bort13

The Sklar brothers are enormously, uproariously funny and usually show it unequivocally several times an episode. Their spelling-bee-bell montage is hysterical, I've recounted it several times to people who blink at me, uncomprehending of the humor. I discovered the show in a dinghy hotel room on a dull business trip; laughing that hard saved my sanity. It's testament to their acumen and humor when people as funny as Jon Benjamin or Ed Helms will work with them. Those guys crack me up.

They have a good thing going, but there are a few big obstacles. ESPN Classic isn't exactly a ratings draw, so they won't get a lot of new viewers unless people stumble across it. It's too irreverent for a Disney network... The source material, too, can be so dull that they can't primp it enough to keep me interested. Steve Garvey made me a bit ill. I also think the genre of running-commentary-over-video is of limited appeal, which is too bad -- I love it. MST3K never really took off, although it stands its ground as a comedy great. Beavis and Butthead, while also enormously funny, had a lot of marketing weight and, let's face it, a bunch of schtick that struck a chord at the time it was out. Far be it from me to question Mike Judge's genius.

This has a sweet spot for viewership that's thirties, educated, geeky sports fans. For those of us in the demo, it's (probably short-lived) heaven. It may have a broader appeal, but I certainly don't hear people talking. I'm interested to see what Randy & Jason do with it, but I think they'll do their best work after it. There is certainly room for the slapdash comedy repartee they get going in mainstream television comedy.

I'll give it this: I didn't stop watching, and it's not corporate, which is kind of cool. But my internal critic cut it to pieces -- I suppose I see too many movies. Wooden script, the slang just sort of clanks out of their mouths without any kind of flow. Editing, mentioned before, is hit and miss; sometimes it evokes a good ghetto feel, but mostly its irritating -- jerky, quirky angles and really dull lingering facial closeups. The actors were marginal, though Letisha had her moments.

I'm not sure why the audience supposed to care about Curtis, he's a total screwup and the actor is entirely expressionless and not particularly funny or endearing. The directing doesn't help make you love him or hate him, even; I just wanted him to shut up and get shot already. I didn't care about his impotent vengeance when that rolled around. The completely predictable ending isn't credible at all. I'm not sure why we're supposed to believe that some erstwhile successful dealers he deposes are stupid enough to fall for his petty scams. "Oh, you just got out of jail and are on probation? Here's thousands of dollars worth of cocaine, go run it around the corner for me. Now don't steal from me, etc."

A good sex scene in the beginning gave me hope, but it was let down in the end. Handling of a rape scene was slightly eyebrow-raising, if only mildly interesting. There are better movies in this genre that don't insult your intelligence by trying for some kind of authentic ghetto realism while more resembling a film-school offering. 4/10, an F.