps the venue was not a great fit - you'd expect that loyal local fans of the comics on display would make every effort to attend and be naturally enthusiastic. At any rate, that didn't really impact my reaction to the show. Since this special prompted a batch of hate-downvoting (which seems to be more and more common these days) I looked at a few of those reviewers and found that all or nearly all of their reviews were 1/10. They must be really poor at selecting what movies/specials they decide to invest their time in watching if they continually sit through performances they hate.