Whitney

• Director: Andy Ackerman
• Screenwriter/Written By: Whitney Cummings
• Producer: Various
• Starring: Chris D'Elia, Whitney Cummings, Zoe Lister-Jones
• Running Time: 30 mins.
• Language: English

Whitney is an NBC comedy based on the real life experience of comedienne Whitney Cummings. Now I’m all about the next big comedy sitcom, but this show should not be placed in that category.  Whitney Cummings (Whitney ) portrays a fictionalized version of herself as a photographer with her live-in boyfriend Alex (Chris D’Elia). They seem to have the daily struggle of whether to stay stagnant in the boyfriend/girlfriend zone, or taking the next step of marriage.

The premise is cute, but also easily bores the viewer. For most sitcoms these days it takes about the first two minutes for it to catch my attention, otherwise they have lost me. As a woman, I think creator and star Whitney Cummings should be commended for making a valiant effort to showcase her creative comedic skills, but the sitcom route was just not the avenue that she needed to take, stand-up is the better option.

Right from the beginning I feel like the show forces you to laugh even when it really is not that funny. After the first five minutes I really thought the show was just a joke gone bad, until I saw that a new episode aired the following week. The second episode was even more of a struggle to get through.  And to make matters worse, the show makes a point to emphasize that it was “filmed in front of a live audience”.

Despite Whitney not being the best comedy sitcom, there are a few shining moments. I guess one could see that the show does offer a glimmer of a silver lining; that is they attempt to throw in a “moral” to the story at the end of each episode, but once again they fail miserably. One other small highlight to this show is that we the viewers get to see a normal couple in their typical daily lives. However, that is it and then there is still no excitement as a result.

Along with a very weak storyline, the supporting cast (Maulik Pancholy as Neal, Zoe Lister-Jones as Lily and Dan O’Brien as Mark) is just as bad as the writing and they have no sense of real humor. Unfortunately they do not bring anything significant to the table. I feel like I have already seen their characters portrayed in other sitcoms and shows;  a flighty mother, a couple who tries too hard to be perfect, a cop who is overly obsessed with women, and a complaining alcoholic divorcee…could we have thought of something more substantial?…guess not.

So far the episodes that have aired pretty much repeat the same themes;   sex, forced romanticism, and corny jokes just dressed in a new package. From what I can gather, Whitney’s attempts to resurrect a career as a comedienne should have been left at the comedy club. This show falls into the category of being a hit or miss, leaning more toward the miss.

-Grace Gipson