Awesome Idea, Awkward Execution
I decided to watch "Quick Draw" after seeing the trailer on Hulu. The concept is hilarious: a frontier town has a new sheriff, but his only law-enforcement experience comes from his Harvard criminology degree. The show name-drops some well-known Wild West legends, and all the typical Western tropes reappear in a new, quirky guise.Unfortunately, the show fails to live up to its potential. First, while the trailer focuses on smart, "Office"-esque lines, the actual show relies more on goofiness and innuendo. Still funny, but not quite what I was expecting.
Second, in a tightly-scripted comedy, every line has a job. Some lines provide big laughs while others are only mildly amusing, but EVERY line plays a role in advancing the plot and making people laugh. The same goes for well-done improvisation like "This is Spinal Tap." In contrast, "Quick Draw" has a lot of throwaway time when characters either pause or repeat the same joke while thinking of what to say next. The laughs are widely spaced. And, because the dialogue advances the plot so slowly, not all that much happens.
Finally, a lot of the action takes place at a bordello. It was funny in the first episode or two. After that, I realized that the show has NO female characters who aren't whores. It has no male characters who aren't johns. I know the whole bordello thing is done for laughs, but eight episodes' worth of sexist laughs is too much. Similarly, in S1E6,"Nicodemus," the show's only black female characters, in their only scenes, talk about nothing but sex. These women talk much more coarsely and explicitly than the (white) whores ever do. Sexist AND racist: Check.
To sum up, "Quick Draw" isn't a bad way to kill some time on slow afternoons. But I doubt I would watch these episodes a second time.
score 6/10
intriguement 20 September 2013
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw2872858/14367
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