Thursday, September 07, 2006

TV premiering tonight: 'Til Death & Happy Hour

And so we come to the nadir of Fox's abysmal slate of new shows, which they've managed to get on the air before any of the other networks and which they might as well cancel just as quickly. While all three of the ho-hum dramas have gotten decent but unspectacular ratings, I can't imagine tonight's two sitcoms, 'Til Death (Thursdays, 8 p.m.) and Happy Hour (Thursdays, 8:30 p.m.) will even do that well, and certainly once they're up against My Name is Earl and The Office (not to mention Survivor), they don't stand a chance. I'll be happy when Death, which I think is the worst new show on any network this season, dies, as it's a crass, idiotic, loud, sexist, annoying and unfunny show that might actually have caused me physical pain as I watched it. I actually like Brad Garrett and think he could carry a show, but he's stuck with an Al Bundy-esque role here that does not suit him at all. The jokes are as old as time, and repeated over and over even within just the first episode. If you find the idea that men like pool tables and women like dinner parties revolutionary and hilarious, this is the show for you.

Happy Hour is better only by being slightly less horrid, but it's still completely worthless. It's the kind of show that looks like it was created by marketing executives who have no idea what young people think is cool, and thus throw in all their own misguided ideas of "hip." And it features possibly the worst performance of the new season from the unbelievably annoying Beth Lacke, who yells all of her lines in this squeaky voice that makes me want to strangle her. It's like an even more grating version of Megan Mullally on Will & Grace, and you know what a picture of restraint she was. I will perhaps never get the memory of Lacke saying "I saw your balls" (one of the pilot's "hilarious" running gags) out of my mind.

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