Package Deal

Package Deal is a show I was really looking forward to seeing, I saw the pilot episode "on demand" and it was not very funny but first episodes of shows are often not that good. I remember I didn't like the first episodes of Simpsons, Arrested Development, Parks and Rec, Family Guy, Futurama and many other comedies too when I saw them. I think it is because they have to set up what the whole show is about and all the characters and their relationships so there is not much time left for making jokes etc. So I gave it a second chance. The problem is the show just keeps getting worse. The story is about a guy who has a girlfriend he loves but his two brothers feel threatened by her so right away it is very stupid, what grown man is beat down by his grown brothers like this? And why would two grown brothers give a crap what girl their brother is just dating, they're not even engaged or anything. The one brother is Harland Williams who I loved in small parts in There's Something About Mary and Dumb and Dumber and I haven't seen him do stand up but I bet he is funny, he just seems like a funny type of person. But in this he is not funny because the jokes are just stupid. The other brother is terrible as a nerd, very one dimensional characters here. The two leads are bad actors and or the writing is so bad that nobody could be funny in this. I am so disappointed by how bad this show is I can't even really put it into words. Do yourself a favour and take a pass on this show. So sorry to say this because City TV made some new shows this year and did try obviously but whoever made this show failed big time to deliver a good show, a good cast or any good comedy. Too bad.

I know that is a terrible pun title and sorry about that but I just couldn't resist!

Package Deal is a decent premise for a show but I think it has a lot of problems.

First outside of Harland Williams I think the cast is totally lacking in the comedy department. I'm sure they have good acting chops otherwise but I think comedy is a different kind of talent and none of them make me laugh. I particularly find the other brother's performance painful. The female star is definitely attractive and doesn't grate on me like the guys (other than Harland Williams) do, but for the most part all of the non-Williams performances rate somewhere between "not funny" and "someone please make it stop!!!"

Second the writing is terrible. Why does this successful 40-ish lawyer allow his loser brothers to wander into his home even before he has his girlfriend move it? If not then certainly after she moves in wouldn't any sane person change the locks?

Things happen in the show that are simply impossible to believe, even in a suspension of disbelief kind of way. Seriously in one episode Harland Williams strips in a court room in front of a judge and bailiffs who do absolutely nothing, then in the very next scene we find out he got arrested on the street for being naked. So if you want us to buy it's okay to get nude in public, okay, but then don't tell us in the very next scene it's suddenly illegal again. Gah!

Also in that same episode Harland Williams pretends to be his successful lawyer brother, brings a girl home, and while he's sleeping she somehow empties the entire apartment... entire apartment as in every single thing down to a safety pin on the floor is gone. He didn't wake up during this? How did she manage to get all that stuff out, even if she brought in help (which she apparently didn't)? Finally WHY would anyone want to steal absolutely everything including dishes, pens, some random dude's clothes and underwear? Making it even more stupid, when the brother comes home (I guess luckily he was out all night) he's angry but not furious and the only thing he cares about is that the gift he bought for his girlfriend has been taken. Super sorry cause that's super sweet and all but don't you think if someone stole absolutely everything he owned he'd maybe be angry about THAT stuff? It's not like the gift was irreplaceable and his TV and stuff alone are worth way more.

Even if you get past the horribly obvious plot holes and poor writing over all, the writing is still terrible on a basic level of "funny vs not funny" with painfully obvious, predictable and just plain bad jokes. Being delivered poorly by a mostly unfunny cast doesn't help either, but the writing is just plain bad, awful, terrible.

Whoever is producing/directing this show is doing a very poor job and I can't figure out who decided to give this show a second season or why.

I imagine it is solely because Harland Williams is in this, because he's the only thing I like about the show and he's the only reason why I'm bumping the rating up from a 1 to a 3 out of 10.

3 out of 10 from me.

I wish I could like this show but I just can't. It looks very good and the quality of the picture, sound and so on is of the level that you would expect of a U.S. based sitcom so that is good. After that I can't exactly put my finger on it but I think it's just the overall combination of things and the overall show that just doesn't work and just isn't funny. I'm sure the actors are good in other things but in this I just don't really identify with any of the characters and I don't think any of them are very funny. The one brother is just a whiny mess which I didn't find very funny in episode one but it just gets more annoying the more you watch it. Harland Williams the other brother has some pretty funny lines and I think about the only funny lines in the show but I think that has more to do with Harland Williams being a very funny person who is just naturally funny. I don't think the leading couple are very funny or interesting. I think the biggest problem is probably bad writing because no matter who the actors are I don't think the lines I'm hearing are very funny and the weekly plots and secondary stories are not very good.

The nerdy brother is just plain awful, a caricature of weakling brothers who is not funny at all. How could any man like this survive day to day being that stupid, useless and pathetic? What brother would let him stay in his life?

The oldest brother is the only funny character but he is so stupid and criminally irresponsible that again there is no way to believe the lawyer brother would allow him into his life or home.

These guys are all old (30s to 40s) so why in the world is the lawyer letting his two idiot brothers ruin his life every single week when he has a beautiful girlfriend who he loves move in with him? It makes no sense.

Why would the girl not dump her lawyer boyfriend if he is such a weak pushover that he lets his two annoying, idiot brothers into their lives and home every week?

The stories are idiotic and unbelievable which could be forgiven if the jokes were funny but they never are, this show is incredibly stupid and so not funny that it hurts my brain and I hope that Harland Williams fires his agents immediately for getting him involved with such an embarrassing, awful show.

I'm really not a fan of Package Deal at all, at least not yet. I have watched the entire first season. I think so anyway, I maybe have missed an episode or two without realizing it. The laughs are very forced with the laugh track incredibly overused and obnoxious. They basically use the laugh track after every single line, and not only do they use it but the laughs are always way over the top with how big, loud and long they are. Most shows don't use the canned laughter so often or so loudly, plus it also seems to stick out because frankly the lines are not that funny. This show has some very poor writing in my opinion. Of course let me stress that that's just my opinion, and everyone has to judge for their own self if a show is funny or good. I will tune in again for the beginning of season two but if they lose me I won't force myself to continue watching. One season was enough of a chance to give a show and I have been mostly disappointed so far.