IN TWEET: “SUPER FUN NIGHT” IS SO BAD, I WISH I COULD GIVE IT A GRADE LOWER THAN F.
It was a full 15 minutes into the first episode of SUPER FUN NIGHT (Wednesdays at 9:30PM E/P on ABC) before I cracked a smile. I should also mention, it happened during a commercial break. You know things aren’t going well when you suddenly find yourself appreciating the subtle comedic stylings of the Aflac duck.
SUPER FUN NIGHT isn’t bad. It’s depressingly, stupendously, astoundingly and every other –ly awful. Equal parts misguided vanity project and crass attempt to capitalize on a momentarily hot actor, ABC now has the distinction of spawning three of the worst sit-coms in the past half-dozen TV seasons (WORK IT and THE NEIGHBORS being the other offenders). It makes the cancellation of HAPPY ENDINGS even more offensive and ass-backwards.
Rebel Wilson plays Kimmie Bubier. She has stage fright, works at a law firm and is morbidly obese. I don’t say that as a slight to overweight people or as a cheap joke. It’s really the only way to sum up Kimmie, the least flattering and most self-loathing depiction of a fat person that I’ve seen on television in a long time. I’m shocked that Wilson plays this character and is also responsible for creating her. It’s a mind-boggling reality. Of course, this is a show that has Wilson losing her Australian accent to play Kimmie while surrounding her with at least two co-workers with British accents. What, would one more non-Yank be too much to handle?
I’ve liked Wilson in films like PITCH PERFECT and WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU’R EXPECTING but I’m at a complete loss to explain what she is trying to accomplish here. Kimmie is little more than a screwed up collage of awkward dialogue, fussy mannerisms and humiliating Spanks-centric sight gags. If there was a “person-of-size” version of a minstrel show, SUPER FUN NIGHT would be it.
RONTHINK GRADE: F