Article originally published as DONNY Review on Seat42F.
USA
has a new comedy series called DONNY!, premiering this week. One might
be forgiven for thinking it’s a reality show, considering it airs right
after the reality series Chrisley Knows Best and follows TV personality Donny Deutsch (Today) as he hosts a self-help series (think Dr. Phil). But it’s not. DONNY! is a scripted comedy where Donny
plays a fictional version of himself that satirizes the very thing he
often actually participates in. Does your head hurt yet? (It shouldn’t,
because there are gobs of shows right now doing the same thing.)
The Donny in DONNY! is an egotistical
player who flirts shamelessly, gives his cell phone number to attractive
psychopaths, and needs attention and affection heaped on him at all
times. He has hired three attractive woman as his assistants, Jackie
(Hailey Giles, Scorned), Zoe (Meera Rohit Kumbhani, Weird Loners), and
Violet (Jessica Renee Russell, Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of
Milos), and works with an attractive female producer, Pam (Emily Tarver,
Best Week Ever). While none of these girls seem to fall for his shtick,
surrounding himself with them says something about Donny, as does
paying more notice to his too-young, greedy girlfriend, Galina (Tina
Casciani, Role Models), than to his kids.
DONNY! reminds me a bit of Blunt Talk on
Starz. The major difference is that Donny seems to be getting along
just fine with his life as it currently is, while Patrick Stewart’s
Walter Blunt is falling apart spectacularly. The thing is, with an
unlikeable persona, as both Blunt and Donny are, it’s satisfying to
watch them fail, so Blunt Talk has the edge there. Plus, Stewart is a
far superior performer than Deutsch (or most people, really), so any
comparison between the two is not positive for this newer series.
Is there anything redeemable about Donny
or DONNY!? Well, that’s debatable. Donny does have charm, or else he
wouldn’t get so much attention. I do like that not everyone in DONNY!
falls for Donny’s game, and Donny (the person, not the character) has to
have some level of humility or redeeming qualities to allow that. My
assumption is that Donny (again, the real person) is a pretty nice,
interesting person, and it’s just this show and the character of Donny
that I don’t like, though I haven’t seen him elsewhere.
It has been said that DONNY! does for
Donny Deutsch what Curb Your Enthusiasm does for Larry David, but I
think that’s an inaccurate comparison. David is a brilliant writer who
created one of the most beloved sitcoms of all time, Seinfeld. Curb is
an extension of the Seinfeld world in that it shows a character named
Larry who has a personality perfectly suited to write that show. DONNY!
tackles a completely different genre, one I would argue takes far less
talent to make. Abhorring reality and the fake ‘health’ professionals, I
find it hard to hold it anywhere near the same regard.
Now, one could point out that DONNY!
pokes fun at the hated genre. Except, because Donny himself is part of
that system (or so I’ve read on Wikipedia), not a comedian on the
outside, it doesn’t come across as a scathing commentary on it. Instead,
it seems like Donny is having fun being self-referential in a way that
reinforces the ‘character’ he is playing.
I admit, my bias against reality
television in general could definitely be coloring my view of DONNY! But
try as I might, it’s very hard to separate that out in this instance,
given the show’s content. I get that people like reality for reasons I
cannot fathom, but it definitely isn’t quality television, and
contributes to the ‘junk that rots your brain’ stereotype some see the
medium as being. As a defender of quality programming, this type of
thing is a total turn-off and I can’t recommend it.
That being said, if you like reality television or Donny Deutsch, then you might enjoy this.
DONNY! airs Tuesdays at 10:30 on USA.
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