Oh boy. The first new show I am going to review had to be a questionable one. As I mentioned on my podcast, I was looking forward to checking out Work It because it reminded me of a show I loved as a kid….Bosom Buddies. After watching Work It, I now realize why kids are dumb.
Work It follows the plight of Lee (played by Ben Koldyke) and Angel (played by Amaury Nolasco) who have been out of work for over a year and can’t find a job anywhere. While getting slammed with a $900 bill from the doctor’s office (since his insurance ran out) he was trying to find another way to get a job. At said doctor’s office, he overhears a woman talk about how her pharmaceutical firm is looking for sales people. Unfortunately they are only looking for women. Being a woman and knowing that there are still many instances where men get jobs over women and the pay scale still isn’t where it should be and there are still many “good old boys” out there, this is just out-of-bounds. A firm who only wants attractive women because they believe that’s who the doctors want to sleep with? Being in sales, I understand the doing anything to get the sale concept, but this is just wrong on MANY levels.
When Lee plans to sell his wife’s earrings to get the money for the doctor’s bill, he sees a dress hanging on her door and an idea comes to his head. He dresses as a woman and goes for the job at the pharm firm. He gets the job and immediately starts to make friends (kind of) with his new colleagues….Grace, the ultra competitive top sales person (played by Rebecca Mader), Kelly, the air head who likes to sleep with doctors (played by Kate Reinders) and Kristen the kook who, while really strange and out there, is very sweet and looking for a new book club buddy (played by Kirsten Eggers.) Talk about stereotypical women in the work place…the bitch, the slut, and the ditz. Boy this really does feel like watching a sitcom from the 80s.
Apparently, Lee and Angel made a deal that whoever got a job, would get the other job there as well. And when Lee told Angel it wasn’t possible (but not why) Angel stormed away and told his friend is was basically a snob for not wanting him at his snobby pharm firm. You have got to be kidding me. You two have been out of work for over year. The job market is atrocious. So you are going to condemn your friend because he wasn’t able to get you a job (a job which you have no experience at)? Last time I checked, Lee wasn’t in charge of hiring…Vanessa was. So how can Angel make Lee feel bad? Not to mention it was CLEAR that Lee was a sales person and has the experience and knowledge to win the job. Angel doesn’t. So how does Angel feel he is entitled to a job that he has no qualifications for in a competitive job market? It was the most ridiculous thing I had ever seen.
Eventually, Lee fessed up what he needed to do to land the job and Angel is all for doing the same thing. He dresses up and interviews with Vanessa (played by Rochelle Aytes.) He doesn’t get the job but because he is able to change Vanessa’s flat tire later on, she hires him. I can’t even begin to tell you how insulting that is. But whatever. He gets the job, everyone celebrates (except Lee’s wife who seems like a real stick in the mud) and the premise for the series is set up.
This show is just one stereotype after another. While I’m sure many people will be able to appreciate what the show is trying to do and can relate to the tough job market and the willingness to do whatever it takes to provide for your family, I think the majority of people out there, won’t like this show. It’s so shallow on many levels. I would have more sympathy for Lee’s family if his wife wasn’t so nasty to him and his daughter wasn’t a spoiled brat. The only time we see her is when she is bitching about having to use a land line because she can’t have a cell phone anymore and then finally shows her dad some kindness when he gets her a phone back by the end of the episode. Seems like Lee is the sole provider in the house so I find it a bit odd that the first thing he does after being out of work for a year is to make sure his brat of a daughter has a cell phone. Surely there must be more pressing bills.
Having said all that, I will admit that there were times when I laughed. When they all sat down to have lunch together and Lee breaks out a gut busting size hoagie while the other girls are eating salads, when his ace bandage came apart under his skirt and Lee tried to hold it together. Nothing ground breaking but simple funny moments. I think the hardest part to over come is how these two men look NOTHING like women. At least they could have found someone maybe a little more slight in build and softer in features to be more believable as women. And maybe that’s what the show runners want…two men who are so masculine and large that they think it makes it funnier. I just think it makes all the characters around them less believable and less likable because it’s hard to believe anyone would be that dumb to buy Lee and Angel as women.
I might watch one or two more episodes to see if this show improves at all. But it isn’t looking promising!
DVRs: 0
For The Love of TV! 
sportsattitudes
January 5, 2012 at 9:44 am
Some folks joked it could have been canceled during its first show…in mid-show. Just a test pattern or commercials to fill the half-hour out. Bosom Buddies never had to be remade. It was a one-of-a-kind. ABC should feel shame. Watching the commercials promoting it were like watching a train wreck.