Life... and Stuff (TV Series 1997) Poster

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5/10
Wrong time, wrong format
VinnieRattolle28 June 2016
Rick and Ronnie are struggling in their marriage. He has a high-pressure job, she takes care of the kids, and they've hit a rut in their relationship. Andy is Rick's child-like brother, who dwells in a trailer parked in the couple's driveway. At work, Rick has befriended embittered boss Bernie and snarky coworker Jordan. Christine is Ronnie's nosy best friend.

Based on the stand-up act of comedian Rick Reynolds, there's definitely a show to be made out of his material... but this wasn't it. The tone was way too dark and awkward for a 3-camera studio-audience sitcom - and it hit at a time when TV comedies were all hoping to be the next "Friends." The performances were good all around but the writing felt dumbed-down-for-TV and the canned laughter seemed out of place.

20 years later, if this were done single-camera without an audience and outdated TV censorship restrictions, it could be a wildly successful show. Unfortunately, this one was just a matter of wrong time, wrong format.
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One of the worst series ever!!!
cohenm-131 May 2005
I loved Reynolds' one-man show "Only the Truth is Funny" but apparently his shtick just didn't translate to the sitcom format at all. This show had to be one of the worst television series ever broadcast. I literally became queasy watching it . The entire show was based on a SINGLE, unfunny joke. A scene would start with an extreme close-up of Reynolds in an extended monologue about some issue he's dealing with (his absent father, his crazy mother, etc). The camera would pull back to show that Reynolds wasn't on his therapist's couch, or talking to his wife, but... in an elevator, or some other completely inappropriate public place, with strangers staring at him in disgust. How not funny is that! There was also a running gag about his 30-something brother who had no life and lived in a van parked in the driveway. Also totally not funny.
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