Drama
Alien: Earth
FX’s ‘Alien: Earth’ is just the latest graphically violent entry in the already graphically violent ‘Alien’ franchise.
For decades, marriage has been a pretty standard trope in situation comedy. Shows ranging from The Honeymooners and I Love Lucy to The Cosby Show and Everybody Loves Raymond have featured couples navigating the relational perils and pitfalls of marriage, and in a way to make audiences chuckle, giggle and smile.
You don’t see much marriage on television these days. Last Man Standing on ABC excepted, most of today’s newest comedies mine their humor from not being married: Mike & Molly aren’t married. New Girl? She’s living with three single guys. Friends With Benefits? Yeah, the title’s fairly self-explanatory, don’t you think?
The latest sitcom to hop on the single-is-funny bandwagon is Whitney, one of two 2011 freshman shows from the mind of comedian Whitney Cummings (the other being 2 Broke Girls). But here’s the oddity: It’s a show about single people that really wants to be a show about married people.
Not that Whitney, the character, wants to get married. The whole program is built around the fact that she doesn’t. She’s positively terrified of the institution, in fact—liable to flee if she sees a stray veil hanging off a coat rack. She’d rather just live with her loving and supportive and committed boyfriend, Alex. They have their problems, of course. But they’re determined to work through them as best they can, to see each other through the good times and bad, through sickness and health, till—
Well, Whitney can’t get carried away on that train of thought. Who knows where it might lead. Never mind that she seems terribly preoccupied with testing Alex’s commitment or trying to recharge their relationship every third episode or so. Of course, all this recharging—in some ways a symptom of the show’s general preoccupation with sex—makes these proceedings ever more problematic. In the pilot episode, for example, Whitney visits a sex shop to spice up her love life. References to various intimate acts and body parts can be embarrassing and, in some episodes, unremitting. Language can be harsh, and religion sometimes takes a shot or two, too.
And yet, in the vast relational wasteland that is sitcom land these days, Whitney feels at times almost … earnest.
At one point, Whitney confesses to Alex that maybe someday—a long, long time from now—she wouldn’t mind having kids: She’s just always been reluctant because she “grew up with a lot of divorce, and it sucks, and I never want to put a kid through that.”
“In order to get divorced, you need to get married,” Alex says. “Does that mean you’d consider getting married?”
Pause.
“To you I would,” she says.
“Whit, you’re like a person!” Alex exclaims.
“Shut up, no I’m not,” Whitney says. And the moment is over. Lifetime commitment may be a great thing in real life. But it’s murder on TV ratings in the 2010s.
“Up All Night”
Despite her nuptu-phobia, Whitney agrees to plan an engagement party for friends Lily and Neal. The experience is so stressful she finds herself unable to sleep—and eventually begins taking sleeping pills to cope. Under their influence, she orders a pair of baby shoes online—suggesting a subconscious desire to have children. The moment opens up an opportunity for the couple to discuss their relationship.
But that sweetness doesn’t mitigate the crassness. When Lily and another friend, Roxanne, start talking about having kids themselves, Whitney tries to put a stop to it. “Come on! We’re sluts!” she says. “I wish,” Roxanne responds. Two guys “hump” a couch. We hear jokes about masturbation and premature ejaculation. Whitney, while sleepwalking, pulls up her skirt and sits down on Alex as if to go to the bathroom. A psychiatrist explains her displayed cleavage by saying, “I just came from a lesbian luncheon.”
Characters hold beers, reference margaritas and discuss drunkenness. When Lily is hard to understand, Whitney tells her, “It’s times like these I can really see the home schooling.” Alex mocks a guy’s outfit by telling him he looks like he’s going to a gospel convention.
Paul Asay has been part of the Plugged In staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.
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