Comedy is hard. I can't tell you the number of times in my community theater days that we worked on a comedic performance only to realize midway through that the entire thing was sucking ass. All that initial excitement and drive rapidly vanishes, giving way to a whole lot of emergency re-writing and regret over how painfully unfunny all the material is. I bring this up because The Power of Three Blondes is one of those 'comedy' episodes that fails on just about every level. It has an interesting concept, sure, but is written and performed in such a manic, embarrassing way that you can't help but cringe all the way through it.The dumb blonde jokes come thick and fast throughout the hour, each guest actress hitting the most obvious tone for their performance. This isn't poised, sophisticated 'dumb' acting like Mira Sorvino in Mighty Aphrodite or whatever, it's insults about dye-jobs. It's repeated bitterness at being ignored despite being so hot and perky. It's Jenny McCarthy slipping under a table to go down on Phoebe's boyfriend. Gah.
The script, too, is a disaster zone. It's ridiculous to see Chris and Leo so ignorant of the fact that the Charmed Ones are suddenly huge whores (I'm sure there's a joke in there somewhere), it's never explained how the Stillman's could actually engineer all of this, and there are a dozen other, smaller plotholes that explode over the back-end of the hour (where did the anti-orbing spell come from? And how did the sisters get into the manor in the first place with that spell in play?)
Finally, the Phoebe empathy story is ridiculously grating. It's mostly an excuse for her to whine even more than usual, and I hate the repeated references to Jason being consumed with sexual desire whenever he sees her. We get it, show -- Alyssa Milano is supposed to be this 'irresistible goddess'. Chortle.
This is plain horrible, an hour that's just as tasteless and tacky as it is unfunny. And once again we have Paige stuck in some heinous subplot, this time with fruit-packing and gremlins. Ugh. Pretty terrible all-round. F
Crimes of Fashion Paige is looking hideous this year. I don't know if it's her fried-ass hair or the ill-fitting pants she's wearing, or those fugly crop tops that barely cover her chest, but Rose has never looked more trashy.
Credits
Guest stars Jenny McCarthy (Mitzy Stillman); Jennifer Sky (Mabel Stillman); Melody Perkins (Margo Stillman); Rebecca Balding (Elise Rothman); Eric Dane (Jason Dean)
Writer Daniel Cerone Director John Behring
Well, you know where I stand on this on. I checked my review just there, and it's pretty funny how vastly different, yet so similar they are at the same time. Everything you have as a negative, I basically just make it a positive, haha.
ReplyDeleteI really loved how Paige's subplot fit in with this weeks one, though, rather than just giving Rose something to do.
Great reviews, though, no matter how much we differ on it! I actually enjoyed a lot of the early season 6 episodes, the next episode included. Can't wait to read your thoughts on that one =)
Hahaha Max you're making me feel bad because I always loved this one! I really feel like watching it again after all these years and seeing if it still amuses me! Yes the comedy is SO cheap and trashy in it but sometimes, you're just in the mood for that!
ReplyDeleteOh, and I loved all the action in this episode (you guys know me) with the first excellent fight and then the sisters at the end with the triple knockout! Too damn amusing! Interested to read your review Panda as I imagine we're on the same page!
On another note, can you guys imagine just how inflated Alyssa Milano's ego got with this show? It seems like every episode, the writing stuff pay her a tribute with how "hot" she is! It's so distracting and heavy handed! I wonder how Holly & Rose felt about that (I'm guessing Shannen wasn't a fan :P )
I was expecting a little more defense for this one, heh! I don't know, I just think it's completely horrible. Sense and Sense Ability was really strong, dumb comedy. But this felt like a whole different level.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Panda about early season six, to an extend. Because it wasn't as terrible as I remembered it being. I actually liked Love's a Witch this time around, too.
And the Alyssa thing is pretty funny. I'm sure the writers had a huge boner over her. But it's all so embarrassing. Sure, she's attractive, but they really pushed her as some stunningly gorgeous goddess. I wouldn't say she was any more attractive than any of the other sisters.