Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Hiccups


I was a huge fan of 'Corner Gas'. I like the kind of humor where everyone is a bit stupid and no one is superior to everyone else. That show also prescribed to the 'Calvin's First Law of Sitcom Success' - even if you are the star and the creator and the head writer on your show - give all the best lines and situations to your co-stars. Brent Butt could have done that with 'Corner Gas' and made Brett the center of the show but he made the loopy characters around him the real stars. For that reason it will be shown all over the world for many many years to come. Canadian comedies translate really well in other countries.

Hiccups is his new show with real-life wife Nancy Robertson. He plays Stan Dirko, the world's most unsuccessful life coach who one day happens on one doozy of a client. She is a wealthy children's book author (think JK Rowlings without a filter for her anger management issues or ability to focus on something for more than ten seconds at a time) but he doesn't find that out until the end of an exhausting first day of following her around.

Millie has a hard time with the little annoyances of life. When a carton of milk spills on her pants she immediately runs for a cab so that it can take her to a confrontation with the plant that makes the product.

This is why Millie needs life coaching - though in truth all Stan has to offer her are platitudes and a shocked reaction to whatever social faux pas she has just committed. Keeping up with her sweet wackiness will be fun to watch.

It should also be mentioned that Stan's marriage to a hot foreigner is about the most unlikely partnership in TV history. I hope they mine that for a lot of comedy gold.

I rarely rave about something before I am five or more episodes in but this pilot was very strong and very funny with characters that I don't have to over think...just like Corner Gas.

2 comments:

Drake said...

I loved Corner Gas, got to see it when WGN showed it (and i caught new episodes online) and then it was gone. I don't think it's on DVD here in the US.
Corner Gas was sheer genius.
I'll try to Hiccups

TS Hendrik said...

You know my feelings on Corner Gas. I couldn't watch the premiere, but thankfully the same guy who uploaded all the Corner Gas eps to youtube looks like he'll be doing it for Hiccups.