Review: 'Sit Down, Shut Up'

There was reason enough to expect something special from “Sit Down, Shut Up,” a new Fox animated sitcom created by Mitchell Hurwitz of "Arrested Development" and featuring a cast -- derived mainly from "Arrested Development" and "Saturday Night Live," with Tom "SpongeBob" Kenny bringing the cartoon cred -- that deserves to be called "all-star." But the show that premieres Sunday night, between "The Simpsons" and "Family Guy" in the space formerly occupied by "King of the Hill," is weak -- not hopeless, but given the pedigree, heavily disappointing.

Based on an old live-action Australian series about a self-involved, semi-competent high school staff -- the word "losers" comes to mind -- it makes no memorable use of the cartoon medium and relies too much on sex jokes and dirty puns, from the name of the school (Knob Haven) and the characters (reluctant P.E. teacher Larry Littlejunk, played by Jason Bateman on down. ("I want everything exposed and out in the open," to give you a newspaper-friendly example.) It's a kind of humor that registers at once as juvenile and geriatric.

On the scale of Fox animated sitcoms it's closer spiritually, if that's a word you can apply to an animated sitcom, to "Family Guy" than to "The Simpsons," but when it gets its mind out of the gutter, it can have a kind of doofy charm. ("Has anyone ever told you that you're completely oblivious?" "Not that I remember.") There is some breaking the fourth wall, as the characters address creator "Mitch," wonder what the censors will allow and how the audience will react: "I am not going to test well," says bisexual drama teacher Andrew LeGustambos (Nick Kroll). But there is something almost forced and oversold about it. Unlike "The Simpsons," they have not mastered the trick of being ironic about their contrivances -- and being ironic about the irony.

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(Photo courtesy Fox)

Comments

[Jeff Kohl]

Some clever character ideas, general concept okay. Everything after that unimaginative, unclever, and every other un you can think of. Stupid jokes, stupid writing. Keep the basic concept, fire all the writers and start over and it might be salvaged. Otherwise, it will be sitting down and shutting up within a month.

[vjgman]

This show was very..very pushy forced laugh tracks and down right stupid, man maybe i missed something, i dont know it just was kinda boring

[Rene]

Wow. Somehow porn jokes don't seem as funny to me as when I was in 6th grade and we all would snicker at the very thought of even mouthing the word (no pun intended).
This was extremely lame. I hated the first King of The Hill episode, but I saw potential, and it evolved into greatness. I gave SD&SU a chance, I don't see that potential. It also just seemed desperate. Kinda reminded me of how desperate that show with the Geico Cavemen was. I think this one will last just as long, unless they write some quality content. Overall, it was unfunny, idiotic, unwitty, and down right SH*TTY...