Pilot Review: Working the Engels

Working the Engels (NBC)
Premiered July 8 at 9:30pm

I’m not sure a show with this title ever had much promise, but I’m certainly not pleased with the results. There are plenty of comedies that are far too familiar and seem rather uncreative (this show’s lead-in, “Welcome to Sweden,” is a prime example). And then there are those that are truly awful, so seemingly committed to recycling every sitcom concept that it’s impossible to find an original idea buried underneath the rubble. This show opts for the format of introducing its very broad characters with snippets from their unimpressive lives highlighted by written text. It’s not necessarily lazy, but it’s certainly not highly productive. It’s hard to decide which character is the worst, though I think that dishonor might have to go to Azura Skye’s Sandy, who is an addict to her own drama more than anything else and is completely off the rails. At least Kacey Rohl’s Jenna is grounded in trying to actually be competent and successful despite obstacles at every turn, and Benjamin Arthur’s Jimmy knows that he has no ambition and doesn’t try to pretend otherwise. I’ll admit that the one laugh I did find in this premiere was his telling a bar patron that he was born in 1978 but didn’t look 78. Don’t even get me started on Andrea Martin’s booze-downing matriarch Ceil, who is the most poorly defined character on this show. The idea of them working together in a law office is rather nauseating, and I don’t see what could be very funny about that, especially considering the intellectual prowess of their first client. I’m not at all interested in seeing where this show goes.

How will it work as a series? Not well at all. Dumber comedies than this have aired before, but I can tell just how sophisticated this is going to be by the way this show has portrayed its central players thus far. I can only imagine what kind of miserable oddballs will drop by the office and force Jenna to question why she ever decided to pick things up back at her father’s practice rather than be trained to dance like a monkey in her old job.
How long will it last? This show is airing as a coproduction between NBC and Global in Canada, where it aired its first season back in March. That might help it, but this show’s ratings paled in comparison to the already less than dazzling numbers for lead-in “Welcome to Sweden.” I think one and done is this show’s fate unless Canadians disagree. Good riddance.

Pilot grade: F-