Remember when I said I was psyched for The Wanda Sykes Show? And how I thought she was going to bring all this fresh perspective and humor to late-night television?
Well, I was wrong. Really wrong.
Saturday night's debut of The Wanda Sykes Show ... sucked. It was totally unfunny. It was totally forced. And poor Wanda does not do well with a studio audience, which is weird because she's a standup comedian. Maybe it's because she spent half the time reading her cue cards instead of just riffing like she's used to.
There were way too many jokes about Bush pee, Ann Coulter, Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and the whole red-state lot of 'em. While it was refreshing to see those folks insulted on a FOX show, it was too much. When she wasn't insulting the Republicans, she was defending the Democrats. It got old. Wasn't this show supposed to be funny? Wasn't she supposed to cover a variety of topics? Didn't she ... make a career out of that?
Twenty minutes into the show, I found myself not laughing at Wandarama, an incredibly medocre Weekend Update-esque headline segment. I kept a straight face for the duration of an awkward pre-filmed skit about selling used dildos with a cameo from Julia Louis-Dreyfus. And the celeb panel, a.k.a. the Wanda Bar? I had high hopes for this main event, but it was underwhelming, too. First, drinks were served. Then, topics like hitting children and space travel were addressed. And finally the three stars—Mary-Lynn Rajskub, Darryl "Chill" Mitchell, and Phil Keoghan—played an intentionally inappropriate game called "Know Your Asian." The only saving grace was Rajskub, who took herself a little less seriously than the other two and genuinely enjoyed her martini.
Wanda's not exactly up against stiff competition, though. Saturday Night Live isn't exactly stellar this season, though props must be given to Taylor Swift for a hosting gig well done. So what's the moral of this story? Saturday night TV is terrible. Go out.
Comments (10)
I said she wasn't funny. No one believed me.
Female version of David Letterman. Can only insult conservatives, Bush, Republicans, Limbaugh, Beck and give liberals, Democrats a free pass. Same old same old. Boring. Hope this show crashes and burns.
It is truly an absolutely AWFUL show - just a total liberal agenda and jokes about Bush pee. Get this disgrace of a person off the air!
lol didn't she fail miserably with her other show on FOX? besides she's on at the same time as chelsea lately
The majority of the show felt like a love letter to Obama. Which doesn't help her, nor her I'd-Switch-Teams-For crush. While it was fun to realize you're watching FOX as she's ripping FOXnews, it also felt like she's just creating some material for monday's fox and friends. Besides that it really did get old fast, considering many of the jokes and news topics were from weeks/months ago. It was like when Jay Leno was playing catchup with all the news he'd missed out during his hiatus. Stale. Honestly I wish it was more like other late night programs, but turned the format on it's head (Craig Ferguson, anyone?). Instead she just had a really poor platform and these self absorbed "wanda"-whatever titled stints. So yeah, it was disappointing.
I agree. It was disappointingly mediocre...
i dont mean to sound racist, but it felt like it was only made for african people, i felt really out of place watching it
Oh man I agree sadly. I had high hopes for Wanda BUT!!! It's only the first show so I won't ignore this time slot yet. I tend to give a show three episodes before its time to kick rocks.
Yeah I agree with my one other fellow commentator, the fact that you had high hopes for this show is kind of odd....I mean Wanda has made a name for herself, but really she kind of sucks. I've seen her standup and it's not that different.Keep in mind that I am a independent to democratic person, I don't find her material offensive (aside from offensively unfunny and rote). I mean, I think Bill Maher is alright (although I almost think he's better at Punditry than actual comedy sometimes), but she's like Bill Maher with all the whiny political fervor and none of the funny stuff.
You really had expectations that this show was going to amount to anything remotely entertaining??