‘The Cool Kids’ is Fresh, But Not Funny

The gang of retirees in "The Cool Kids" on Fox try to plan a proper send-off for their friend. By Courtesy of Fox

Premiering on Fox this fall, ‘The Cool Kids’ ultimately falls short of a quality pilot, lacking an interesting plot and consistently clever comedy. Opening on what looks like a poorly edited stock photo of a retirement home, the inside is revealed to be a lackluster and underwhelming set where mediocrity takes center stage.

The show centers on three friends, Hank (David Alan Grier), Sid (Leslie Jordan), and Charlie (Martin Mull), living in the Shady Meadows retirement home. Following the death of their close friend Jerry, the trio are troubled by the addition of Margaret (Vicki Lawrence) when she unceremoniously sits down at their table. The rest of the episode deals with the group trying to put together a sufficient memorial service for Jerry, including using Jerry’s credit card to buy beer and getting pulled over in a stolen car. The most noticeable theme is the slow assimilation of Margaret into the “Cool Kids” friend group, which does not happen without significant pushback from the guys, especially Hank.

At its core, the show ages the high school clique cliché to a retirement home setting. In that vein — aside from the more mature joke material — the entire episode feels more like watching a Disney Channel show than an adult comedy. However, it fits well into the genre of teenage drama, with grown men acting like vindictive and catty children. Imagine a bad remake of “Mean Girls,” and then replace them with 70 year-old men with arthritis and bad eyesight. The comedic writing consists of lazy set-ups and predictable punch lines, often resorting to adult material for a cheap laugh rather than thoughtful humor, as in Margaret’s introductory line as she steals Hank’s flask: “Do you mind? It’s been a bitch of a morning.” Typical sitcom shenanigans are replaced with some really unsettling activities, such as the gang taking a stolen car in a pathetic attempt to rescue their friend’s (dead) body from the funeral home before he’s cremated. (“They probably poppin’ Jerry in the oven as we speak.”)

With the most memorable moment being a quick cameo of executive producer Charlie Day as an inept repairman, the only quality humor in the episode are some one-liners that evoke more cringing than laughter. At one point, Sid, representing a token gay character, tries to flirt with Margaret. While the set-up has promise, it is poorly written and executed. Another unfortunate joke: When Hank is blowing off smoke about the way Margaret behaved in her introductory scene, and quips that a woman never would have talked to him like that in the ’50s, Charlie comments “You wouldn’t have been allowed in the restaurant in the ’50s!” This back and forth treats the blatantly racist and misogynistic material very poorly, missing the mark with some groan-inducing attempts at humor.

Behind all of the ineffective humor and laugh tracks is the sad truth of the show’s premise: It’s just plain depressing. It’s a group of aging friends attempting to relive their golden years while the reality of their impending mortality looms in every scene. Every old age joke or stunt (of which there are plenty) just reminds the audience of the pathetic environment in which the show exists that no laugh track can obscure. Take for example, when the group gets pulled over in a car stolen from another retirement home resident. Hank’s advice is to “Relax, pretend we have Alzheimer's.”

The ending carries on sitcom clichés with new member, Margaret, gaining the respect and gratitude of the previously cold friend group. The conclusion is predictable and produces little joy or enthusiasm for the audience to absorb. At best, audiences will come out apathetic and bored; at worst, dejected. Even with all of the characters’ shortcomings, it may not necessarily be the actors’ fault. It is unfortunate that the audience can’t see what this cast might be capable of, as any comedic talents they might bring are obscured by subpar writing. It’s among the dozen shows that will come out this fall with zero creativity or originality and a shelf-life of a season or less. “The Cool Kids” is a member of the group of network comedies that appear every television debut season with no prospects, the product of of lazy writing and uninspired production.