They Sat For This?

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NBC muscled Larry David, Madonna and Ricky Gervais to sit in front of an audience for The Marriage Ref and make cracks about some banal-bizarre reality clips? David/Madonna/Gervais are brilliant, highly driven, high-demand people with enough money to fill warehouses, and they sat for a reality-show equivalent of The Hollywood Squares? This is close to surreal.

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on March 12, 2010 at 6:02 AM

comment #1

Rich S. says ...

This show reeks of Jerry Seinfeld calling in favors on behalf of the co-creator/host. Very odd.

Posted by Rich S. at March 12, 2010 6:41 AM

comment #2

The Filmatelist says ...

At least "The Hollywood Squares" was funny.

Posted by The Filmatelist at March 12, 2010 7:07 AM

comment #3

Eloi Manning says ...

It's weird how aggressively Seinfeld is pushing this thing. He does fuck all for ages, then comes back with some dogshit reality show and convinces all his famous mates to help out. Who is the host? Does he ha ve incriminating photos of Seinfeld in a compromising situation?

Posted by Eloi Manning at March 12, 2010 7:12 AM

comment #4

JHR says ...

Unwatchable.

Posted by JHR at March 12, 2010 7:26 AM

comment #5

mccool says ...

Brutal. Bad editing, worse host .... not funny.

Posted by mccool at March 12, 2010 7:29 AM

comment #6

iamanerd says ...

The first episode had Tina Fey, so you could at least see the selling of 30 Rock on the same network. Eva Longoria selling Desperate Housewives on that episode? Hmmm...
Seinfeld was on it too, and that was most likely to get the eyeballs on it Week 1. The commercials for this are of the episode with Kelly Ripa and Alec Baldwin, so there is more to come!

Posted by iamanerd at March 12, 2010 7:41 AM

comment #7

George Prager says ...

I've watched three episodes of this. This one was the best episode . A few observations. Madonna wasn't talking in a British accent. Larry David is the first person to "get" the concept: that this show is utter dogshit, so fuck it, say whatever you want to say.

Posted by George Prager at March 12, 2010 7:50 AM

comment #8

Mark says ...

The last two were better than decent, but of course, people here will crucify it, because it aims at middle-America over 35.

It takes a while for such shows to hit their stride; like getting rid of Marv Albert and Natalie Morales, and getting the host more comfortable, but if the ratings continue to dip, they won't be able to maintain such high-level stars.

You do get a better sense of the stars than if Leno had interviewed them for an hour straight.

Posted by Mark at March 12, 2010 8:32 AM

comment #9

Noah Cross says ...

You gotta love people getting marriage advise from Madonna and Alec Baldwin. Are they going to bring Kevin Smith in as a diet counsultant on The Biggest Loser?
I'd rather get driving lessons from Billy Joel.

Posted by Noah Cross at March 12, 2010 8:42 AM

comment #10

George Prager says ...

"aims at middle-America over 35" Yikes. I guess middle America enjoys TV shows that have more edits in them than THE DEPARTED on broadcast TV. But what do I know, given that I thought THE ENGLISH PATIENT was a piece of shit, so I can't speak for middle America.

Posted by George Prager at March 12, 2010 8:49 AM

comment #11

Renfield says ...

@Mark

Hit their stride? In order for something like that to happen the show needs to have characters, a story and....be fictional.

It's a reality-panel show. What you see is what you get.

The only reason this waste of time and money has even seen one second of air time is because everyone at NBC owes Seinfeld their first-born. If it didn't air, he was allowed to eat the children.

Posted by Renfield at March 12, 2010 10:20 AM

comment #12

Gordn27 says ...

I remember when I was first getting into 'The Office' -- the proper one -- my friends in England told me that Gervais will do anything on TV. Not guest shots or acting or writing, but if you have a panel thing like this, he'll probably do it.

And Larry David probably realizes he owes the latter half of his life to Seinfeld (it's mutual, sure). And Seinfeld came back and did the season of 'Curb' for no money, so I'm sure he doesn't begrudge him this stupid show.

Posted by Gordn27 at March 12, 2010 10:23 AM

comment #13

Mark says ...

"Hit their stride? In order for something like that to happen the show needs to have characters, a story and....be fictional."

WTF are you talking about? Go watch the 1st episodes of Jon Stewart on the DS, Conan Obrien on the Late Show, PTI on ESPN, etc. Even the 1st seasons of Project Runway, and Idol/Dunkleman. Tell me if these non-fictional shows hit the ground running as fast as they would eventually.

Posted by Mark at March 12, 2010 10:57 AM

comment #14

lazarus says ...

Prager, not only is Madonna not speaking with a British accent, but you can clearly her her Midwestern roots more often than not.

That's what happens when a short period of her speaking in an affected way has now become a common perception. She usually sounds like she does in this clip.

Posted by lazarus at March 12, 2010 11:06 AM

comment #15

Snoop Marlo says ...

Jerry even co-hosted 'Regis' yesterday trying to plug his crappy show.

Anything that reeks of his wife, Jessica 'I dumped a millionaire for a near billionaire' Seinfeld, being involved, has to be complete garbage.

Posted by Snoop Marlo at March 12, 2010 11:19 AM

comment #16

George Prager says ...

I stand corrected. Madonna only spoke like an escaped mental patient for most of the 00s.

Posted by George Prager at March 12, 2010 11:21 AM

comment #17

George Prager says ...

I say we give this show a chance. In about 5 years Tom Papa (doesn't he look like a bizarro world David Cross?) will be beloved in American's hearts the way Johnny Carson was and we can look forward to a panel comprised of Gary Coleman, Andy Dick and Lady Gaga.

Posted by George Prager at March 12, 2010 11:27 AM

comment #18

drbob says ...

I would pay good money to see Andy Dick and Lady Gaga as panelists on this show. Gary Coleman, not so much.

Posted by drbob at March 12, 2010 11:57 AM

comment #19

dangovich says ...

I never saw more cutaways of people fake-laughing as I saw on the first episode of this show..

Posted by dangovich at March 12, 2010 12:44 PM

comment #20

LexG says ...

Tom Papa = Richard Roeper with hair issues.

I don't watch this and I REALLY don't care one way or another, but why are "movie people" generally SO appalled by and condescending about reality television?

I know it's a lot of writers and wannabe screenwriters who think that somehow season, oh, 26 of Survivor or the Bachelor is going to put them out of business somehow, that they'd have a staff gig writing for some new Sorkin genius drama if only Jeff Probst and Rupert the Pirate weren't hogging up network airtime... But isn't it time to LET IT GO? It's not like the genre is going ANYWHERE, and at best it can be not only fun but an absorbing window into contemporary, instant access fame culture.

Shit, I've tried out for Big Brother THREE TIMES and Survivor and too many others to count... I'm not gym-bodied enough to ever make the cut, but I'd go on ANY of these in a split second (though by and large, Fox and CBS turn out more reality stars... NBC's stuff is usually pretty anonymous and less sleazy-newsworthy.)

In an age where some unexceptional dumped chick from the Mesnick season of The Bachelor has parlayed it into a Dancing with the Stars career and tons of media opportunities, where REAL WORLDers (of all low-rent motherfuckers) are STARRING IN STUDIO MOVIES, where Survivor outcasts are hosting a morning show that's THE VOICE OF A NATION...

I think the stigma should be lifted.

Posted by LexG at March 12, 2010 12:54 PM

comment #21

Baron Munchausen-by-Proxy says ...

"I remember when I was first getting into 'The Office' -- the proper one -- my friends in England told me that Gervais will do anything on TV. Not guest shots or acting or writing, but if you have a panel thing like this, he'll probably do it."

Yes, your friends were seeing what he was willing to do to promote the UK Office. Of course, these types of appearances eventually grew to be anathema to him, and he came to parody this element of himself (long since purged) in "Extras", his second UK show. This "he'll probably do it" attitude hasn't been the case for a long time. He's doing *this* show due to his oft-expressed admiration for "Seinfeld", Seinfeld, David, and "Curb".

"And Larry David probably realizes he owes the latter half of his life to Seinfeld (it's mutual, sure). And Seinfeld came back and did the season of 'Curb' for no money, so I'm sure he doesn't begrudge him this stupid show."

To be clear, it wasn't for "no money". But it *was* for "a hell of a lot less money than would be earned for any other season-recurring-role. Since S7 of CYE and this idiotic game show were in development at roughly the same time, their appearances on each other's projects for scale money are simplya mutual back-scratch.

Posted by Baron Munchausen-by-Proxy at March 12, 2010 2:01 PM

comment #22

Snoop Marlo says ...

The suits at NBC were desperate to get into bed with Jerry again. Sadly, Jerry stuck them with this garbage because his wife was bored spending his money.

Posted by Snoop Marlo at March 12, 2010 2:21 PM

comment #23

mccool says ...

Gordon ... re: And Larry David probably realizes he owes the latter half of his life to Seinfeld (it's mutual, sure). And Seinfeld came back and did the season of 'Curb' for no money, so I'm sure he doesn't begrudge him this stupid show.

Huge Seinfeld fan.... but it's obvious from the post-David episodes he was the genius and grounding force behind the show's success. He probably wouldn't have gotten the gig if not for Seinfeld's unassuming and observational humor and would have toiled as a funny looking, angry NY comedian for the rest of his life, but besides that, Seinfeld owes a lot more to him than the other way around.

Posted by mccool at March 12, 2010 2:47 PM

comment #24