Network: WB; Genre: Sitcom, Teen; Content Rating: TV-PG (some suggested sexual content); Perspective: Contemporary (star range: 1 - 4);
Seasons Reviewed: Complete Series (4 seasons)
Since I'm not an 11-year-old girl, the exclusive demographic this show is catered to, fans of "What I Like About You" can take the following with a grain of salt.
Creator Dan Schneider took Amanda Bynes from being a regular on Nickelodeon's kid-sketch series "All That" (which we now know as a breeding ground for the annoying child stars of yesteryear to become the annoying movie stars of tomorrow), and into her own spin-off kid variety series, "The Amanda Show". Even though "Amanda" was greeted with a fair amount of detest and revulsion from its own demo, it did well enough to let Bynes proceed up and off the Nickelodeon ladder.
Now, Schneider successfully transitions Bynes away from her Nickelodeon roots and into an adult, or at least teenage, network series. "What I Like About You" is a "real show". It has a glossy sitcom intro, traditional sitcom stories and pairs Bynes up with a real ex-cast member of "Beverly Hills, 90210" in Jennie Garth.
Yes, I could have started this review explaining the premise, that "You" is about two opposite-minded sisters whose age gap is bridged when they have to move in together after their father skips the country and leaves free-spirited Holly (Bynes) with straight-laced, New York, Val (Garth). But that doesn't quite do it. "You" is really just a star vehicle for Bynes, set on convincing the world that she is the next great comic genius. Your enjoyment of the show will be directly tied to whether or not the sight of Amanda Bynes tearing around the set, mugging, screaming and throwing the pitch of her voice up and down leaves you on the floor in stitches.
With this one goal in mind, "You" is a self-indulgent, ear-screeching, studio audience sitcom about stupid people doing stupid things and getting involved in stupid situations that any audience member could think their way out of in 10 seconds. The best thing I can say here is that, while it may create a painful wince, it isn't offensive. But everything about it is recycled with a bargain-basement laziness. It works manically, in a transparently contrived attempt to seem cute and spunky. The livelier it is the more people might not notice that it is totally empty. It is broad stuff, trying to be screwball comedy.
Fans won't care, the series plays to its audience loyally and I can't fault it for that, but everybody else steer clear. Anyone over the age of 12 will find this to be a quintessentially worthless sitcom: a 1-star show with 1-star writing, 1-star acting, a 1-star concept and 1-dimensional characters.
Girls growing up with Bynes will probably appreciate seeing her in more "adult" situations (for the WB and Nickelodeon, that is) and won't mind that "You" becomes a straight-out Tween version of "Friends". Over the course of 4 seasons, Holly faces the highs and lows of relationships. Holly is paranoid and confused of the actions of the boys she dates. "You" grabs the nearest clichés it can reach and uses them to propel itself through the seasons. It becomes an interminable cycle of endless break-ups and get-togethers, the final lap consumed with a "Friends"-style, back-and-forth relationship between Holly and Vince (Nick Zano) as well as Val and firefighter Vic (Dan Cortese) with the predictable endings. Oh yes, amid the slapstick, "You" doesn't waste an opportunity to pour on schmaltzy sentiment about romantic or sisterly love.
Backing up Bynes and Garth is the usual sitcom group of friends, the most notable being 3rd season regular Leslie Grossman, who now finds herself in the wacky, sexually-eccentric friend role after making big waves as a volcano of discovered talent on the WB's brief flirt-with-teen-brilliance, "Popular". A total waste.
I just watched HBO's "Unscripted" in which an "All That" casting director says that Krista Allen's son isn't funny and she, rightly, storms back in to tell the woman off. But there is an age where being told you aren't funny is constructive criticism and given that she has now graduated to the big screen, it is safe to say that Amanda Bynes is past that age.
* / 4
Seasons Reviewed: Complete Series (4 seasons)
Since I'm not an 11-year-old girl, the exclusive demographic this show is catered to, fans of "What I Like About You" can take the following with a grain of salt.
Creator Dan Schneider took Amanda Bynes from being a regular on Nickelodeon's kid-sketch series "All That" (which we now know as a breeding ground for the annoying child stars of yesteryear to become the annoying movie stars of tomorrow), and into her own spin-off kid variety series, "The Amanda Show". Even though "Amanda" was greeted with a fair amount of detest and revulsion from its own demo, it did well enough to let Bynes proceed up and off the Nickelodeon ladder.
Now, Schneider successfully transitions Bynes away from her Nickelodeon roots and into an adult, or at least teenage, network series. "What I Like About You" is a "real show". It has a glossy sitcom intro, traditional sitcom stories and pairs Bynes up with a real ex-cast member of "Beverly Hills, 90210" in Jennie Garth.
Yes, I could have started this review explaining the premise, that "You" is about two opposite-minded sisters whose age gap is bridged when they have to move in together after their father skips the country and leaves free-spirited Holly (Bynes) with straight-laced, New York, Val (Garth). But that doesn't quite do it. "You" is really just a star vehicle for Bynes, set on convincing the world that she is the next great comic genius. Your enjoyment of the show will be directly tied to whether or not the sight of Amanda Bynes tearing around the set, mugging, screaming and throwing the pitch of her voice up and down leaves you on the floor in stitches.
With this one goal in mind, "You" is a self-indulgent, ear-screeching, studio audience sitcom about stupid people doing stupid things and getting involved in stupid situations that any audience member could think their way out of in 10 seconds. The best thing I can say here is that, while it may create a painful wince, it isn't offensive. But everything about it is recycled with a bargain-basement laziness. It works manically, in a transparently contrived attempt to seem cute and spunky. The livelier it is the more people might not notice that it is totally empty. It is broad stuff, trying to be screwball comedy.
Fans won't care, the series plays to its audience loyally and I can't fault it for that, but everybody else steer clear. Anyone over the age of 12 will find this to be a quintessentially worthless sitcom: a 1-star show with 1-star writing, 1-star acting, a 1-star concept and 1-dimensional characters.
Girls growing up with Bynes will probably appreciate seeing her in more "adult" situations (for the WB and Nickelodeon, that is) and won't mind that "You" becomes a straight-out Tween version of "Friends". Over the course of 4 seasons, Holly faces the highs and lows of relationships. Holly is paranoid and confused of the actions of the boys she dates. "You" grabs the nearest clichés it can reach and uses them to propel itself through the seasons. It becomes an interminable cycle of endless break-ups and get-togethers, the final lap consumed with a "Friends"-style, back-and-forth relationship between Holly and Vince (Nick Zano) as well as Val and firefighter Vic (Dan Cortese) with the predictable endings. Oh yes, amid the slapstick, "You" doesn't waste an opportunity to pour on schmaltzy sentiment about romantic or sisterly love.
Backing up Bynes and Garth is the usual sitcom group of friends, the most notable being 3rd season regular Leslie Grossman, who now finds herself in the wacky, sexually-eccentric friend role after making big waves as a volcano of discovered talent on the WB's brief flirt-with-teen-brilliance, "Popular". A total waste.
I just watched HBO's "Unscripted" in which an "All That" casting director says that Krista Allen's son isn't funny and she, rightly, storms back in to tell the woman off. But there is an age where being told you aren't funny is constructive criticism and given that she has now graduated to the big screen, it is safe to say that Amanda Bynes is past that age.
* / 4