Men in drag not too funny on ABC's 'Work It'

BY LORI RACKL TV Critic
January 1, 2012 7:47PM

http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/television/9691320-421/men-in-drag-not-too-funny-on-abcs-work-it.html

The pilot of ABC's new comedy "Work It" wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

Let me follow that up by saying I thought it would be really, really, really bad.

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'Work It' review: Humor as phony as drag premise

David Wiegand, Chronicle Staff Writer
Monday, January 2, 2012

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/01/01/DDLH1MGVNH.DTL

Pretty much the best thing you can say about ABC's "Work It," a new sitcom that will follow (probably briefly) Tim Allen's "Last Man Standing" on Tuesday night, is that it isn't as bad as the previous time slot occupant, "Man Up."

The show has been the target of some pre-air criticism from the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation because it could be harmful to the transgender community. Memo to GLAAD: Don't fret too much. It won't be around long enough to do much damage to anyone, except the actors playing a couple of out-of-work guys who get jobs as pharmaceutical salespeople by pretending to be women.

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ABC's 'Work It' runs into trouble trying to find humor in cross-dressing
By HANK STUEVER Updated: 2012-01-02 T01:47:12

http://www.kansascity.com/2012/01/01/3345090/abcs-vapid-transgender-take.html

In trying to make any sense of ABC's duuuuummmmb new Tuesday night sitcom, "Work It," it's quite tempting to rummage through centuries of examples that might help us deconstruct modern civilization's endless fixation for putting a man in a dress for comic effect. But for the purposes of this particular bit of TV criticism, we needn't travel any further back than 1980, when Tom Hanks and Peter Scolari played "Bosom Buddies." In an unseemly display of uncredited closet-raiding, "Work It" is just "Bosom Buddies" with a smokier eye.

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Needs 'Work'
ABC's stale, insulting take on gender-bending

Last Updated: 2:06 AM, January 2, 2012
Linda Stasi
TV CRITIC

http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/tv/needs_work_URmNu7sKO01NWY4zsLKw9O

If you find nothing funnier than unemployment, have I got a show for you.

The former producers of "Friends," who presumably will never have to worry about money again, not only seem to find hilarity in the unemployment struggle, but have created a "sitcom" (lots of "sit" not much "com") around it called "Work It."

"Work It" doesn't work. It's not only not funny, but it's also not original.

What I love about this is not only is it more than mildly offensive, but it's also terribly original. I don't know many times I've seen TG, TS, and "drag" lifestyles, especially for MTFs, "spoofed" on TV & in movies, but it's been a lot. The only movie I can think of recently where bio-females dressing up as guys (not just butchy) is used as a premise for a comedy is in "She's the Man" and honestly it isn't really that offensive compared to some of the MTF stuff I've seen. First of all, although Bynes is portrayed as awkward, when she poses as her brother (in the movie), "Sebastian" is seen as attractive and the joke isn't so much about making fun of Bynes being a boy as it is that she doesn't really want to be one. If anything, the movie is a tad hetero-normative, but it didn't strike me as "rude towards FTMs", at least the last time I saw it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross-dressing_in_film_and_television
I know Wikipedia isn't always the most reliable site, but it links to every movie it lists. I know it's missing some movies from the list, but it's ridiculous to see how much more men dressing up as women is this "constant joke" in the media. This is to the point where I'm pretty sure it's been used for comedic relief at at least once on at least 75% of the more popular Nickelodeon shows in the past 10-20 years. It's weird. I just thought I'd mention that crossdressing also takes place in the show "FRIENDS", which both of the creators of "Work It" took part in working on, so this is not the first time they've used this joke...even though they used a bio-female on friends to pose as a TS individual.

There are a few of more redeemable movies like "To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar" which actually stands up for TS rights in many ways rather than bash them. Although I believe the main characters are DQ, it still has a pretty decent message meanwhile maintaining a good amount of humor. I've yet to see any goodt MTF TS, TG, or DQ roles on a TV show though.

Television reviews: 'Work It,' 'Jane By Design'
Two new series attempt to wring laughs from today's difficult job market, but only one shows promise.

By Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times Television Critic
January 3, 2012

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/tv/la-et-work-it-jane-by-design-20120103,0,4348313.story

The economy — sluggish, recession-y, depressed — while slow to recover has also been slow to inspire television series about the slow-to-recover economy. As if in recompense, not one but two shows with premises rooted in high unemployment premiere Tuesday.

In each, the lead characters lead double lives for the sake of a job: In the much remarked upon but hardly anticipated "Work It" on ABC, two men put on wigs and dresses to sell pharmaceuticals at a firm that prefers to hire women over men (because, as one character explains, "the doctors seem to want to nail them less" — because doctors are, you know, dudes).

[...]

"Work It" has been controversial in the contemporary sense: an organization has made a public fuss about it, the complaint itself becoming news in a way its target, left alone, would not. (See also: Parents Television Council v. "The Playboy Club"; Florida Family Assn. v. "All-American Muslim.") In December, the LGBT advocacy groups GLAAD and HRC took out a full-page ad in Variety that, under the headline "'Work It' will harm transgender people," suggested that "by encouraging the audience to laugh at the characters' attempts at womanhood, the show condones similar treatment of transgender women."

Maggie Furlong

The Bright Side Of Work It: It Doesn't Just Offend Women -- It Offends Everyone!
Posted: 01/ 3/12 08:31 AM ET

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/maggie-furlong/the-bright-side-of-work-it_b_1179578.html

When a show is as bad as "Work It," and you truly have nothing nice to say about it, it often feels like you should just follow that old adage and not say anything at all. But that's not my job. (Sorry, Mom!)

If you somehow haven't heard about this horrific new show, the fine folks at HitFix, IGN TV, Variety, Zap2it and Entertainment Weekly, among many others, have all tried to articulate exactly how bad it is to great success; Gawker even claimed that "Work It" could be the worst television show in history.

[...]

So I set out to find a positive spin on this show that's far too easy to be negative about. Though it was nearly impossible, here's my attempt at seeing the bright side of the sexist, anti-feminist, everything-bashing sitcom called "Work It" (premieres Tues., Jan. 3, 8:30 p.m. EST on ABC). Please only continue reading with your sarcasm-detecting glasses on ...

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Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Did Work It Live Down to the Hype?

BY ROB SALERNO –

http://www.xtra.ca/blog/national/post/2012/01/04/Work-It-vs-Comedy.aspx

Against my better judgment, I stayed in and watched the embattled new ABC sitcom Work It last night. What can I say, readers? I do this for you.

It's only fair that I give this show a chance before rushing to judgment, after all.

I'm supposed to tell you now that the show is horribly transphobic and homophobic and it sets the gay rights movement back a generation. But that's not really true.

Work It is godawful. It's not funny. It's ridiculous. It's poorly written, shot, and designed. It's stale. Passing references to cell phones and the casual use of the word "bang" aside, the script reads like a warmed-over "war of the sexes" sitcom from the late 70s or early 80s. It would be more accurate to say that the show is attempting to undo progress of all of American society and culture over the past generation. 

Posted on Advocate.com January 05, 2012 11:33:34 AM ET
Work It Flops in Ratings, With Critics
By Jeremy Kinser

http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2012/01/04/Work_It_Flops_WIth_Critics_and_Viewers/

The controversy surrounding ABC's critically reviled sitcom Work It, about two men pretending to be women to obtain employment, didn't translate into ratings, as the premiere received lower ratings than the quickly canceled series it replaced.

According toThe Hollywood Reporter, Work It premiered to "a 2.0 in the key demo according to fast affiliate ratings," which is a "17 percent drop from both its lead-in (Tim Allen's Last Man Standing) and the October debut of its time period predecessor Man-Up."

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TV Talk: 'Work It' debuts to tepid ratings -- thank you, America
Published: Wednesday, January 04, 2012, 12:00 PM   
By Kristi Turnquist, The Oregonian

http://www.oregonlive.com/movies/index.ssf/2012/01/tv_talk_work_it_debuts_to_tepi.html

When you have those dark nights of the soul, and you're asking yourself why people subject themselves to all sorts of junk -- from "Jersey Shore" to Funyuns -- take a moment and be comforted by this: the premiere of "Work It" was generally ignored by television viewers Tuesday night.

It's enough to restore your faith in this great nation of ours. Excuse me, I think I'm getting choked up at the mere thought. Is that "The Star-Spangled Banner" I hear?

Yes, I'm proud to say that when faced with a choice of whether or not to watch the debut of "Work It," most Americans voted to skip it.

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Ratings: Cross-Dressing Comedy 'Work It' Premieres Soft
Published: January 04, 2012 @ 8:38 am
By Tim Molloy

http://www.thewrap.com/tv/article/ratings-cross-dressing-comedy-work-it-premieres-soft-34063

Some like it not: ABC's critically reviled cross-dressing comedy "Work It," which was blasted by transgender activists even before it aired, isn't very popular with audiences, either.

The show debuted Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. to a soft 2.0 rating/5 share in the 18-49 demographic and 6.1 million total viewers, down 17 percent from the debut of the quickly cancelled "Man Up," the show that held its time period in the fall.

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'Work It' on ABC: What the Critics are Saying
The cross-dressing series made its debut on Jan. 3 to a slew of scathing reviews and unimpressive ratings.
1:24 PM PST 1/4/2012 by THR Staff

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/work-it-reviews-ratings-abc-cross-dressing-278063

ABC's cross-dressing comedy, Work It, premiered on Tuesday to disappointing ratings, earning a score of 2.0 among adults 18-49. While the 8:00 program managed to outperform Body of Proof and Parenthood in the key demo, it couldn't escape the scathing reviews swirling around the web.

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By Universal Decree, Work It Is The Worst Show On Television—Possibly Ever

http://www.queerty.com/by-universal-decree-work-it-is-the-worst-show-on-television-20120104/

The reviews are in for ABC's Work It, and, yes, they're as horrible as we all expected. In fact, the show has such a train-wreck quality that some critics are rooting for it in that perverse "it-sucks-so-much-it's-good" way. Hopefully GLAAD and the HRC can join us in watching it slowly die, although they urged ABC to cancel the show ASAP on the basis that it's harmful to transgender people.

We don't want to get too deep into the plot—we're scared of getting post-traumatic stress disorder—but it ran like a misogynistic, misanthropic of Bosom Buddies.

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Thursday, January 05, 2012
'Work It' Doesn't Work So Far For ABC
Posted by Monica Roberts at 12:00 AM

http://transgriot.blogspot.com/2012/01/work-it-doesnt-work-so-far-for-abc.html

Work It debuted Tuesday night with a 2.0 in the 18-49 demographic they were shooting for, which is worse than the 2.4 that Man Up! had in the same time slot.  It's lead in show, Tim Allen's Last Man Standing averaged a 2.4 Nielsen overnight rating in its first broadcast episode since December 13.

Translation:  Work It lost 17 percent of its lead in audience.

(Snicker snicker)  Did ABC, the producers or the executives who made this programming call actually think this transphobic ripoff of Bosom Buddies would get an audience after the trans community warned you months ago to revamp it or not air it period? 

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Maureen Ryan
TV critic, The Huffington Post

Work It: Why We Should Celebrate ABC's Idiotic Cross-Dressing Comedy
Posted: 1/4/12 12:30 AM ET

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/maureen-ryan/work-it-why-we-should-celebrate-it_b_1182604.html

You may have heard that "Work It" (Tues., 8:30 p.m. EST on ABC) is one of the worst sitcoms of all time. You heard correctly. In fact, if the Metacritic rating for this new show isn't the lowest score ever for a television comedy, I confess, I'll be a little disappointed in my fellow TV scribes.

Given that I agree with every negative assessment of "Work It" will see this week, you may be asking yourself how I could rustle up reasons to be glad of the show's existence. That's because seeing the bright side of this debacle is the only way to get through it. Cynicism is the normal response to something as hacky and ill-conceived as "Work It," but if I go that way, my few remaining shreds of optimism might simply disintegrate. And that's no way to start an otherwise untarnished, shiny new year.

So we should rejoice (OK, very temporarily tolerate) the existence of "Work It" because ...

Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public.

H. L. Mencken

Work It's Ratings Tank But ABC Still Sticks Up For It
By:           Dan Avery
On:           Jan 12, 2012

http://www.queerty.com/work-its-ratings-tank-but-abc-still-sticks-up-for-it-20120112/

You know how sometimes you make such a big deal about something that when you realize you're wrong you just keep defending it rather than look like you made a mistake?

Well. ABC president Paul Lee does. Lee told reporters at the Television Critics Association this week that he didn't know why the LGBT community found the network's men-in-dresses sitcom, Work It, offensive: ""In terms of the lesbian and gay community, we're incredibly proud of the work that ABC does," he told TheWrap. "That's not just Modern Family, it's Grey's Anatomy, it's Private Practice, it's Dancing With the Stars... I didn't really get [the complaints about Work It]. I love Tootsie ... I still love Tootsie. I don't find it to be offensive. So in that particular case I didn't get it. But that's probably me."

We know Tootise. We love Tootsie. We stayed up late to watch Tootsie on HBO when we were 7 years old. And Work It, sir, is no Tootsie.

Quote from: tekla on January 05, 2012, 02:43:06 PM
Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public.

H. L. Mencken

I agree.  It's impossible in this country for a television show to be so bad that it can't captivate the minds of popular culture.

It's impossible in this country for a television show to be so bad that it can't captivate the minds of popular culture.

Even worse is how hard it is to find a bar that does not have a TV set in it and on all the time.  I know of two in SF (I keep the locations guarded) and they both are so nice and old school.  People actually sit around and talk.  Imagine that.

Quote from: tekla on January 05, 2012, 02:43:06 PM
Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public.

H. L. Mencken

Apparently someone just did. The show was cancelled after the second episode.