The TV Column

Clipped is disappointing, unfunny, with fake accents

TBS’ new sitcom Clipped stars Ashley Tisdale and Mike Castle as barbers in a Boston shop.
TBS’ new sitcom Clipped stars Ashley Tisdale and Mike Castle as barbers in a Boston shop.

TBS unveils its new sitcom Clipped at 9 p.m. today. I really, really wanted to like the pilot, but I'm reserving final judgment for a second episode.

How can that be? Clipped comes from Will & Grace and Boston Common creators Max Mutchnick and David Kohan. I like those guys. They're funny and both those sitcoms were outstanding.

Maybe I've gotten more discerning as I've gotten older. Maybe I'm demanding more from sitcoms, desiring more wit, snappier dialogue and fewer old-school, formulaic retorts, zingers and laugh tracks.

Plenty of viewers will think the multi-camera Clipped is funny stuff, but I found the pilot hackneyed, the jokes labored and the faux Boston accents grating. It's as if the actors got 10 minutes of tutoring from a voice coach. It doesn't work.

Barber, for example, is pronounced bah-buh; beer is bee-uh.

Clipped is being touted by hyperbolic publicists as "Cheers meets Barbershop." That's generous and superficial. There is a Cheers connection in that George Wendt (beloved Norm on Cheers) portrays Buzzy, the former owner of the Charlestown, Mass., barber shop where the workplace comedy takes place.

Buzzy, who has lived with his parking enforcement boyfriend since 1973, is also the source of the show's groan-worthy gay humor. It makes Will & Grace shine by comparison.

Example:

"Buzzy, when you and that meter maid are makin' love, which one of you does the drivin' and which does the parkin'?

"Honey, we've been together 42 years. The car's up on blocks."

And: "Don't be late; I rented Magic Mike. Matthew McConaughey in chaps!"

Clipped follows a diverse group of former high school classmates, so look for lots of racial and ethnic gags.

Example: "Yeah, like I'm gonna fire Charmaine Eskowitz, the black Jew in my company. That way I could be sued and beat up. Not gonna happen."

The co-workers, who ran in different high school cliques, now find themselves cutting hair at the neighborhood barber shop owned by Ben (Ryan Pinkston, Tower Prep). Buzzy, who is still hanging around, sold the shop to Ben to pay off gambling debts.

The diminutive Ben was a loser in high school and doesn't miss an opportunity to lord it over his old classmates that he's now their boss.

The staff includes Mo (Matt Cook, True Blood), Ben's best friend and polar opposite, and A.J. Salerno (Mike Castle, Family Trap), the popular high school baseball star who was on the road to the pros until he injured his shoulder.

Also on board is Danni (Ashley Tisdale, High School Musical), the shop's hot chick who still has a thing for A.J. Their relationship is the source of the sitcom's sexual tension.

Example:

"Danni, how come you and A.J. don't go out together?"

"We slept together on prom night."

"Ooo. Romantic!"

"His prom date didn't think so."

Also in the ensemble are Joy (Lauren Lapkus, Orange Is the New Black), the perky receptionist and object of Mo's unrequited affection, and Charmaine (The Groundlings' Diona Reasonover), the black Jew mentioned above.

The series is rated TV-MA for adult language and most of it seems self-indulgent and smug. TBS has ordered 10 episodes.

Tyrant returns. For viewers who enjoy their prime-time soaps nail-biting tense and full of Middle Eastern political drama, Season 2 of Tyrant debuts at 9 p.m. today on FX. It, also, is rated TV-MA, but none of it is gratuitous.

As a refresher: Tyrant is the story of an American family drawn into the turbulent politics of the (fictitious) Middle Eastern nation of Abuddin.

Bassam "Barry" Al-Fayeed (Adam Rayner) is the younger son of the country's dictator. Barry returns to his homeland for a wedding after a self-imposed 20-year exile in America. When his father dies suddenly, Barry is forced back into the treacherous national politics as a counselor to his temperamental older brother Jamal (Ashraf Barhom), Abuddin's new president.

The tyrannical Jamal lacks justice or morality, so Barry plots a coup. It fails and Barry is arrested and sentenced to death. Meanwhile, Barry's wife, Molly (Jennifer Finnigan), is holed up in the U.S. Embassy.

While in prison, Barry has become a symbol of the nation's struggle for freedom, encouraging rebel leader Ihab (Alexander Karim) to increasing violence.

Will Jamal execute Barry? That would certainly be the easier way out. Tyrant is gripping, character-driven drama well worth your time.

Quack. A one-hour special Duck Commander: Making the Musical airs at 8 p.m. Wednesday on A&E. Duck Dynasty returns at 8:30 p.m. June 24.

The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Email:

mstorey@arkansasonline.com

Style on 06/16/2015

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