Review: TBS Binge-A-Thon

I've been sick as a dog this week, which means I've been camped out in front of the TV in pure couch potato mode. Luckily, TBS has been putting on a "binge-a-thon" this week (between Christmas and New Year's), in which they show all their original programming from first to last episode throughout the week (apparently all of their shows are in their first seasons). I'm happy to say that this was not a wasted effort. Here are my thoughts on the shows, from worst to best:

Angie Tribeca was created by Steve Carell and his wife Nancy, and it's a comedy that follows an LAPD homicide detective and her questionably competent precinct.  Apparently the Carrels are big fans of Jim Abrahams and the Zucker Brothers, because it's exactly the kind of humor you would expect from the makers of Airplane, Top Secret or Hot Shots!  Unfortunately, the Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker trifecta did it better with their Naked Gun franchise, and even more so with the original Police Squad. Angie Tribeca is full of corny jokes and manages to be amusing at times (a statistical certainty when they toss off as many gags as they do), but it lacks the deadpan performances that made Police Squad kick, and as much as I like Rashida Jones, she ain't no Leslie Neilsen.

It's been six years since Lost ended its enigmatic run, but here comes Wrecked with the parody no one was really looking for. I went in expecting the humor to be as stale as the premise, but it actually turned out to be pretty fun. It's very silly, but there are several good performances that keep it together. If you remember Lost fondly, or if you long for a more contemporary Gilligan's Island, this is probably a worthwhile program to check out.

The end of John Stewart's run on The Daily Show mostly led to a bunch of new satirical news programs. However, former correspondents Samantha Bee (who also now anchors her own comedy news program on TBS) and Jason Jones decided to break the mold and create the delightfully surreal sit-com, The Detour. Jason Jones stars with Natalie Zea, Liam Carroll and Ashley Gerasimovich, as a family on a road-trip to Florida. Along the way, they keep getting sidetracked in ridiculous ways. The episodes are a little uneven, but the performances are top notch-- they couldn't have cast this show any better. I found myself thoroughly charmed by the family, and I'm eager to see what happens in the second season.

Another former Daily Show correspondent, Wyatt Cenac, leads the large ensemble cast of People of Earth, a show about a local support group for alien abductees, while also following the machinations of the aliens working behind the scenes. I've found this show to be consistently the funniest of the bunch, with lots of great characterizations and inventive scenarios. I thoroughly recommend it for fans of both comedy and sci-fi.


My favorite show of the binge-a-thon was Search Party. It's a biting satire of self-involved 20-something hipster culture, while still managing to be an exceptional product of that aesthetic. Alia Shawkat (aka Maeby from Arrested Development) stars as a girl having her quarter-life crisis who becomes obsessed with the disappearance of an old dorm mate she barely knew in college. The mystery is twisty and engaging, and the sophisticated humor cuts deeply. The show has been picked up for a second season, but this 10-episode run is a complete and satisfying story all on its own. Some will be turned off by the four main characters-- they're all unlikeable in their own ways-- but if you appreciate finely crafted serialized television, you owe it to yourself to check this out.