Caveman series on ABC

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Inspired by those perfectly dry Geico caveman commercials, ABC is definitely going with a Geico caveman series this fall. This despite a rumble in early May that the pilot was allegedly awful. It'll all come down to the writing, of course. The calibre of the writers and, of course, the acting. ABC could screw it up. I haven't heard any backstage rumble, but they could elbow aside the guys who did the ads and blow off the dry sardonic tone and try to make the cavemen softer, goofier and more red-state. You know...dumb it all down.

I wasn't paying attention when Aint' It Cool's Derek Flint ran that 5.3.07 pan of the pilot. But I was truly horrified to read about it having used "different actors in the cavemen roles, with none of them are nearly as effective as their advertising counterparts." (Flint wrote that "one of them actually reminded me a little bit of Sanjaya.") Good God!

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on July 24, 2007 at 9:41 AM

comment #1

actionman says ...

I saw the pilot...it's horrendous, easily the worst pilot for the new season. terrible writing, the "humor" was just so beyond obvious. shitting directing, bad tech credits all around. the acting was just sort of...meh...it just sucked. it will fail when it hits the airwaves.

Posted by actionman at July 24, 2007 10:06 AM

comment #2

Breedlove says ...

I don't pay much attention to TV criticism, but Adam Buckman of the NY Post has been raving about the caveman pilot...I saw a list of the new shows this fall and there's not much to get excited about. Only 'Lost,' which won't be back until January. I guess I did sort of get into 'Heroes,' too.

Posted by Breedlove at July 24, 2007 10:18 AM

comment #3

jesse says ...

I also saw this pilot... it's pretty bad. Not the worst I've seen, but not as funny as the commercials. Of course, the commercials are so funny because they're short and punchy and deadpan, which doesn't provide a lot of material for a 22-minute show. 3-minute internet shows, maybe.

The show's main joke is that cavemen feel oppressed in the manner of a minority. A thin joke, but OK, go with it. Then the show's strategy for expressing this joke is to take common complaints of racism, and take out "black" or "hispanic" and replace with "cavemen" -- even when it makes no sense. It's a quasi-grown-up version of cartoons where the "jokes" involve replacing "man" with something else in popular idioms (e.g., "You da ant!" or "every ant for himself!" in ANZ -- that is to say, not funny nor particularly clever). Where can this go? I have no idea. I was bored after 10 minutes, let alone 22, let alone 286.

The best pilot of the season -- by far -- is ABC's PUSHING DAISIES. I don't know how the show can keep that level of cinematic, imagnative whimsy for an entire series but I'd love to see them try.

Posted by jesse at July 24, 2007 10:20 AM

comment #4

actionman says ...

I agree Jesse...Pushing Daisies was excellent, stylish and entertaining and smart and clever. That one, along with CHUCK, SARA CONNOR CHRONICLES, and CALIFORNICATION were the best new pilots I saw. I saw a lot of crap as well.

Posted by actionman at July 24, 2007 10:34 AM

comment #5

thevisceral says ...

A whole show about Joe Eszterhas? Eh...

Posted by thevisceral at July 24, 2007 10:40 AM

comment #6

George Prager says ...

It's one of those show they know is going to be cancelled but they're just not sure, but they'll throw it out there, like Emeril's sitcom.

Posted by George Prager at July 24, 2007 10:55 AM

comment #7

George Prager says ...

It's one of those show they know is going to be cancelled but they're just not sure, but they'll throw it out there, like Emeril's sitcom.

Posted by George Prager at July 24, 2007 10:56 AM

comment #8

Movie Watcher says ...

ABC took the George Lopez show off the air for this crap? What's next, the geico gecko gets a talkshow? Lopez had a loyal following; the ratings were consistent. Maybe the next show will be stars taking a dump. What a joke.

Posted by Movie Watcher at July 24, 2007 11:56 AM

comment #9

count.olaf says ...

I just got a fax on this and I had to wonder...were there little demons inside typing it all out? I don't know...my primitive mind can't grasp these concepts.

It makes me want to get out of my BMW and just head for the hills or...whatever.

Posted by count.olaf at July 24, 2007 12:15 PM

comment #10

jesse says ...

actionman, I didn't see any cable pilots -- or Fox's stuff, though I keep forgetting that. I'm curious about Californication because I still have lots of X-Files-era goodwill for Duchovny.

I didn't care much for CHUCK -- maybe because there are about seventeen thousand pilots just like it this year. Well, fine, maybe just three. But they -- REAPER, CHUCK, and least crappy/cutesy, THE BIONIC WOMAN -- all overlap like crazy. REAPER and CHUCK had almost the exact same slacker-nerd-dude-version-of-Buffy vibe... both heroes even slave away in giant corporate chain stores. Oh, the social commentary! They're both mildly funny, but also chintzy. At least the cheesiness Bionic Woman wasn't wannabe-snarky; the hero doesn't have the "crass version of the nice hero" sidekick character that I'm completely done with. Ugh.

But I guess none of them are as nauseating as the idea that The CW canceled Veronica Mars and put their money on GOSSIP GIRL. Or the idea that GG will probably succeed.

Posted by jesse at July 24, 2007 12:37 PM

comment #11

Me says ...

I can't figure out who the idiots were who thought the commercials were funny enough to demand a whole show. The first commercial or two were mildly amusing, but they pushed it too long like a bad SNL skit. And an entire series was a stupid idea from the very get-go.

Posted by Me at July 24, 2007 12:44 PM

comment #12

Rich S. says ...

Is Talia Shire in the series? If so, she's got to be thinking that the whole thing dropped on her like manna from heaven. I didn't even recognize her until someone pointed it out to me.

Posted by Rich S. at July 24, 2007 12:59 PM

comment #13

NYCritic says ...

They've already fired Dash Mihok and replaced him with Sam Huntington allegedly to "take the show in a different direction". Mihok's character has been dropped completely and Huntington is playing a new caveman.

Posted by NYCritic at July 24, 2007 5:04 PM

comment #14

anti-sardine says ...

Oh man.
Upon first glance of the photo above I thought that someone had finally done it.
Jeff Wells and Peter Jackson debating each other on national television as to the validity and proper use of the fantasy genre.
If you squint your eyes you can almost see it.

Posted by anti-sardine at July 24, 2007 5:41 PM

comment #15