Do Not Disturb: You know what they say about the road to hell…

Posted by Dan September 18th, 2008 at 11:25am In General

Whenever I watch a comedy pilot, my heart bleeds with sympathy.

Not for the actors. For the most part — screw ‘em. But for the writers, who have to conceive and develop the beautiful, delicate project that is the fledgling sitcom. As a “writer” myself, I feel that the hardest part of the sitcom development process must sit in the lap of the messy-haired humorists. It’s their painful adolescences that have to be mined and exploited for the humor they’ve developed as a coping mechanisms.

And the perfect synergy of writing and acting happens so rarely, only a few sitcoms seem to survive every season. If that. That said, within the writing of Fox’s new comedy Do Not Disturb, there seems to be glimmers of promise.  I can actually visualize a writers’ room full of genuinely funny people who I would totally enjoy getting drunk with. However, between the writers imaginations and the flickering image on the small screen something seems to be lost in translation. Or perhaps the glimmers of promise I see are just undeveloped talent. I don’t know.

In any case, thesis time: Do Not Disturb’s pilot episode (which could still be available for free via iTunes, I’m too lazy to check) has a somewhat talented cast and an undeveloped writing team that amounts to a series that I want to root for, but doesn’t actually inspire me.

Here’s the basis: There’s a hotel.  Jerry O’Connell (fat kid in Stand By Me –> dude in Sliders when we were teens –> current knocker-upper of Rebecca Romijn) plays the handsome, buff playboy general manager. Niecy Nash (Reno 911! –> that home decorating show on the Style Network) plays the sassy head of HR.  Then there’s the gay guy, the blonde, the overweight gal and some sullen guy whose archetype I haven’t quite figured out yet.

The pilot has to do with sexual harassment training — that old chestnut — and inter-office romance. While no moment really elicits a guffaw, there are a few moments I’d describe as “chuckle-worthy.” The humor is subtle enough to not fall flat (Gay Guy’s flirtatious comment to a broadly built passer-by: “Well, hello Shoulders”), but not quite clever enough to really be memorable.

The cast does what they can. I, for some reason, have a real soft spot for Niecy Nash. She can be incredibly annoying on her own, but she was good on Reno 911 — a show that I respected even though I rarely got around to watching it. And she really sells her material, moreso than anyone else in the cast. She’s a real comic actress.

In the end, I give the folks behind Do Not Disturb a B+ for effort and a C for content. Does that sound patronizing?  Perhaps I’m too empathetic to be a real critic.