Ranking the New TV Shows: #15 – The Life & Times of Tim

We’re back with Number 15, which happens to be our only animated offering of the year.

The show: “The Life and Times of Tim”
Synopsis: Tim is a normal guy (for a cartoon), who finds himself in many an awkward/inappropriate situation. It’s kinda like an animated “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” or “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”
Debuted: June 2008
Our take: The first episode has a few laugh out loud moments, but there seems to be a lack of editing that drags almost every scene down. It’s clear that much of the show is improvised, which is a blessing and a curse. (If there’s a script at all, I’d guess it’s very loose.) The blessing comes in the form of natural delivery that gives the dialogue an awkward edge. Many of the funniest part of the show are a direct product of that. The curse, on the other hand, is essentially dead air. The stammering, the jokes that fall flat, the bits of small talk- all of it is left in, which leads to scenes that are too long and huge gaps between laughs.
What it would need to do to keep me watching: It needs to be quicker, tighter, and more disciplined. “The Life and Times of Tim” would benefit greatly from an editor that can discern the funny from the not. “Raped by a bum” is funny once or twice, and then it’s time to move on.

Ranking the New TV Shows: #17 – Mental

The Final Countdown. Over the next 17 days we will unveil our rankings for the new TV shows we tried out over the 2008-2009 TV season, starting with the shit sandwiches and working our way up to the filet mignon. (To simplify, we decided to not consider shows that have already been canceled.)

The show: “Mental”
Synopsis: A cocky British doctor (I didn’t bother to learn his name.) arrives at a mental hospital to take the head psychiatrist gig. I bet you can’t guess whether he “plays by the rules” or follows his gut. Let’s just say that when he sits around the house, he rips off the show “House.”
Debuted: May 26, 2009 on Fox
Our take: I only made it about 15 minutes into “Mental.” The scene that pushed me away for good? The arrogant new doctor is at his first meeting with the higher ups at the hospital. He stands in front of the board room table, surrounded by important people in suits. He dives right in with some “Dead Poet’s Society” style pseudo-profound speech about how “the patients are out there” as he points to the hallway. He is also dressed really casual (presumably because he is ridiculously cool) and shuffling a deck of cards throughout the speech. (Holy shit, that’s pretty nonchalant for a big meeting like this!) At this point, I vomited all over the TV screen.
What it would need to do to keep me watching: If the crazy people in the hospital would rise up and murder not only the British doctor but the writers whom conceived the character and the executives that gave it the green light, I would consider giving it another chance.

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