Working Class from CMT

CMT’s first scripted sitcom, Working Class, starring TV veteran Melissa Peterman and Emmy & Golden Globe Award-winning actor Ed Asner makes its network debut Friday, Jan 28, at 8pm ET/PT. The new sitcom follows Carli Mitchell (played by Melissa Peterman), a single mom from a rough and tumble background, trying to give her three kids a better life by moving them to an upscale suburb. She quickly finds that making the transition to “the good life” is harder than she thought. She’s unwittingly befriended by her cranky neighbor, Hank (Ed Asner), her only “career” prospect is a glorified deli job at the local grocery store, and the man she falls for not only already has a girlfriend – but he’s also her boss, Rob (Patrick Fabian). With her ladies-man brother, Nick (Steve Kazee), to help her out (when he’s not acting like one of the kids himself), Carli faces the challenges of parenting, dating and making friends in her new community by doing more with less, staying true to herself and approaching each day with a touch of working class.

Thanks to CMT & One2One Network, I got a sneak peek at this new comedy show by CMT.  I was excited to see it because I’ve always been a fan of Ed Asner (dating myself a little here) since I was a kid and I watched him on the reruns of Mary Tyler Moore, and I’m also a fan of Melissa Peterman from watching her on Reba.  I was hoping that this new show would be as cute as each of their own previous comedy shows.  Unfortunately I was a little disappointed with the show over all.

I like most of the actors in the show itself, however the characters all seem to be a little too cartoonish, especially Melissa Peterman’s & Ed Asner’s.  Ed Asner’s character seems to be fashioned after the very funny character of Ed Goodson from “$#*! My Dad Says”.  William Shatner’s character on “$#*! My Dad Says” is kinda cranky, rude, vulgar, and funny… but Hank (Ed Asner’s character in Working Class) isn’t quite as funny.  Melissa Peterman’s character on “Working Class” is very similar to the character she played on Reba as well, only toned down quite a bit.  However her character is still getting into embarrasing situations that no real person would get into, and as the “main” character of the show, it makes me feel very uncomfortable to watch it.

Although this won’t be a favorite show to watch, it’s still not one that I would steer people away from either.  The characters may remind me of other characters on other shows, but they are still cute and there were a few funny scenes and jokes.  I think this show has the potential to be really cute, but I think it tries too hard to be like other more popular shows.  I don’t really like the whole “falling for the boss who’s taken” bit, that part of the story has been done to death.  I think they could just leave that whole “sexual tension” out of the story and no one would miss it.  But really other than that being a bit tired, it’s not a bad show.

I’d have to say, overall, that this show is cute enough to watch if I happen to catch.  Not cute enough for me to record or go out of my way to watch it, but if nothing else is on, I won’t choose to read a book!  LOL!  This could be good for the show though, because it seems like most of the shows that I love are canceled after the first season anyway.   I definitely think you should watch the show and see for yourself if you like it.  It’s not a waste of 30 minutes for sure!

Rating by Wyndsong: 3.0 stars