We didn’t have many expectations for Wanda Sykes‘s new Saturday night chat show on Fox. But we did expect it to be funny. It wasn’t.
She’s got some Daily Show elements going, riffing on television clips (see Part 2). She’s got sidekicks. A guest panel. And a drag queen (see Part 4)! What she doesn’t have is any momentum.
Rather than “Hot Topics” a la The View, The Wanda Sykes Show has “Wandarama.” It is modeled off SNL‘s “Weekend Update” with a touch of Stephen Colbert’s The Word.” But the material, while probably funny when rehearsed in the mirror, falls flat in front of a studio audience. (The show is taped over two days during the week.) The punchlines in this monologue remind us of Jay Leno’s unfunny, lowest common denominator approach.
Wanda deserves better than this. And so do her viewers.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
She made her name on the stand-up circuit and branched out on The Chris Rock Show. But maybe there’s a reason she works better as a sidekick on The New Adventures of Old Christine and the complaining lady on Curb Your Enthusiasm: She’s great to inject bemoaning foil, but that cannot carry an entire program. Wanda’s 2003 attempt at a headlining solo show, the sitcom Wanda at Large, lasted nine episodes; Fox executives killed it during the second season, leaving five episodes unaired.
She appears uncomfortable (or is it unrehearsed?) in front of a teleprompter. Her shtick — blunt observations that are anything but politically correct — isn’t working in long form. When she gathers around the table for a panel discussion, the end result isn’t the quick delivery of Chelsea Handler & Co., but a stagnant stab at unscripted banter. While Wanda has the ambition of a political commentator show, it reads as a variety show — and that didn’t work for Rosie.
We’re just one episode in, so we won’t write Wanda’s show off just yet. And we really, really want to like this program. But this thing was exhausting and painful to watch. And last we checked, Wanda wasn’t in to S&M.
jimmy
There will be some fine tuning, I’m sure. The guest panel was weak. The show seemed a little forced, which tells me Wanda needs to relax and be Wanda.
Mr. Enemabag Jones
which tells me Wanda needs to relax and be Wanda.
Bingo. She was clearly reigning herself in, for whatever reason. I’ve seen her go off on a riff and it kills. Here she was trying to be a little less aggressive. As far as her sitcom, it was funny as hell–because she was being herself. Either way, it was still better than MadTV.
myrios123
Yeah, I watched it after watching Monster-in-law… which turned out to be funnier.
geoff
It was a first show and it wasn’t that bad (it wasn’t that good either, but what the hell). Give her a little time to get comfortable with a format she’s not used to, and I’ll bet she’ll be fine. I hope so anyway.
terrwill
You know how you pass a really horrible car wreck and can’t stop looking at it? That pretty much describes Wanda’s Wreck. I can’t for the life of me figger out how she came to be the conductor on that train wreck. She is smart, funny, has great stage presence and seems to usually know her comedy. I say lets give her a pass and cast blame on the suits at the network who gave her more than a few “suggestions” Wanda we love you as you are! Do what you do best, screw the suits…………….
ricky
it wasn’t that bad! give her some time.
SteamPunk
I really hope it gets better. Even Conan O’Brien’s first show (both in New York and in LA) were terrible, but I love him now.
Scott
I found the first show a little off but much of it funny. I heard NPR tonight say how she’s part of a new group targeting a younger audience. I’m a 49 white male and I love Wanda and will continue watching her. I never watch any of the other late night hosts. Even Bill Maher gets on my nerves as he’s as nasty on the left as the right-wingers are on the right.
Eldel
After her hilarious HBO special which I have watched a few times already, I guess my expectations were too high. I love Wanda Sykes but the show was slow moving, not very funny, and the talk/guest format was odd. I’ll give it another whirl though, in case it gets better.
Lady Ga-Gasp
I must confess, to my anonymous web priest. I find Wanda somewhat distasteful. A friend of mine once commented on an undercurrent of anti-feminine bias in his gay circle. A guilt by association misogyny in gay men anxious to avoid the appearance of being girlish. Like Sandra, I find Wanda to be less that a role model for what I love about women. By that I mean what I love about the woman in us all. She trades in it. And I find it distasteful.
hardmannyc
Can I be the only person on the planet who finds ALL talkshows akin to watching paint dry?
scott ny'er
@hardman
nope. i agree. of course, i watch Reality Shows, so take it for what that is. LOL.
i also watch musical performance from Rosie on youtube.
Paul
For a premiere, that wasn’t bad at all. I think that there’s some good ideas in there. It needs some work, sure, especially on how well it flows, but that’s the kind of thing that just tends to come with practice, and problems of that sort should be expected.
christopher di spirito
We managed to survive the first 30 minutes and changed the channel.
Wanda Sykes is a funny woman. Yes, she’s a liberal lesbian and she disses Limbaugh, Beck and even Murdock — all the correct targets those of us on the left detest. But, her TV program is a damned mess.
Maybe it’s me but that segment on going green and her trying to recycle her used sex toys and used condoms was just nauseating. I don’t want to see an electric vibrator that has been up her snatch or her partner’s snatch.
Talk about TMI.
And, what was up with that skit where she and her male friend broke into that couple’s home and then laughed about how much fun it is to “scare white people?”
Trading on racial stereotypes is very 1970.
Jerry Priori
I found the first episode a bit awkward and somehow “off” compared to what we’re used to in the format. Still, despite seeming somewhat haphazard and low-rent, I found most of it very funny. I hope the network gives the show enough time to find its footing and polish its style. It hasn’t found it yet, but I enjoyed the premire–rough edges and all.
Gregoire
Oh come on, the Ann Coulter sketch was HILARIOUS.
john
The videos aren’t even available so what does queerty know?
fab3
Agree w/Gregoire the Ann Coulter bit was HILARIOUS.
Here’s hoping for more polish, more rudeness, and more gayness.
UWSguy
I was disappointed in the show, too. I hope Wanda hits her stride.
ricky
didn’t even bother to download it this week.
White Chalkolate
Thank GOD this show was cancelled… Wanda’s stand up is funny, and I really like her. But this show was an under-budgeted, half-ass, piece of shit. Plus, she acts like she’s attached to strings the entire time, like a goddamn puppet!