The Crazy Ones 1x02: The Spectacular

Simon gives Zach a leather jacket they used in a photo shoot as a congratulatory gift for a job well done, and it makes Andrew a little jealous. He thinks the boss notices Zach more because he's a copywriter, which means he talks more during pitch meetings. Andrew gets confirmation when Simon gives them a "Great work, Zach" after they show him an idea for a Crest campaign. When Zach points that out, Simon tries to give the leather jacket to Andrew instead, but it just looks so much better on Zach.

It really does look good on him.

Since Simon is raising ducklings to be the first residents of the newly restored Arrowhead Pond, he decides that it'll be a good bonding experience and gets Andrew to help him. At first, Andrew's not terribly enthusiastic about the whole thing because part of the job involves cleaning duck anuses with a brush, but when Simon explains the sentimental meaning the pond has to him, he gets on board. Which makes Zach jealous for the first time in his life.

Meanwhile, Sydney is making a pitch to Windy City Coffee, and Simon thinks she's playing it too safe. He wants her to put more penis into it. Which is hard, because she's a woman. She won't let him talk her out of her pitch, and the WCC execs like the slow, steady growth that she says it'll deliver, but they were really hoping for something flashier. Simon suggests a Spectacular; a media event designed to get attention. Even without any specific details, the execs love it, which leaves Sydney to figure it out. She spends all night on it, and winds up a bit frazzled.

Just a bit.

Eventually, though, she comes up with something spectacular: A three-storey coffee pot, eternally pouring coffee into a giant cup.

It's spectacular!

Unfortunately, when the wind picks up, it starts to rain coffee. The gathered crowd starts tries to flee before their clothes are ruined, but it's too late. The execs are not amused. Sydney's a little morose until Simon tells the story of exactly how the Arrowhead Pond was contaminated in the first place: It was him. He did a Spectacular for Pop Rocks back in the 1980s that involved pouring tonnes of them into the pond. The effect was considerably more pronounced than he had expected, and it blew up most of the fish.

When Sydney sees video of the debacle on the news, she gets an idea. When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade, so when life gives you coffee, you make coffeeade, I suppose. At any rate, she decides to take the video and use it in a horror-themed ad.

Pictured: Coffeeade.

The execs love the fact that it's edgy, and that there's a red-band version that features a woman whose shirt got just a little too wet.

Then it's time to release the ducks. Andrew has a little trouble letting go, but Simon convinces him that the ducklings need to be free. They've imprinted on Andrew, though, so at first they won't leave. But once he gets in the water and takes a swim, they follow him right in. Simon says he's proud of Andrew, the pond is restored, and Zach gets to keep the leather jacket. Everybody's happy.

What I Liked
-Lauren rates advertising campaigns based on how likely she would be to sleep with someone who uses the product. That's the same way I rate them.
-Simon beats the penis metaphor to death. That's a weird thing to do around your daughter.
-Andrew and Simon give Lauren dirty looks for eating Peking duck in front of the ducklings. It's like eating a bacon cheeseburger on a farm: It's just not cool.
-"That's my daughter's penis up there." One day, I hope to be proud enough to say that.
-There's a guy in the horror-themed ad who tastes some of the coffee raining down upon him and says "That's actually quite tasty." He's actually in the earlier scene where the coffee rain occurs and you can hear him say the end of "tasty". That's a kind of attention to detail that you don't get out of most shows.
-1980s Simon.

Cosby was an influential guy.

What I Hated
-It seems like the cold opening of each episode is going to feature the gang working with actors/models as they make a video/print ad. This week's didn't really work for me.
-Robin Williams' Jacques Cousteau impression. It wasn't very good.

Final Thoughts
I like what I've seen so far from The Crazy Ones. It remains to be seen if they can keep up the quality of the writing and the acting(people forget that Williams trained at Juilliard under John Houseman), but if it can, then I see no reason why they can't get five or six seasons out of the premise. There will always be more ad campaigns to lampoon and fake products to pitch. They're going to have to do a bit more with Lauren, though. She's basically been window dressing for the first couple episodes.

Unlike dramas, which I recap and review as I go, I watch sitcoms straight through once so I can check how often they make me laugh. This one was funny the first time, but I noticed that I barely laughed at all the second time through. That doesn't bode well for repeat viewings.

That's not really important, though. I laughed the first time I watched it, and that's all that matters to me. Although, a lot of the jokes were a bit easy. I love low-hanging dick jokes as much as the next man, but they're not exactly the height of wit.