Shelved

It's just an average standard sitcom that doesn't really do anything to advance Canadian entertainment. Nothing really outstandingly good or bad here. People have told me the creator of the show is beloved by a lot of white executives in power. But I don't think he's a very strong TV writer. Not the best diverse voice Canada has but he is well-connected.

It's a very forgettable experience when you watch an episode. You don't feel compelled to come back so that will definitely hurt it.

But CTV could very well keep renewing this despite nobody watching because they need to have some Can Con and the diversity that is forced by the CRTC.

It's important to note that this is an actual sitcom though where you can see the clear jokes unlike CTV's "Children Ruin Everything" which is a cringe fest.

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.

I'm a big fan of Canadian comedy. Some of the best in the world. This is not up to scratch. I would have loved if this had been half as good as "The Librarians" AUS.

The characters were annoying, the plot was lame and the writing was pathetic.

How am I going to get to the required characters on this review.

This was really badly written, badly played and badly filmed.

600 Characters is far too many for some shows

I love Canadian TV but this is not the best and I'm struggling to find any pluses for this show.

There are far better shows to watch and I'm sure you can find them somewhere. Thanks and goodbye'

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.

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.