Shelved

I have high hopes for this series. A typical office comedy series, with various character and their shenanigans. But sadly this is not it. The story itself doesn't bring us as the audience to care, or even knowing the characters personally. The characters heavily rely on the 'label'; the boss, the new worker, the mysognistic, the feminist, etc etc. Where's the funny? And what makes it even sadder, I hardly see the use of the public library as a setting. I only see they sort of 'interact' among the book, but not the actual job of librarians or what they actually do everyday. It feels like written by someone who seach about librarian's job and make a story about it.

I'm disappointed. After four episodes I decide to wave my white flag.

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'

All the characters have a potential of having episodes based on the character. If I was to complain on the show, would be the character of Wendy being a little too nerdy......but the characters are all great, Jaq is just wonderful, Bryce adds old school. There are episodes that can be outside of the Library as well in the library the various characters add so much life and various story lines. The show has to be reviewed and rewritten for additional story lines and serious overtones with current life story's and of course funny / crazy story lines simple story lines. There is good diverse characters to put up several seasons of shows. Please write up season 2.

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.