God’s Favorite Idiot (Netflix)-The premise of a modern-day prophet dealing with the absurdities of a religiously mixed-up world has already been done quite a bit before, most notably with Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman’s best-selling book “Good Omens” and its subsequent 2019 Amazon TV series. Ironically, that show came out in the same year as the phenomenally funny God-as-aimless-idiot series “Miracle Workers” which was created by “Man Seeking Women” showrunner Simon Rich. There’s also the 1999 film “Dogma”, “The Life of Brian”, College Humor’s series about God’s Boss, Craig. This is all on the heels of the immensely thorough “The Good Place.” Considering how brilliant all of those things are, the bar is pretty high.
Clark (Ben Falcone) is a typical office drone with a sad sack aura about him (think George Michael from Arrested Development if Rebel Alley hadn’t come along) and a crush on his co-worker Amily (Falcone’s real-life wife and creative partner Melissa McCarthy). They work in a small office with a lot of bickering (of the funny-ha-ha variety) and a boss (oddly named Frisbee, IMDB don’t lie) who’s basically asking to be the butt of the joke.
In the opening scene, Clark gets struck by lightning and starts exhibiting strange powers. We then segue to eccentric co-worker Amily telling her co-workers about her discovery that Clark seemed to be glowing, while also confessing that her recent cocaine consumption makes her an unreliable narrator. Melissa McCarthy is one of the most bankable stars in Hollywood (to the extent that stardom still exists), she’s certainly capable of driving a scene, and she’s getting good scene partners here.
But it becomes increasingly distracting that Clark isn’t really at the center of the pilot. He not only lacks running time, but the story isn’t even told from his point of view. The majority of the episode’s running time is a mix of indirect office speculation over what to make of Clark, and Clark’s awkward courtship with Amily.
There are also a number of scenes from an exterior view of the office’s two toilet stalls, where Clark has to repeatedly remind his coworkers that he doesn’t really like to talk while on the toilet. This is where Clark shines comedically: He’s an awkward being who verbalizes his awkwardness in a unique take on classic deadpan characters (i.e. Aubrey Plaza in Parks and Rec, Greg from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Sophia from Golden Girls).
Falcone has not just been overshadowed by his wife in their dual projects, but his filmography is littered with thankless projects. He’s paid his dues in supporting and recurring roles in plenty of promising sitcoms such as “Joey”, “Up All Night”, “My Name is Earl”, “A to Z” (Cristin Milioti and Ben Feldman’s breakout series), and “New Girl” but the show takes a while to let Falcone actually take the lead. It’s as if Melissa McCarthy (or the writers’ lack of confidence in the audience to want to watch a show that’s not McCarthy-centric) felt that Falcone needed training wheels in the first few episodes.
As a result, its relatively late in the show’s eight-episode run that the plot kicks in and by then the elements are too densely packed to properly breathe. There’s a preacher who’s anti-Clark because, haha, preachers are dumb; the angel and the devil are literally going to war with Clark’s dad as a hostage; the four horsemen of the apocalypse show up; there’s a beta romance developing in the background; and Clark’s naggy mom makes an appearance.
There are also abrupt jumps in plotting. In one episode, Clark gets his first visit from an angel; in the next, Clark is passing out flyers on behalf of God. But did the Angel ever give him instructions?
There’s nothing particularly wrong with the show’s content. It’s hilarious and has a unique take on a well-treaded genre. However, this is a textbook case of bad pacing. Hopefully, season 2 will hit the ground running with the exposition out of the way.
No comments:
Post a Comment