Critic Reviews
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[The Canadian comedy all-stars] give it good vibes. But the scripts, despite mad moments of whimsy, can't keep pace with the cast's comic timing and tone.
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It's no "Arrested Development," but Martin's still a hoot, and it's good to see Rohl in something a bit less dark.
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On their own, Arthur’s lunkheaded Jimmy and Skye’s bubbly Sandy are sketched a little thin—but due to Working The Engels’ compact ensemble, they usually wind up paired with Rohl or Martin, salvaging some potentially dire storylines like “Jimmy gives grandma’s ring to a stripper” or “Sandy wants to win a mother-daughter dance contest.”
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There’s a bit of a free-form Arrested Development vibe in play, but not enough to elevate Working the Engels to anywhere near that level.
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The show moves along at a nice clip, the cast is pleasant, given the predictability of their sitcom-y characters, and they mesh nicely as an ensemble.
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Working the Engels is a decent little sitcom made more appealing by its likeable cast.
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Neither ["Welcome to Sweden" or Working the Engels] is awful, neither will make you cancel other plans.... A few bright ideas enliven the half-hour. But how many meddling mother jokes can they pile on before we’re weary?
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There’s a hint of “Arrested Development” in the air, but Working the Engels is ultimately a much more common kind of dysfunctional family sitcom.
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The show’s humor is more often graceless and crass.
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The fish-out-of-water aspect intrigues but it also frustrates.
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Aggressively forgettable summer fodder with a scary absence of originality or voice. [11 Jul 2014, p.64]
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The show never allows itself to stand down from ill-fated, continuous attempts at heightened hilarity.
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In the end, this Canadian import would be okay for a summer evening if there was more to like in the characters. There just isn’t.
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Though the series may have some passing connection to Arrested Development in terms of setup, it isn't able to capture the depth or tone or charm that elevates a comedy out of just being mediocre to being something really great. That requires more work.
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Watching the cast rather heroically work their way through a series of jokes and "developments" as nondescript and rickety as the storefront law office they come to occupy, it was difficult not to despair: NBC took "Harry's Law" off the air, then gave us this?
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The family dynamic is not unlike the one on “Arrested Development,” only Working the Engels leaves out the humor, inventiveness and sophistication. “Zany” is a word that mostly applies to antic comedy that isn’t funny, and that includes Working the Engels.
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Think of this as a very, very poor woman’s “Arrested Development,” and as thematically tired as a half-hour comedy can get.
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The show has a few moments, but it simply tries too hard overall. It is unforgivably guilty of wasting Martin's comedic gifts.
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Nothing about Engels works: the tired premise, the strained performances, the empty abyss of silence into which the groaning jokes dissipate.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 4 out of 11
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Mixed: 0 out of 11
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Negative: 7 out of 11
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Jul 11, 2014
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Jul 17, 2014
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Jul 20, 2014