For the last two weeks (as I write this), every time I see the Youtube ad where a woman (animated, thank goodness) is sitting on the toilet straining to "go," (it's a commercial for a laxative) I can't help but think of the "Man Mower" ad from the first episode of this show. Probably not what the script writer envisioned when he had Sami do a self-tape for this men's grooming product as a satirical look at this growing Youtube trend to do tasteless commercials for "intimate" products.
Sami is a young woman in New York striving to make it in musical theatre, and while waiting for her big break she does temp jobs, etc. A story that could be told of practically every actor in New York.
As far as the actors are concerned - they do a great job with what they're given. No criticism there. Sami Straitman is a delight as Sami Sherman and each episode showcases her talents.
It's just too bad that apart from the musical numbers, the actors aren't given much to do. At least, not much to do that's fresh.
Since each episode is only ten minutes long, it's perhaps not fair to criticize the characters for being stereotypical - they are what viewers would expect when you don't have any time to set up unique characterizations: the supportive BFF, the supportive mother, the supportive but nagging grandmother (are you dating? Are you in a play yet? Ya da ya da).
The BFF's a singer and an actor too, the mother, being a woman, is of course obsessed with her weight (easy laughs) and feisty grandma disses her husband to his granddaughter and sings a song about him being a schnook (easy laughs.) In real life grandmas dissing grandgads generally have miserable lives living with someone they dislike or disrepect. I've never found that kind of thing funny. Get a divorce and find someone who'll make you happy!
Some things are contrived for laughs. Sometimes they work (in fact the funniest line in the whole series, for me, comes in the first episode after Sami has performed a song in an audition. She's wearing pink. After she leaves, the director turns to someone sitting next to him and says, "That's a lot of pink." Doesn't sound like much when I explain it, but the delivery was so great - only time I actually laughed out loud.
The big fail, for me, was the pie "fight" in episode 2.
Sami is temping as a server at a party, stationed behind the dessert table. A man comes up and proceeds to call her stupid a couple of times, for no real reason. As in real life, young Sami is so shocked that she doesn't attempt to defend herself...but a woman she'd been talking to picks up a pie and hits the guy in the face.
Well done!
But it doesn't end there. The guy retaliates by hitting Sami's defender in the face with a pie, the woman throwing the party comes over to see what's going on and for some reason Sami's defender pushes a pie into *her* face, and then pies are pushed into the faces of a couple of innocent bystanders for no reason whatsoever.
Not funny.
Audition after audition, no callbacks, dates with new actors who are already succeeding and love to brag about it...Sami perseveres through it all - and at last her dedication is rewarded.
Well, comedies always have happy endings - as they should!
There were a few chuckles, some good songs, Sami and her BFF Sammy had good chemistry together...but the whole just didn't click for me.
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