Minding the Store (2005– ) User Reviews

TBS delivers us a 30-minute time capsule- Shore hasn't grown up a day since the 80s

[liquidcelluloid-1 · 18 December 2005]

Network: TBS; Genre: Reality/Documentary, Comedy; Content Rating: TV-14 (language); Classification: Contemporary (star range: 1 - 4);

Seasons Reviewed: Season 1

Its difficult to write about "Minding the Store" and say something everyone else hasn't said or what someone that hasn't even seen the show probably thinks. The return to the spotlight of one Pauly Shore is exactly what you think it is. The first high-profile original series from TBS (a network that found its niche as the home of syndicated modern classics "Seinfeld", "Sex and the City", "Everybody Loves Raymond" and "Family Guy"), "Store" is yet another hybrid reality/improve comedy series in the vein of "The Osbournes", "I'm With Busey" and "Fat Actress". Unfortunately, "Store" is more "Actress" than "Busey".

Like "Actress" it is the story of a washed-up celebrity, as themselves, trying to get back into the business as cameras follow the entire time. Though somebody who thinks that "Encino Man" and "In the Army Now" was being "on top of the world" (as Shore states in his usual nasally beach bum voice over the intro) may find breaking back in harder than expected. The added wrinkle is that Shore's parents apparently own The Comedy Store, a legendary stand-up comedy club that gave starts to the likes of Jim Carrey and Chris Rock. Now his parents (his father Sammy, his mother Mitzi who we only hear over the phone) have turned the store over the Shore to handle everything from publicity contests to fire code violations. The first episode is the best, in which a bet over whether beautiful women are funny finds Shore organizing a all-girl stand-up night (with many acts bombing).

The best of the hybrid reality/comedy shows have fun blurring the lines between reality and fiction and keep us guessing about which is which. Yes, "Busey" stepped over the line of absurdity time and again, but it did so with such a straight face that it worked. There is an obviousness to "Store" that makes it hard to shake the feeling that everything we are seeing is staged. Even during the more banal, everyday events (such as, Shore's conversations with his therapist, a trip to a Medieval Times restaurant and a blind date to an art museum where the girl walks out on his antics) Shore cannot resist the urge to ham it up and play to the cameras. It is an insufferable reminder that many people never change. Shore hasn't grown up a day since the 80s.

I can't blame Pauly Shore for this. The blame here goes to the audience who has made reality shows the fad, specifically "The Surreal Life" crowd that has put the spotlight back on washed-up celebrities. This has opened the door for Shore to get back onto TV and I can't blame the guy for walking through it. Pauly Shore was just the Adam Sandler or Rob Schneider of his day.

Ultimately, "Store" is just a sad reminder that when the public rejects somebody they don't go away, but live on and some, having tasted the sweet juice of success, spend the rest of their days trying to get it back.

But you know all this, and I've already given this show more thought then it deserves.

* / 4

Even Pauly Shore's reality shows are a failure.

[MovieAddict2016 · 3/10 · 2 September 2005]

First things first - this is barely real at all. It's classified as a "reality TV program" when in fact Pauly Shore himself admitted a great deal of it is written because he is bored by reality TV.

I hate reality TV too. But then don't create a sitcom and pass it off as a reality show! I can understand the concept looking cool on paper - having a sitcom in the format of reality, shocking viewers - but that's been done before with "The Office" and "Minding the Store" is just a poor man's version.

Essentially Pauly, the once-famous "comedian" from the '80s, inherits the "world famous" Comedy Shop from his mother and takes on the financial aspects.

Of interesting note is that Pauly has grown up. He's older. He's put on weight. He's going bald. He generally looks...normal. He's no longer the skinny babe magnet he was in the '80s (well, he was never a babe magnet I guess, but girls liked him anyway - we might never know why).

This physical transformation alone isn't enough. Pauly's attitude hasn't changed at all. He's still annoying, still dumb, still unfunny. The show details his early life in the opening credits - he grew up in a family of comedians and was raised in the Comedy Store, around many famous stand-ups.

There was just something in his blood, I think, that wasn't right for comedy. He felt obligated to become a comedian but it wasn't natural for him. As a result he achieved brief success on account of his background but the natural instinct for humor was never there; he had to work hard for whatever jokes he landed, whereas a naturally gifted comedian might be able to succeed brilliantly by growing up in such an environment.

I digress. At the end of the day Pauly still hasn't learned his lesson. This show is fake, unfunny, scripted, annoying, and stupid. I was willing to give Pauly Shore another chance, and I've found he's just as annoying and whiny as he was in the '80s and '90s. Grow up, Pauly. Lose the stoner voice. Get some class. Get some good jokes. Try again.

Pauly Shore is moving on up.

[saxchick4 · 30 July 2005]

I like this show, it presents Pauly Shore now as an adult. He has a history of being funny to teenagers when he was in his 20s but now acting immature in mid 30s is not right. It shocks me that he can go a full 30 minutes without sounding like the Weasel. I think this reality show is really helping his career also him running the place where most of the big comedians started out is a big money maker. Pauly Shore has been working hard to be able to become America's favorite actor again just in more of a non-warbling way. Also how Minding the Store is set up is very good because it actually shows how Pauly Shore is living, with his friends; one is a nerd who always knocks down his ideas, another one is his food major and all the others are pretty supportive, but only his mother is what sounds unreal.

Wretched show

[SIMB · 8 August 2005]

If Pauly Shore really wants to know why he's so hated in the entertainment world, he should look at his own antics on this show. He's occasionally funny in a self-effacing sort of way, but he's still an arrogant, ignorant, chauvinistic pig.

What I also found distasteful is the "role" of the foreign assistant (whose name I can't remember because I only saw the show on one night and that was enough for me), as this inept fellow, who can barely speak or understand English but is asked to struggle through tasks that are crucial to his continued employment. Why is a new employee being given private driving lessons, and then being charged with trying to somehow get uncooperative employees to know fire regulations that will keep the store open? Did this person just become the immigrant fall guy, or was that the setup from the beginning? Overall, I found myself hoping that Pauly Shore and his motley crew would crash and burn, so that maybe they'd finally understand that they are not at all cut out for the entertainment world, and encouraged to find work elsewhere (even people who are not seen but are rather vocally heard, like his overly judgmental and narrow-minded mother).

Unreal FUNNY!!!

[joeg1 · 14 August 2005]

I have always been a Pauly fan. I guess that kind of humor is very funny to me. However he is so funny in this it is incredible. The whole cast is another reason it works so well. Marlon staring at the Air Clown in the last episode of this season was hysterical!!!! I hope this show lasts for a few seasons at the least. If it is reasonably priced I will purchase this for the DVD collection. I was a little disappointed with the Moms phone calls. She seemed pretty fake and could have been reading for a sheet of paper. I have not heard of a lot of the comics that appear, but, most are really funny. The last episode which was a roast of Pauly was very funny!!!!

Wow...

[Sintelin · 9 August 2005]

I know that Mr. Shore's earlier works were genius (Son-in-Law, Encino Man, etc), but this is just something else. The way that this man can keep reinventing himself is incredible, and I give him full credit for it. I believe he deserves to be recognized as one of the role models of our time, and he is so often pushed down as some sort of "moron". Honestly, this show shows how much he has changed, and how he comes to terms with people's opinions of him, and I think that is just fantastic. *looks up to the skies* Now, WHY is this series only 5 episodes long?! That's craziness! But, yet, I can understand the logic...of course he wouldn't want to keep repeating himself, that's the beauty of Pauly Shore, he keeps reinventing. All I can say is, keep going Pauly! For sure you'll win an Emmy for this!