The Winner a loser

I'm sure you'll see the title of this post other places, because The Winner, starring Rob Corddry of The Daily Show fame is pretty lame.

So what's wrong with it? The first thing I hated was the laugh track. This is the 21^st century and they are using a late 80s laugh track! The show is set in 1994, so maybe they thought it would be a cool retro feel. It's not. Neither are the really cheap sitcom sets. (I'm somewhat spoiled with Scrubs...)

Corddry plays the richest man in Buffalo, NY, who didn't "bloom" until his 30s in 1994. He's a "man-child", whose parents have badly coddled. So, of course his best friend is his 14 year-old neighbour and the kid's mother (a doctor) sees nothing wrong with that. And there is nothing wrong, because this is fantasy television land where the idea of a 32 year old hanging out with a 13 year old — who in turn is trying to help him land his Mom, an old crush who just returned to Buffalo — isn't creepy...

It's hard to see how the premise could have worked. Maybe if it had been darker or edgier. You'd expect it to be edgy, since Seth McFarlane (The Family Guy) is an executive producer. The writing is awful. The plots (Fox ran two episodes tonight) were pathetically predictable. The gags were mostly bad, with only the occasional funny line.

Corddry is a disappointment. Actually, his timing is fine. The problem is he's playing essentially the same character he did on The Daily Show. He was funny in short stints there, but his self-conscious semi-ignorant shtick is a bit much for a half hour.

I'd hate to see Corddry flop (and considering the show is on Fox on a Sunday it's entirely possible it will survive longer than it should) but if the show is cancelled he can return to The Daily Show. Assuming there is a place for him, as the cast of "reporters" that they hired to replace Corrdry and Ed Helms are actually quite funny. Only time will tell how bad a career move this show was.