October
3 "Cavemen": Um ... Again, Not That Bad

Accelerating the end of my journalistic career, I will defend "Cavemen" not once, but twice.

It's a show that has left most critics scratching their heads, and I won't deny that it's a particularly strange program. But in Tuesday's official premiere of the show's alternative pilot, I continued to see redeeming qualities.

It's dry, even droll. It doesn't beg for laughs.  It's much more interested in character than joke, joke, joke — and the characters are interesting in their insider/outsider way.  And, despite its Geico ad roots, as far as sitcoms go, "Cavemen" is wholly original in its situation (which is half of "situation comedy," in case you've forgotten). 

A counterpoint to the show — and this is really going to get me in trouble — is something like NBC's "Chuck," which also has its upside but seems more interested in looking good than being good. Compared to "Cavemen," is "Chuck" really any funnier, any more dramatic, any more insightful or even that much more plausible?

In "Chuck" so far, the characters have been types.  The show is definitely easier on the eyes (although, not to commit the same kind of offense "Cavemen" takes a stand against, you could exchange Yvonne Strzechowski of "Chuck," right, with Kaitlin Doubleday of "Cavemen," left, pretty swiftly), and it's a more obvious good time, but I'm not seeing how "Chuck" isn't a more shallow endeavor.

Let me caution that "Cavemen" is nowhere near as good as the show I'm about to mention — not even close — but thinking about it this morning, the comedy that came to mind was "The Office." When that show premiered in the U.S., it was anything but a laugh riot; it was not at all clear what it was going to be. But there were signs it could be something, if it were given room to breathe. 

"Cavemen" could go either way at this point. As James Poniewozik of Time wrote today, some of the changes made from the original pilot were for the worse, such as the fact that "Nick, the militant postgraduate student, was especially defanged." In any case, it's certainly not going to be everyone's cup of tea, but in this day and age, what is? It will be interesting to see if Tuesday's adequate ratings hold up next week, providing an indication of whether "Cavemen" can be a niche success.

— Jon Weisman