Is it possible for a popular comic to make a sitcom based on their material? Jerry Seinfeld did it, but recently it's been harder to generate laughs in bland sitcoms created by Whitney Cummings (Whitney) and Chelsea Handler (her new NBC show Are You There, Chelsea?). The results were just a complete misfire from start to finish.
Are You There, Chelsea? followed the adventures of hard partying sports bar waitress Chelsea (Laura Prepon) and her plans for a good time that always go awry. She gets a DUI and had to spend time in jail. She's bailed out by her repressed but tough sister Sloane (Chelsea Handler) and is given a shoulder to lean on in her father Melvin (Lenny Clarke). In an effort to move closer to work, Chelsea and her best friend Olivia (Ali Wong) move in with the shy Dee Dee (Lauren Lapkus). Olivia and Chelsea work very hard to get Dee Dee to come out of her shell with hilarious results. One instance had them pair her up with a Christian singer who nearly hooked up with Chelsea and she found out about it. The sports bar where Chelsea worked was filled with colorful characters like the over qualified Todd (Mark Povinelli) and resident ladies man Rick (Jake McDorman) who was Chelsea's ideal match. Sadly, they could never lose enough control long enough to make something happen. Can they relax and allow nature to take it's course in their relationship?
In terms of plot and humor, Are You There, Chelsea? was sorely lacking in originality. The writers seemed to take the sharpest material from Handler's bestselling books and overly scrubbed the humor right out of it. There was no sense of surprise and it almost bordered on cliche at times. Ultimately, the biggest surprise was that Handler didn't play the lead character herself, which could've helped a little bit. Her scenes as the sharp tongued Sloane brought the most laughs as she told everyone off in her own way. The funniest scene she had in a recent episode was when she exacted revenge from one of her sister's co-workers who humiliated her in public in a surprising fashion that involved her breast milk. Ultimately, the show's biggest casualty was Prepon who was sorely miscast as the leading character. She lacked the verve and the comic energy to be Handler's alter ego. Prepon would've been better cast as Chelsea's sister Sloane and have Handler play the leading role. She had some decent chemistry with McDorman, but those scenes couldn't make up the fact that the role simply wasn't right for her. If you want to watch Handler in action, watch her shows Chelsea Lately and After Lately instead.
Are You There, Chelsea? premiered on January 11th and airs Wednesdays at 8:30 PM on NBC.
Verdict: A show based on the ideas of a great female comic that fell horribly flat on humor.
TV Score: 1 out of 5 stars
Score Chart
1 Star (Mediocre)
2 Stars (Averagely Entertaining)
3 Stars (Decent Enough to Pass Muster)
4 Stars (Near Perfect)
5 Stars (Gold Standard)
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