From reviews in the the L.A. Times to the Columbia University's Daily Spectator, as well as hundreds of other newspapers across the country, the operative review word for CBS' $#*! My Dad Says is 'shit.' When is the last time a show described itself with such accuracy?! A TV review that writes itself.
If CBS had any class... and creativity... they'd give us a call and allow us to morph their pathetic vehicle into TWITS. Now THERE'S a great idea!
Sample Reviews of $#*!" My Dad Says:
LA TIMES:
Television review: 'Outsourced' and '$#*! My Dad Says'
The former is a smart, deft sitcom; the latter is better left to Twitter.
September 23, 2010|By Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times Television Critic
One thing connects the protagonists of the comedies "$#*! My Dad Says" and "Outsourced," premiering Thursday on CBS and NBC, respectively: They owe money on student loans, which limits their life choices to moving in with Dad, in the first instance, and moving to India, in the second. Otherwise, these series are as different as tomatoes and ketchup, with the distinction that both tomatoes and ketchup are good, but one of these shows is not.
William Shatner, who has most always played comedy whether or not he was playing in a comedy, has beamed down into a standard three-camera sitcom, "$#*! My Dad Says," based on a Twitter feed (!) by Justin Halpern, who also co-created the series. The opener, in which Halpern's flat-broke alter ego, Henry ( Jonathan Sadowski), comes home to San Diego, has been substantially revised from the original pilot but not improved, only made more sentimental.
Shatner's Ed is hardly the first difficult dad of television. (Redd Foxx, Jerry Stiller, we could go on.) Old folks speaking uncomfortable truths, talking dirty, riding on motorcycles — such things have long been considered comic dynamite. Oddly, at 79, Shatner comes across as too energetic and youthful even for the 72-year-old he's playing. The bigger problem is that he's given nothing to do or say worth the doing or saying. He gets better mileage from a Priceline commercial.
Though a certain no-nonsense philosophy of life might be extracted from the utterances of Halpern's actual $#*!-saying dad, as edited for television he's just a hard nut with a soft center, a cuddly misanthrope with a shotgun, like some " Andy Griffith" moonshiner. He complains that downtown "smells of motor oil and hummus" and observes that, "if it looks like manure and smells like manure, it's either Wolf Blitzer or manure." Henry, for his part, reads as self-pitying and whiny — much the worse company.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to register "$#*! My Cat Says." I think that $#*! could turn into something.
robert.lloyd@latimes.com
From Columbia University's Daily Spectator:
Twitter-inspired TV show ‘$#*! My Dad Says’ lacks the humor, ease of its predecessor
"$#*! My Dad Says" lives up to its name in the worst possible way.
By Caitlyn McGinn
Published September 22, 2010
“$#*! My Dad Says” is shit. There is probably a more clever way to say that, but if you read no more than the first sentence of this article, be satisfied in knowing that this pathetic excuse for a CBS sitcom is pure crap.
If you don’t already know the back-story for this Frankenstein’s baby of Twitter and commercialism, here you go: Back in August 2009, 29-year-old Justin Halpern, a struggling writer, moved back in with his mom and dad and was encouraged by a friend to start posting his aging father’s quotes on Twitter. His readership went from a couple friends to thousands thanks to a tweet from comedian Rob Corddry. In less than a year, Halpern had over a million followers, a book deal, and novel rights that were sold to CBS.
The show, which premieres Thursday at 8:30 p.m., follows Henry, a recently laid-off magazine writer, who moves back in with his prickly father (William Shatner), whom he hasn’t seen in two years. This could have been an innocuous odd-couple sitcom about generational differences in family dynamics, work ethic, and worldview, but it seems the writers got confused by the integration of new-media material in such an old format as the multi-camera, laugh track-heavy sitcom.
One particularly unfunny amalgamation in the pilot is a quick interchange in which Shatner asks why Henry is moving out: “Where?” “L.A.” “When?” “Now.” “Why?” “Because.” “I See…” The quickness of Henry’s responses could have been a small, funny expression of his generation’s emphasis on efficiency and disregard for the elderly if properly left alone. But the writers, obsessed with making the show a by-the-book sitcom, took it and clunkily transformed it into an over-the-top laugh track moment.
The most egregious strike against “$#*!” is the fact that Shatner is completely inept at sitcom humor. He radiates charisma and natural comedic timing in interviews, but on “$#*!” his jokes fall flat, his delivery is all over the place, and he rarely ever looks his fellow actors in the eyes. He looks like the kid in third grade whose teacher told him to pick a place on the wall and stare at it while giving a speech.
Although, viewers can’t blame Shatner for not looking at Jonathan Sadowski, who plays his son Henry and looks so painfully awkward on camera that they will probably just want to slap him. Sadowski speeds through every line—be it joke, filler, or heartfelt vulnerability—as if he can’t wait to get off the set.
Only two actors—Will Sasso and Nicole Sullivan, who play Henry’s half brother via Shatner and his wife, respectively—have any on-screen comedic talent. And they’re relegated to painfully long jokes about dietary fiber.
If you are still curious as to whether or not an amusing Twitter account automatically translates to a hit TV show, you’re stupid. There are plenty of other options to check out Thursdays at 8 p.m., like CW’s “Vampire Diaries,” FOX’s “Bones,” or NBC’s “30 Rock,” which touts actual comedy. Just go on and follow @ShitMyDadSays on Twitter and forget this little contributing factor to primetime’s demise ever happened.
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