Shelved

The title about says it all.

The one character in the commercial making the "library" joke, har, har

The old guy going on about snap talk.

All I had to see was 5 seconds of either ad and it smelled cheap, Toronto content. And I was not wrong.,

The one character in the commercial making the "library" joke, har, har

The old guy going on about snap talk.

All I had to see was 5 seconds of either ad and it smelled cheap, Toronto content. And I was not wrong.,

Not sure why other people get of with short reviews?

The one character in the commercial making the "library" joke, har, har

The old guy going on about snap talk.

All I had to see was 5 seconds of either ad and it smelled cheap, Toronto content. And I was not wrong.,

I really really wanted this to be more than it is. The actors seem to really try and although I love the library and the idea of a workplace comedy in one, it just comes off as average or slightly below. The characters are very similar to Parks and Rec but it is all just so lowest common denominator humor that pretty much just makes fun of the Ron Swanson ripoff and his WRONG conservative leanings and (yay Derrick from Shadows!) the librarian from the main city branch and his need to see things run normally. All the while laughing off public porn watching, egregious building code violations, theft, and feces in the aisles so everyone feels safe smh. Maybe it will grow, but hasn't so far... Do better. If you are totally copying a show and formula and characters a decade later, it should be pretty easy to come up with situations and jokes that transpose until you get your footing, otherwise the current writing feels amateur and doesn't bring anything new. If cheeseburgers were really good 10 years ago and then someone in Canadada sells a CheeseBeef Sandwich, then it should have something to differentiate itself. Add mushrooms, pickled bananas, something to make it memorable and appealing. Just not enough real laughs to be a comedy and comes more across as a fantasized biography. Ooooh tha Widdle Twain dat Could, so cute to watch the underdog win when it somehow feels deserving but why get new computers when there is feces on the floor, bathrooms destroyed, no public water fountain, and a trip hazard one of the locals uses to balance themselves, and the mentally incapable to physically and sexually harass your staff? It sounds like great management and the branch is totally deserving of new computers and respect because the boss is nice and has a big heart... zzzzzz I'll give it a couple of more episodes but it really needs to pick up the comedy part of sitcom. And someone drop a piano on that hateful desk assistant. She is just an awful, judgmental, negative person. It was fun to see her get schooled by the other women before launching into their gender-affirming resolution.

From the mind of Anthony Q. Farrell (writer for The Office, Overlord and the Underwoods), Shelved is a pretty expected single camera mundane and lighthearted workplace sitcom, centring around a small public library in Toronto, Ontario. The single season 8 episode series introduces us to all the library employees and a few of the regular visitors, and while quite enjoyable ultimately feels too short and relatively superficial. More of a trial season so far, I do hope future seasons get more episodes and flesh out character dynamics a bit more, but the writing was decent, the acting was decent, the set (basically just inside a library) was decent. A surprising amount of political and social issue commentary for a family sitcom, I didn't mind it, let out at least three audible laughs during its run, although I do wish they went a bit more of a nuanced route. It seems like most of the jokes basically wrote themselves, and they didn't go out of their way to create anything particularly clever, with any clear vision or passion, nor with any significant depth. Many are comparing this to The Office, however I'd say its much closer to Parks & Rec or Abbott Elementary in tone, and even closer to the likes of Superstore in quality and feeling like a daytime, innocent sitcom. Like Superstore again and unlike the others they spend no time justifying the existence of the camera and abandon the sort of "documentary" structure the others use, which is a totally fine if not preferred artistic choice from my point of view, however they now no longer have justification for the talking heads scenes, so these are missing and are missed. All said again its short so if you like these style of shows I would certainly recommend. I didn't love it, but I certainly didn't hate it.

This show is a rip off of Abbott Elementary, and unfortunately not a good one. It's so by the numbers I wonder if AI helped write it.

Earnest lead black female character- check.

Nerdy black young male - check Conservative old white guy - check Overly progressive hippie - check Characterless and boring LGBTIQ+ to make up the numbers - check

Progressive plot episode early to virtue signal and meet quotas yep that too.

But worst of all, it's just rarely funny. Not laugh out loud funny and not cringe funny. Just try hard funny.

Sad becuase the setting had a lot of potential and the actors are all really trying. Lyndie Greenwood shows she can act and is a pretty face, but she's not from what ive seen a FUNNY actress.

And the show also contains the most annoying and unfunny character I've seen in a sitcom for a long time- Wendy the homeless lady. You can skip her scenes.

Shelved follows the day-to-day lives of a fictitious group of librarians and regular patrons at the Parkdale Public Library in Toronto. Head librarian Wendy Yarmouth is relentlessly perky and naive, and finds herself struggling to make tough calls. Assistant head Bryce deLaurel is misogynistic and set in his ways. Junior librarian Jaq Bedard is snarky and likes to mess with others for her own amusement. New to the branch is Howard Tutt, who tries to prove to everyone that he's not elitist, but he consistently winds up tripping over his own feet. Sheila Boyd is a put-together part time worker who runs the community desk and is a love interest for Howard. "Unhoused Wendy" Brown is a homeless woman who uses the facilities while trying to get her life back together. And Alvin Canada is a pretentious businessman who uses the study room as his personal office.

In the 2020s, there's a real problem with comedies that are either mean-spirited or trying so hard not to offend anyone that they're just not funny. I'm happy to say that Shelved doesn't fall into either of those categories. The character of Bryce, for example, should be thoroughly unlikable. He says and does some awful things (that are also really funny), but it comes from a place of ignorance rather than spite, so his coworkers still like him despite his very glaring character flaws. The third episode featured a timely story centering on a drag queen heading up story time. It could have come across as either mean or preachy, but they handled it with subtlety, class, and humor. And speaking as someone who spent a year living in their car, I'm thrilled to see that Unhoused Wendy was treated with respect rather than being a total stereotype (she's a little stereotypical in her first outing, but gets better in later episodes). If all homeless persons were depicted like this rather than lazy losers and drug addicts, then I might not have had to endure what I went through.

There's a real heart in this show which is unusual for current TV. Comparisons to "Parks & Rec," "The Office" and countless similar workplace shows have flown fast and hard, but personally, I think it's more like "Schitt's Creek" with a little more ethnic diversity -- there's a broad range of eccentric characters who learn to put up with the quirks of the people around them, and even sometimes love them precisely for their quirks. That's life, folks.

I need to take a moment to gush about Lyndie Greenwood. Wendy is a total 180 from the characters that she's played in the past, and she's WONDERFUL in the role. Greenwood always shines brightly, but comedy seems to suit her really well, and I hope she gets more opportunities to be funny.

The season's currently halfway through, but I'm looking forward to the rest and hoping they get picked up for more. The show's really good, but it has the potential to truly become a classic if given the opportunity.