Working the Engels

Andrea Martin shines in this whipsmart comedy. It's a wonderful mix of love and exasperation and reminds me of another favorite, Schitt's Creek.

I'm glad I made the effort to tune into the US premiere of Working the Engels. Before watching the pilot episode, I made the mistake of sitting through the pilot of Welcome to Sweden. I've been to Sweden, and it was much more entertaining than this homage to the Nordic lifestyle. Sitting through that 30 minutes, I laughed once. I debated whether to skip the pilot of Working the Engels thinking that, "If this is what NBC is offering for new programming, I'm better off reading a book." Within the first 2 or 3 minutes of Working the Engels, I laughed several times. This show reminded me of Arrested Development with an even more dysfunctional family. Similar to Arrested Development, Working the Engels has characters that are similar to people from real life. Perhaps I know too many lawyers and people in recovery, but this show did a great job re-framing a dull profession and recovery from addiction in a humorous light. The writers, director, and cast even managed to see the comicality of possible financial ruin, a subject that is very familiar to many Americans post the great recession that started in 2007. There's an old saying, "Years from now will laugh about this," and Working the Engels manages to fulfill that promise. Andrea Martin is a major talent with excellent comic timing, and I've seen her deliver the same zaniness in live theater. The rest of the cast appear to be relatively unknown in the American market, but the ensemble worked very well together. I am glad that the show is going to provide more than the 4-6 episodes that usually make up a summer television series.

Andrea Martin! I don't really have to say much more than that, do I? But I will. I love the premise (the dysfunctional family trying to run a LAW FIRM?!!) and really enjoyed seeing Andrea and Eugene Levy reunited. Funny and heartwarming.

Hilarious show about a young lawyer who sets up her own office in Toronto. Helping her out are her mother, played by the brilliant Andrea Martin, her loopy sister, and her habitual criminal brother.

Working the Engels brings Canadian comedy icon Andrea Martin back to prime time TV. You might remember her from SCTV, the comedy show that made SNL look like crap. Martin portrayed a number of priceless characters on SCTV and after years of absence, it's awesome to see that she's just as funny as ever.

This show is very, very funny. The acting is excellent and the story lines very well written and hilarious. If you haven't seen it, check it out. You might just become a regular viewer.

SEE REVISION NOTES BELOW...

I've seen only the first episode. But I was looking forward to seeing Andrea Martin again, from "SCTV," where she was hilarious. I wasn't disappointed. She has pitch perfect timing as a very physical comedienne. One must "watch" her or lose some of the humor.

Andrea portrays Ceil Engel, the alcoholic matriarch of the clan, including her recently deceased lawyer husband who left his family $200k in debt. There are her three children: the cutie Kacey Rohl as Jenna, an under appreciate attorney and the glue that holds the family together; the quirky sexy Azura Skye as her over-the-top "reformed" sister; and hunky Benjamin Arthur as the brother, a full-time petty con artist and 2-bricks-short-of-a-full-load strong-arm brother.

Don't be dissuaded by the few meager reviews so far. See it yourself. Set your DVR. I'm a huge comedy fan: "2 Broke Girls, Hot In Cleveland, etc. And as is said, "Drama is easy, comedy is a bitch." It's not easy to be clever and funny. This initial show hits all the notes. I hope it maintains it's momentum. Give it a watch; it's a hoot.

**REVISION: After now having watched several of the episodes, the show actually lacks "momentum," i.e., it has not moved forward but rather sits spinning its wheels. It appears Andrea Martin plays only one character. Yes, she's zany but you'd better like that one or you won't enjoy the show. Benjamin Arthur is simply not believable as the brainless but ultra-sexy guy. The writers need to give their characters more dimension, quickly. Azura Skye does have some misbegotten sex appeal, even as someone who seems to have a bit of brain damage. Not unlike too many other misdirected shows, each episode is a bit of a repeat of the skit from the week before.-- So, I've lowered my rating down to a "4 or 5" - until the writers and director can figure out whether they can clean up this mess.