A Fresh Take on Sitcoms

stsully

The Loop is a show about a recent college graduate, Sam, hired by a failing airline company trying to survive in the low-cost airline era. Because of his college thesis about the company, which is supposed to have been very insightful, he is given a high-ranking executive position. Meanwhile, he lives at home with his loser brother, Sully, and two very attractive women, one of whom, Piper, is a student and the other, Lizzy, a bartender. From this simple setting, a very original comedy follows.

Each episode is pretty atomic, with the only important continuing plot line being Sam's hidden love for Piper. This plot line involves the usual sitcom stuff, like Sam trying to impress her or help her deal with the problems of her long distance relationship with her boyfriend. Other plot lines specific to individual episodes usually concern some problem Sam is confronted with at work, or problems with work or love that one of the other people Sam lives with are having. Sounds real funny and original, huh? Though the plots in this show are not necessarily unique or hilarious, this show is still very funny. The humor comes from the dialog and performance of the actors, which on the whole are fantastic. Russ and Meryl, Sam's bosses, are really spectacular, as is Sully, his brother. The show is essentially about Sam, a relatively grounded straight character, interacting with some unusual people and trying to begin life after college. The show seems geared towards 18-30 year olds, and many other people will find it very funny. I think the reviews dogging the show for its lack of originality, poor acting, and low brow humor just don't get what the show is supposed to be; I'm 23, and everyone I know who watches it likes it. It is definitely worth watching if Fox picks it up for another season, which hopefully will happen due to the good ratings the show got from coming after American Idol. Overall, I highly recommend it, and compare it to a Seinfeld built for 20-somethings. It is by no means at the level of Seinfeld in terms of greatness, but the style of the show is similar in that it depends less on the plot and more on the characters and comments they make. If you like Seinfeld, Arrested Development, or Curb Your Enthusiam, you should check out The Loop.

score 10/10

stsully 3 May 2006

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw1357953/