Super Fun Night

Friends turned me on to this show via on-demand TV and we watched four episodes. It is a real find. Rebel has it all over Molly McCarthy in MIKE AND MOLLY (except Molly was superb in HEAT). Her character and her roommates all seem real with just the right touch of hyperbole. I love that Rebel's character is highly-accomplished yet neurotic. And she is just up front with body issues that one can relate to no matter one's weight. The three geek neighbors are a little overdone, but still funny. Well, there is nothing about this show I don't like. It is NOT the predictable sitcom fare. This is up there in quality with BIG BANG THEORY, GROUNDED FOR LIFE, FRANK'S PLACE, to name just a few. I hope it stays on the air.

I found the show to be OK....it has some funny jokes and Rebel is a great comedienne, but anyone who's seen her earlier work, mainly in Australia, knows she can do way better than this. Those who've seen Bogan Pride will know what I'm talking about. Perhaps she had to avoid taking risks to conform with American TV standards, and a show with the same un-pc sense of humor of Bogan Pride wouldn't work in the states (at least not outside cable), but I hope it does succeed. The cast is OK, but they didn't have time to develop their characters yet, so it will probably get better as the season goes. It has potential, but it needs to avoid clichés if they don't want to be just another show on the air.

Well, it's fun to watch but why do I always feel reminded of "The Mindy Project". "Super Fun Night" is fun to watch but again we have a female kinda outsider (here it's the obese single office girl, there it's the naive Indian physician) protagonist. Again she is talking to her diary every day. Again we have the sidekick with the British accent. Again we have her "weird" friends and again Kimmie, just like Mindy pursuing her dream of having a boyfriend.

Speaking of which, imho "The Mindy Project" is the better show. Better and faster dialouges and the friends working with Mindy are just more fun and Mindy is the more talented actress.

Kimmie Boubier (Rebel Wilson) is a meek lawyer with 2 best friends and roommates Helen-Alice (Liza Lapira) and Marika (Lauren Ash). She's infatuated with pretty boy fellow lawyer Richard Royce (Kevin Bishop). Mean girl Kendall Quinn (Kate Jenkinson) has eye on Richard and becomes quick enemy to Kimmie.

I love love LOVE Rebel Wilson and wanted so badly for this show to succeed. Her sense of humor has always been for a specific taste. It's weird, outlandish, and completely inappropriate. Basically she is not suppose to be on network TV and it shows. She is holding back and the show never found a big enough audience. It's canceled after its 17 episode run but it was dead long before the end.

We've all seen great new shows come and go, be they comedy or drama or whatever, and lamented the passing of a good new show that didn't seem to catch on with a wider audience... soon acquiring the 'cancel' stamp from The Network Execs. I've seen enough of these to suspect Super Fun Night is one of these "bubble" shows. Pity, really.

Super Fun Night is a well-written comedy. The characters are entertaining and endearing. The actors are perfectly cast, and know their comedic craft. The premise is simple and familiar, but offers a new take on standard sit-com themes. Rebel Wilson is a force of comedy, with excellent timing, expression, and presence -- with a ensemble cast equal to the challenge.

I'm not going to pretend this is yet a show for the ages -- it isn't Seinfeld or Arrested Development... but it is my favourite for best new comedy of the 2013-2014 season.