The Marriage Ref (2010–2011)
2/10
The loud canned laugh track can't hide how dreadful this is!
1 March 2010
Like many, I saw the ads during the Olympics. I also saw Seinfeld was attached to it, which, IMHO, gave me hope. So I decided to tune in. I thought I would like it, at least a little. A "guilty pleasure", if nothing else. It seemed a concept which had potential.

When I heard the cacophonous canned laughter which roared at every line, I felt myself tense up a little. Usually, the louder the canned laughter, the weaker the material. As I heard the script, the knot in my stomach only got worse.

The lines were insincere and contrived. The humor and jokes hackneyed. The situations unbelievable and ridiculous.

I honestly don't know what Jerry Seinfeld was thinking. While he contributed a scant bit of amusing banter in the pilot episode, it wasn't nearly enough to rescue what was otherwise a train wreck.

I wasn't expecting too much. As I wrote; I expected it to be cheap thrills and "guilty pleasure" material. That shouldn't have been too hard to achieve. Yet it failed to rise to even this level.

Maybe if they didn't try so hard, it would be better. This show seemed too desperate to scream "LAUGH AT US! PLEEEEAAASSE"! It's a sad waste of a concept with good potential and a waste of what could have been a good idea.

I guess it COULD get better with time, if it's completely re-vamped. But I'm not holding my breath.
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