Network: ABC; Genre: Comedy; Content Rating: TV-PG (adult content, language); Perspective: Contemporary (star range: 1 - 4);
Seasons Reviewed: 1 season
"Carpoolers" is an ABC sitcom about the wacky adventures of four guys who carpool to work together. Gracen (Fred Goss, "Significant Others", "Sons & Daughters") is the husband and father. Aubrey (Jerry Minor, "Lucky Louie") is the "straight-laced wussy guy". Dougie (Tim Peper) is the sucker who obeys his wife and believes in the fantasy of marriage. Laird (Jerry O'Connell) is "the player".
Well, it's always good to see Fred Goss back on TV. In "Carpoolers" he's basically playing the same exasperated father he did in "Sons & Daughters", only trimmed of that character's more realistic and relatable dimensions. It's a walk in the park and an easy paycheck for Goss. Now he has a wife he has no chemistry with (Faith Ford) and a son, cruelly named Marmaduke (JT Miller), a character the show has no shame ripping from "Napoleon Dynamite" for.
Instead of just noting what's wrong with "Carpoolers" and how it could be better, I'm going imagine it was once conceived as a great show (highly unlikely given that Bruce McCulloch wrote the pilot) and how it could have gone horribly wrong.
What if, just hear me out, "Carpoolers" was a ballsier, more audience-challenging show. What if it spent most of it's running time inside the car with the guys. Breaking out of it only before and after act breaks, the stories would all be told through lively, well-written conversation. Much in the way that "Seinfeld's" most thrilling and memorable moments were just elaborate stories told in Jerry's apartment or in a booth at the coffee shop. Or the classic "Everybody Loves Raymond" episode "Golf for It" which takes place almost entirely in the front and backseat of a car. So, it's been done. And hey, with Goss around, the show could have been improvised with the car serving a similar roll as the therapist's couch in "Significant Others".
I'd also imagine if you pitched this to a network like ABC they wouldn't have it. It's hard to blame McCulloch for the theoretical potential of "Carpoolers" going totally unnoticed. So the show would have been taken out of the car, with the carpooling segments used only to have the guys sing together during the cold opening or simply repeat what we just saw happen to them the night before making the carpooling segments - the very basis behind the show - perfunctory.
Then just to make sure there is no confusion, all of the out-of-the-car action is as big and over-the-top broad as physically possible. If you didn't know that O'Connell's ex-wife (Rebecca Romijn) is evil we'll have a big black thunder cloud roll in over her head. Then we'll have Peper get hit by the car a few times to ratchet up the slapstick count. I'm not opposed to stupid, but I don't like broad and "Carpoolers" is as broad as the Grand Canyon. Laughs, even chuckles, are almost non-existent.
Between the live-action cartoon of "Carpoolers" and the much maligned "Cavemen", I'd actually take "Cavemen" any day.
* / 4
Seasons Reviewed: 1 season
"Carpoolers" is an ABC sitcom about the wacky adventures of four guys who carpool to work together. Gracen (Fred Goss, "Significant Others", "Sons & Daughters") is the husband and father. Aubrey (Jerry Minor, "Lucky Louie") is the "straight-laced wussy guy". Dougie (Tim Peper) is the sucker who obeys his wife and believes in the fantasy of marriage. Laird (Jerry O'Connell) is "the player".
Well, it's always good to see Fred Goss back on TV. In "Carpoolers" he's basically playing the same exasperated father he did in "Sons & Daughters", only trimmed of that character's more realistic and relatable dimensions. It's a walk in the park and an easy paycheck for Goss. Now he has a wife he has no chemistry with (Faith Ford) and a son, cruelly named Marmaduke (JT Miller), a character the show has no shame ripping from "Napoleon Dynamite" for.
Instead of just noting what's wrong with "Carpoolers" and how it could be better, I'm going imagine it was once conceived as a great show (highly unlikely given that Bruce McCulloch wrote the pilot) and how it could have gone horribly wrong.
What if, just hear me out, "Carpoolers" was a ballsier, more audience-challenging show. What if it spent most of it's running time inside the car with the guys. Breaking out of it only before and after act breaks, the stories would all be told through lively, well-written conversation. Much in the way that "Seinfeld's" most thrilling and memorable moments were just elaborate stories told in Jerry's apartment or in a booth at the coffee shop. Or the classic "Everybody Loves Raymond" episode "Golf for It" which takes place almost entirely in the front and backseat of a car. So, it's been done. And hey, with Goss around, the show could have been improvised with the car serving a similar roll as the therapist's couch in "Significant Others".
I'd also imagine if you pitched this to a network like ABC they wouldn't have it. It's hard to blame McCulloch for the theoretical potential of "Carpoolers" going totally unnoticed. So the show would have been taken out of the car, with the carpooling segments used only to have the guys sing together during the cold opening or simply repeat what we just saw happen to them the night before making the carpooling segments - the very basis behind the show - perfunctory.
Then just to make sure there is no confusion, all of the out-of-the-car action is as big and over-the-top broad as physically possible. If you didn't know that O'Connell's ex-wife (Rebecca Romijn) is evil we'll have a big black thunder cloud roll in over her head. Then we'll have Peper get hit by the car a few times to ratchet up the slapstick count. I'm not opposed to stupid, but I don't like broad and "Carpoolers" is as broad as the Grand Canyon. Laughs, even chuckles, are almost non-existent.
Between the live-action cartoon of "Carpoolers" and the much maligned "Cavemen", I'd actually take "Cavemen" any day.
* / 4