Kevin from Work

This is basically a 1990s romcom turned into a series. It wasn't terrible but I'll forget I ever watched it in an hour. Watching it helped pass a boring afternoon.

The hackneyed premise is Kevin is obsessed with a coworker for three years(!) and is leaving the job so he writes a letter professing his love. He doesn't get the job, takes his old job back, the girl says she has a boyfriend and isn't interested, awkwardness ensues.

Let's consider what we've just seen. This guy has been in love with a coworker for three years. She's had three years to express interest in him. She hasn't. Their relationship has never progressed beyond coworkers. He knows she has a boyfriend. The guy is stalking the poor girl.

No one in this show is likable. We're meant to like Kevin, but he's a certifiable creep. The girl has no interest in him yet flaunts her relationship and flirts with him. The secondary characters are all seriously flawed and unlikely human beings. For example, the girl's roommate has a one night stand with Kevin and becomes obsessed. Kevin's sister is a drugged out loser. Etc, etc, etc.

Binge watch the first episode and you've seen the entire series. The show goes no where. Three stars.

Much like someone who's just gotten a new job, this series started out on an okay footing (not great but not bad either) and looked like it had potential. Promise, even. But much like one's working life, time strips away all the fun and optimism. I'm now past 5 episodes and have discovered that the supporting characters are either unbearably infuriating or gratingly annoying. Whatever I felt for Kevin's character right now has been reduced to pity. Pity, because he is surrounded by incredibly dysfunctional and highly unlovable characters that would fit in better on a trashy reality TV show, the worst of whom is his extremely inconsiderate hipster-cum-airhead mooch of a sister, Roxie. As a main character, Kevin himself is unmemorable, with no discerning or unique personality traits aside from being the nice guy who gets pushed around way too often. Essentially, his character lacks depth and likability.

It requires a certain finesse to have that much craziness yet still be funny... and this show hasn't gotten the formula right. The script and dialogues need an overhaul, pronto. I'd be surprised if this series lasted any longer than 2 seasons.

After reading some reviews bagging the show, it's basically forced my hand into writing a review (which I don't really do...).

To be completely honest, I wasn't sure how I felt about it at the beginning of the pilot, but the characters grew on me and I'm now quite fond of them. Some of the lines (especially with their witty delivery) I found hilarious and after watching 3 episodes, am eagerly waiting to see more.

I think it's worth a watch - I find it great for unwinding after work and not having to think too hard, but if you pay attention you'll notice the more subtle humour that might be overlooked by some of the more obvious laugh lines.

Sometimes I think we take ourselves too seriously, especially where comedy is concerned. If I hadn't decided a long time ago to ignore critics and judge movies and TV shows for myself, I would have missed out on a lot of great movie/television experiences.

So it's not the best comedy show out there, but honestly, true comedy in television rarely exists. Nowadays, if it isn't overtly sexual or just downright vulgar, it isn't funny. A good show doesn't always have to have flesh, sex, lies and cheating to be a good show. So over those right now. This show is the closest thing to "clean" comedy I have seen in a long time, and I sincerely hope it is renewed for another season.