As well as the return of shows we’ve been faithful to since
September, 2012 eyes a few brand new series to jump into the ratings fray.
Among them are quite a few freshman comedies, some with serious star power,
others with some hilarious punchlines. But are they worth the watch? We take a
look at some of the most buzzed about up-and-comers:
Napoleon Dynamite, FOX
WHEN: Sundays at 8:30pm, Premieres January 15th
WHO: Voices of Jon Heder, Efren Ramirez, Aaron Ruell, Haylie Duff
WHAT: Since the entire original cast of Napoleon Dynamite hasn’t been doing much of anything, FOX has wrangled every single one of them to voice a new animated series. This means that Jon Heder gets to sound as dumb as ever as 16-year old Napoleon growing up in a lonely world with his crazy brother Kip and the greatest Mexican friend of all time, Pedro!
BUT IS IT FUNNY? It’s nearly the exact same fare as the movie; to try and expand an isolated success is going to be tough, and the best parts of Napoleon wasn’t phenomenal writing, but the memorable standout actors. But with the right team behind it, who knows? If The Cleveland Show is still on TV, we’re pretty sure Napoleon’s got a shot.
Key & Peele, Comedy Central
WHEN: Tuesdays at
10:30pm, Premieres January 31st
WHO: Keegan-Michael
Key, Jordan Peele
WHAT: Long gone
are Comedy Central’s Chappelle Show glory
days, and if you’re not going to have one controversial black sketch comedian,
it’s clearly time to double down. MADtv alums
Key and Peele (get it?) tackle the typical gender and race stereotypes with a
slightly lighter ‘tude than usual, delivering jokes to the audience in between sketches.
BUT IS IT FUNNY? It
has potential. The series premiere has a few hit sketches but also a few bits
that just don’t land, but so did Chappelle,
right? The ones that do work could be
absolute viral comedy gold.
Are You There, Chelsea?, NBC
WHEN: Wednesdays
at 8:30pm, Premieres January 11th
WHO: Laura
Prepon, Chelsea Handler
WHAT: Created
from Chelsea Handler’s best-selling book Are
You There, Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea, NBC’s latest comedy stars Prepon as
Chelsea, who waitresses at a Jersey sports bar and prides herself on her
excessive drinking and big ‘ol front jugs. Chelsea Handler herself takes on
recurring duties as Chelsea’s (this is getting confusing) sister Sloane, who
doesn’t seem to have much in common with her crazy sister.
BUT IS IT FUNNY? We’ll
have to see. Prepon isn’t the
greatest as Chelsea Handler so thank God we’ve got Chelsea Handler herself, who
for some reason plays the sidekick. It’s clearly NBC’s answer to ratings hit 2 Broke Girls and it hrives on its
writing, but they’re gonna have a tough time selling the jokes with Prepon at
the wheel.
Unsupervised, FX
WHEN: Thursdays
at 10:30pm, Premieres January 19th
WHO: Voices of
Justin Long, David Hornsby, Kristin Bell, Fred Armisen
WHAT: The
animated brainchild of It’s Always Sunny
In Philadelphia writer/producers Rob Rosell, Scott Marder, and David
Hornsby, Unsupervised is seasoned hit
Archer’s new companion, starring Gary
(Long) and Joel (Hornsby) as two high school freshman adjusting to life and
girls in the midst of adolescence. Gary and Joel come without parental
supervision, which usually leads to a few hilarious antics between the two, as
well as their wacky classmates.
BUT IS IT FUNNY? Yes-
and even moreso than you think. Hornsby as the dim-witted Joel is a hit, and Romany
Malco as the sidekick Darius is the best asset the duo has. If you’re into the
occasionally endearing but mostly crass and offensive humor of Always Sunny, the chances are very high
that you’ll dig Unsupervised.
Thoughts on the new comedies? Holler in the comments.
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Follow Terron R. Moore on Twitter: @cityfitch
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