Tag Archives: French Stewart

Fall 2011 Review: Allen Gregory

22 Dec

Most failed comedies are trying their hand at one type of show or another and failing. Last Man Standing tries to capture the traditional family sitcom genre, of which Everybody Loves Raymond is the recent king (The King of Queens for a more recent, but less acclaimed version) and certainly memories of Home Improvement are in mind with Tim Allen on board. I Hate My Teenage Daughter seems to want to capture the dysfunctional family sitcom – the Roseannes, or slightly lower, the Grace Under Fires. Allen Gregory tries to capture the edgier, animated comedy, in the mode of its Sunday night Fox-mates, Family Guy and American Dad. However, watching the show made me think of another successful animated comedy, Archer. Allen Gregory is about a precocious and pretentious seven year old who after years of home-schooling and being told he’s the best thing since sliced bread is being enrolled in a public school where he has to deal with the fact that he’s kind of a loser.  He’s got two loving gay parents, one of whom is his natural parent and is voiced by French Stewart, and an adopted Cambodian sister who is the most normal family member but whom Allen and his dad constantly mistreat.  Allen is voiced by Jonah Hill and is pretty much a giant dick, in the mode of Sterling Archer from Archer, but he’s just not as funny in any way.

Archer, and to a lesser extent, The Venture Bros. both walk a fine line by having their main character be a giant dick. This is difficult to maintain. When the main character is someone we like, we’re much more willing to cut them slack or leeway. However, when the main character is a dick it had better fucking be entertaining or hilarious (see:  the very polarizing reactions that Young Adult, in which Charlize Theron plays a total bitch has drawn). The jokes that revolve around how funny he is as a dick need to be spot on, or you’re just watching a guy being a giant dick, and it just feels awkward and you feel bad for everyone around him.  The creators of Allen Gregory really should watch both seasons of Archer if they haven’t already. The setting is very different, but that’s exactly the humor they’re going for. Archer just does it better. They could learn some lessons there.

The show takes a stab much closer at the type of humor I enjoy, than say, I Hate My Teenage Daughter, to its credit I suppose, but unfortunately it keeps missing. The creators probably enjoying watching funny shows, but they just don’t have the writing or editing ability to replicate them.  The first episode didn’t even show any evidence of being near the mark and it didn’t even have the one or two hilarious moments that sustain even the lesser Family Guy or American Dad episodes.

Will I watch it again?

No, it wasn’t good, and I have no reason to think it will improve in the future. There was no sign that this show was close to finding solid footing and just a  tweak would make the difference.  Back to the drawing board.  Hopefully, we’ll get some new animated shows better than this in the near future.

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Power Rankings: 3rd Rock From the Sun

3 Oct


(Power Rankings sum up:  Each week, we’ll pick a television show and rank the actors/actresses/contestants/correspondents/etc. based on what they’ve done after the series ended (unless we’re ranking a current series, in which case we’ll have to bend the rules).  Preference will be given to more recent work, but if the work was a long time ago, but much more important/relevant, that will be factored in as well)

3rd Rock From The Sun – for a show I barely watched, this is a far more impressive Power Rankings than I was expecting.  Let’s go.

7. Simbi Khali (as Nina Campbell) – Every power rankings has to have a last place.  Khali in We Were Soldiers, in single episodes of That ‘80s Show and The Bernie Mac Show and as a voice in The Incredible Hulk video game.  Moving on.

6. Elmarie Wendel (as Mamie Dubcek) – She appeared in six episodes of NYPD Blue, 11 episodes of George Lopez, and in an American Dad and a Criminal Minds.

5. Kristen Johnson (as Sally Solomon) – in 2003 she appeared in a single episode of Queens Supreme and then in 2004 in a Sex in the City, in which she plays an aging party girl who falls out of her window and dies, forcing Carrie to reflect on her life.  She guest starred in six episodes of ER and in three of Ugly Betty.  She was in one episode of The New Adventures of Old Christine and in the second season premiere of Bored to Death as a dominatrix.

4. Jane Curtin (as Mary Albright) – her post 3rd Rock career started slowly.  She appeared in a series of TV movies, most notably as a librarian in the first The Librarian movie starring Noah Wyle, and she has reprised that role in two other The Librarian teleivision movies since.  She co-starred in short-lived Fred Savage 2006 series Crumbs, and appeared in two episodes of Gary Unmarried.  She played Paul Rudd’s mother in I Love You, Man and appears in 2011’s I Don’t Know How She Does It.

3. French Stewart (as Harry Solomon) – the man has kept far more busy than I had realized, albeit mostly in work that flies under the radar.  Within a year of the end of 3rd Rock, he appeared in single episodes of Ally McBeal, Becker and That ‘70s Show as well as as Inspector Gadget in the straight-to-video Inspector Gadget 2.  In 2004 and 2005 he appeared in single episodes of The Drew Carey Show and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation as well as three episodes of Less Than Perfect.  In the years since, the guest appearances have continued in force, with Stewart showing up in episodes of Pepper Dennis, Bones, The Closer, Cavemen, Pushing Daisies, Castle, Private Practice and SGU Stargate Universe.  He will be starring in a voice role in Fox cartoon Allen Gregory this fall.

2. John Lithgow (as Dick Solomon) –  at the same time 3rd Rock was wrapping up, Lithgow voiced the villainous Lord Farquaad in Shrek, and played Colin Hanks’ father in 2002 in Orange County.  He played Blake Edwards in The Life and Death of Peter Sellers, and Alfred Kinsey’s strict father in Kinsey, both in 2004.  In 2006, he had a small role in Dreamgirls, and starred in a thirteen episode series, Twenty Good Years on NBC, with Jeffrey Tambor.  In 2009, he had perhaps his most memorable role since 3rd Rock, as Dexter nemesis and Trinity Killer Arthur Mitchell on the fourth season of Dexter, for which he won an Emmy.  Since then he appeared in Leap Year, in two episodes of How I Met Your Mother as Barney’s dad, and in Rise of the Planet of the Apes as James Franco’s dad

1. Joseph Gordon-Levitt (as Tommy Solomon) – It took Gordon-Levitt, the youngest main cast member, a little while to gain some career traction after the show ended, but since he grabbed it, he hasn’t given it up.  His first big post-3rd Rock break was 2005’s Brick, a high school film noir, for which he attracted rave reviews.  In the next couple of years, he appeared in Havoc and Shadowboxer, before appearing in The Lookout in 2007, for which he again received raves.  After Stop-Loss, The Miracle and Santa Anna and Killshot, he appeared in 2009’s (500) Days of Summer, an indie comedy smash, and as the villain, Cobra Commander in blockbuster G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.  2010 brought a key role in Christopher Nolan’s Inception and in 2011 he’s co-starring with Seth Rogan in cancer dramedy 50/50.  His future looks just as bright as he’s slated to appear in the next Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises, and as Abraham Lincoln’s son, Robert Todd Lincoln in Steven Spielberg’sLincoln.

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