“Mulaney,” is a Fox TV show starring comedian John Mulaney that mimicks Seinfeld and offers typical sit-com fare blended with occasional stand-up appearances. But unlike Seinfeld, who managed to be funny without taking cheap shots at Catholicism, Mulaney can’t pull it off without getting raunchy. He also fails to entertain.
The story line from a recent episode is silly: Mulaney dupes his mom into thinking he’s a practicing Catholic, and even asks a priest to lie to his mom about going to church. He doesn’t succeed in his quest, but not before telling the priest that he is not like other comedians. On his knees in prayer, he says, “I would like to point out that I never did jokes about priest molestation during that whole thing—even though a lot of stand-up comics did and I totally could have.” So kind of him.
While still on his knees, Mulaney’s girlfriend walks in, asking, “Are you praying?” Mulaney grabs his crotch and says, “No, I’m just masturbating.” They had to pipe in the laughter.
Five shows into the season, Fox has already decided to go with 13 episodes instead of 16. Let’s hope they make a further cut. If this is what passes as humor at Fox in 2014, the network is in trouble.
