Welcome-ish, PEOPLE OF EARTH

Article first published as PEOPLE OF EARTH Review on Seat42F.

TBS is a network for experimental sitcoms, so their latest offering, PEOPLE OF EARTH, should fit right in. An accomplished journalist is assigned to cover a support group for people who believe they have been abducted by aliens. Anxious to get past that waste of time and onto something meaningful, he barely gives the theories of the crazy people a second thought… until he has an extraterrestrial encounter of his own.

Yep, it sounds like a bizarre premise, and it is. It gets even more bizarre when viewers get to start seeing the aliens, knowing this isn’t just conspiracy theories, and is actually a real problem. The aliens plan to take over the world and aren’t too happy that our hero, Ozzie Graham (Wyatt Cenac, The Daily Show), is onto them. After all, no one is going to listen to a bunch of crackpots, but an actual reporter who is determined to find proof? That could threaten all of their plans!

I like the cast of this show. Besides Cenac, the large ensemble includes Ana Gasteyer (Suburgatory, Saturday Night Live), Luka Jones (Up All Night), Brian Huskey (Another Period), Michael Cassidy (The Magicians), Oscar Nunez (The Office), Nancy Lenehan (My Name Is Earl), Da’Vine Joy Randolph (Selfie), Alice Wetterlund (Silicon Valley), Daniel Sherman (Run All Night), and Tracee Chimo (Orange Is the New Black). This isn’t an A-list bunch, but there are quite a few familiar faces, and some very funny people on the list.

I also like the concept. Alien abductions are usually dismissed as nonsense, and if they were to be played for laughs, it’s by laughing at the characters. Here, we have some people who fit that stereotype of someone who isn’t to be believed, but knowing they’re right changes the dynamic and feel of the series. It’s kind of a weird world that doesn’t feel like our own reality, even though it looks and sounds like it, which makes for an interesting watching experience.

Where it goes wrong for me is the execution. The aliens themselves aren’t portrayed nearly as well as they could be. They are an inept bunch, even though they’ve been able to operate in the shadows for some time. They’re too sloppy to feel realistic. There are plot holes, one of the invaders making a very strange decision in retrospect, which feels very obvious by episode two. We’re still very much in the dark about who they are and what they want, but there doesn’t appear to be a cohesive idea behind them that will make the mystery worth it. And, while some have cool designs, others are pretty lame.

Because of that, I don’t know where this is going, and I’m not that interested in finding out. If PEOPLE OF EARTH can’t get through two half-hour installments without making me doubt the reality they’re presenting, I don’t know that I can stomach a weekly show that may not pay off.

The one aspect that gives me a bit of hope is that delusions that Ozzie experiences. By setting the narrator up to be unreliable, there is a possibility that the inconsistencies and plot holes could be purposeful, clues that not all is as it seems to be to those of us watching at home (another level beyond the ignorant, unprepared humans who don’t know the aliens are coming). If this were embraced more fully, PEOPLE OF EARTH could be a ground-breaking sitcom.

I just don’t think that’s where it’s going, though, so while I was amused and interested in the first couple of installments, I’m not sold on continuing, especially on a network that had yet to distinguish itself as consistently reliable in the comedy realm, airing both good series and total duds, often at the same time.

PEOPLE OF EARTH premieres tonight at 10/9c on TBS.

Take a SELFIE

Article first published as SELFIE Review on Seat42F.

ABC’s SELFIE is equal parts straight-up remake of My Fair Lady and a commentary on the current social media landscape. It is the story of a mess of a girl, obsessed with her online followers and ‘friends,’ and an uptight guy who wants to show her how to be what he deems ‘a real person.’ The two clash in predictable ways, and one assumes that eventually both will learn much from the other, whether they become romantically entangled or not (my money is on the former).

Karen Gillian (Doctor Who, Guardians of the Galaxy, NTSF:SD:SUV) plays Eliza Dooley, the lead female at the center of SELFIE. Although from the UK, the actress takes an affected valley girl-esque accent that is super annoying at the start, though surely not the character’s real voice. Gillian is terrific with line delivery and sincerity, eliciting glimmers of sympathy for a person that should not be at all likeable, especially when you feel her pain and see the origin of her persona. While Eliza is awful in most of the pilot, she will grow into someone viewers can get behind, and has already started to do so.

John Cho (Sleepy Hollow, Harold & Kumar, American Pie) matches Gillian beat for beat as stuffy Henry, who takes on the task of remaking Eliza. He is successful and smart, but too judgmental to be truly likeable, either, even if he’s quite a bit more ‘normal’ than Eliza. He’s almost a bully to her at times, and one can tell that his obsession with fixing her is much more about the satisfying challenge it presents to him than helping the girl herself. In this way, Henry and Eliza are near-equals in the growth they need to undergo, and more similar than is immediately obvious.

The lead actors are terrific. The pilot is plagued by an uneven script, but they sell their parts, making sure the characters seem complex even if the language coming out of their mouths isn’t clever. They have immediate chemistry that seems fresh, and they are primarily the reason I plan to set a season pass for SELFIE, as surely it will improve over time.

Not that the pilot is bad. The opening is gross and a huge turn off, but as the story unfolds, it gets better and better. As a fan of the Audrey Hepburn / Rex Harrison film that is quite similar, I think the writers do a decent job of not only retelling the tale, but updating it for the modern age. It’s an interesting spin on an old classic.

The social commentary presented in the series is a reason to watch. Everyone knows at least one person that will remind them of Eliza, even if Eliza is exaggerated to nearly cartoonish proportions. We have become a people obsessed with being online, and Eliza could be the fate of many a girl in the next generation, those who grow up with devices in their hands at all times. Henry isn’t the best spokesman for the opposition, but his lambasting of Eliza’s habits speak to those who wish to keep human contact alive, and hopefully, while the internet is certainly not a trend, our ignorance of everyday life in favor of it will be. Having Eliza and Henry work at a pharmaceutical company is also ripe with as-yet-unexplored satirical possibilities.

SELFIE is buoyed by an excellent supporting cast which includes Da’Vine Joy Randolph (The Angriest Man in Brooklyn) as cheerful receptionist Charmonique, David Harewood (Homeland) as eccentric boss Sam, and Allyn Rachel (Weeds) as Eliza’s nerdy neighbor, Bryn. Each helps with the humor of the piece, and has moments to shine in the first episode, being well used.

This show is also genuinely funny. From instrumental jokes to sassy one-liners to a rhyming rap, it exudes a charm that will amuse many. I laughed out loud a few times, even on my second viewing, and may very well tune in again on premiere night.

Overall, SELFIE isn’t the best new sitcom of the season, but its cast and premise gives it a lot of potential that is barely scratched in the first installment. I have confidence that it will hew to its strengths, minimizing the elements that grate, as it goes on. For that reason, I recommend tuning in when SELFIE premieres Tuesday, September 30^th at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.