DISCLAIMER 2: I am not fully briefed on the Marvel Comics Universe.
DISCLAIMER 3: I will probably get more hate comments than a anti-Trump post.
And that brings me to WANDAVISION.
I watched the first two episodes of WANDAVISION on Disney +. I can honestly say, “What the fuck is it supposed to be?”
The first episode is Wanda & Vision (two aliens? creatures from an alternate universe? A fever dream? What????) move into a 1950’s black and white sitcom.
Why?
They’re clearly poking fun at the genre, but here’s the thing: for an audience to get the joke they have to understand the reference. I assume this show is designed for Millennials. How many Millennials know the tropes of bad 1950’s sitcoms to appreciate what’s going on? And it’s done in a very smug manner. Non-comedy writers trying to write comedy. So they load the show with lame jokes and assume the fun is the hip audience laughing at just how lame the jokes are. Granted the actual 1950’s sitcoms were lame, but they were earnest. This is just cynical and condescending. They say it's a loving homage to THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW. As someone who reveres THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW, I thought the tone was very snarky.
Would it have been so terrible to try to write a show in that genre that was genuinely funny? Instead, it’s just a big long sketch that’s a one-joke premise.
Writing didn’t seem important but the production values were. BEWITCHED-type animated opening titles, lots of special effects — dishes flying, a character walking through walls, etc. But all the characters are one-dimensional and you just don’t care about them. Why should you? The story is a standard trope, the characters are cardboard thin, it’s not funny, and there’s nothing emotional to hang onto.
Episode two also starts in black-and-white, also is spoofing a genre only AARP members get, but from time to time flashes of color appear. I’m guessing this takes the story in another direction, and for all I know that new direction is great. But why did we have to see essentially an hour of the bad ‘50s sitcom? As of this writing, only two episodes have dropped. Maybe a third has come along. I haven’t gotten to it yet. (So is that DISCLAIMER 4?)
Again, aficionados of the Marvel Universe might find this completely understandable. Maybe if you know the legend of WANDAVISION it all makes sense and is necessary for telling the whole story.
But for Joe Lunchpail like me, it was confusing, not entertaining, and the cheesy plots, mugging, and one-liners made for an unpleasant hour of television.
Prove to me you can write a good retro sitcom before you trash it. And you better tell me why I’m watching this by the end of Episode 3 or it’ll be WANDA-WATCH-SOMETHING ELSE.
from By Ken Levine
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