I KEEP FORGETTING … CRACKING CRACKING UP

I generally don’t like to judge a new television series until I’ve seen more than one episode. Pilot episodes are often so filled with exposition that while they can help you get to know the characters, they don’t necessarily provide a good feel for what the show will be like on a weekly basis. So if there’s a series that actually interests me, I always try to watch it at least two or three times.

The new Fox half-hour comedy Cracking Up carries more indie film cred than possibly any other sitcom in recent memory. The show was created and is executive produced by Mike White; the Weitz Brothers are also executive producers; it’s shot in single-camera style; it stars Jason Schwartzman (not to mention Molly Shannon and Christopher McDonald); on the second episode Zooey Deschanel guest-starred as Schwartzman’s girlfriend; and on the third episode (which airs in the shows new and soon-to-be regular time slot on Monday at 8:30 PM) Jack Black guest stars as a substance-abuse counselor the family hires to help teach (scare!) the kids into just saying no.

Since Mondays are such dead evenings for television and it sounds like a funny set-up for Jack Black, I may give Cracking Up one more shot. But based on the first two episodes, this is a series filled with a lot of potential, but absolutely horrible execution. First, it’s just not funny. You can tell that half of the lines sound like things that had the whole room rolling with laughter during the initial read-through, but acted-out, on camera and in context, they just die. Second, I’ve rarely seen a cast with such poor chemistry. None of these people (and they’re all very talented) look like they’re acting with each other. Every line sounds like it’s being read, and right now the show is depending on Schwartzman’s attempts at pained and put-upon expressions, and Shannon’s trademark overexcited, wide-eyed, conspiratorial comic style. It just doesn’t cut it. Even Deschanel spent the whole episode looking completely out-of-place, not to mention, the entire storyline was completely predictable and dull.

If you want a great series dealing with dysfunctional families, watch Arrested Development. It is everything that Cracking Up so desperately wants to be … but isn’t.