Why Most Critics of Hello Ladies Have Missed the Forest for the Trees

UPDATED: February 18, 2013 

[Since I have more time to actually watch tv and think about it, I have re-written my review of Hello Ladies even though it has been canceled.  Though I hope my review encourages you to watch it anyway.]   

The intention behind this review is an effort to reframe the starkly negative remarks of its critics.  Hello Ladies is a new comedy created by Stephen Merchant (The Office and Extras) with Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg (Bad Teacher and Year One).  The show centers on the dating misadventures of Stuart Pritchard (Stephen Merchant), a British web-designer who lives in L.A. and clings to the glamour of a bygone Hollywood.  It also captures the personal and relational difficulties facing Stuart’s friends: Jessica (Christine Woods) the struggling actress, who sublets Stuart’s guesthouse, and the unhappily separated Wade (Nate Torrence).  Much of the criticism leveled against Hello Ladies hinges on an overuse of 'cringe' comedy and Stuart’s blatant selfishness.  The combination of these elements makes the series unwatchable for most critics and frequently leads them to infer that the show has overall absence of humanity.  Though a closer look at the implications behind cringe comedy and the underlying role of the secondary characters reveal the moments of genuine emotion within the show.  Hello Ladies is a comedy with a humanistic core that does not rely on the safety net of a laugh track and that also has a keen sense of cinematography.

            

The use of cringe comedy in Hello Ladies epitomizes a character’s vulnerability.  Cringe comedy centers on the ensuing discomfort after a social faux pas occurs.  The most poignant example of this humor occurs in Episode 4 “The Dinner,” in which Stuart’s attempts to be charmingly humorous spirals into a homophobic joke that deeply offends several gay men at the dinner party.  There are similar moments of varying degrees of discomfort throughout each episode along with other types of humor, to which one critic quipped that “too much of a painful thing begins to just be, well, torture to watch” (Goodman).  Cringe comedy is uncomfortable, which is one reasons it draws in the bulk of attention, and I certainly winced during the awkward silence after Stuart makes his off the cuff remark and is promptly asked to leave.  Though the remarkable thing about this type of humor is that it does not condone insensitivity but rather highlights the dizzying complexity of social interactions and laughs at the near paralyzing embarrassment.  Interestingly, cringe comedy can often humanize the perpetrator of the faux pas because the person is desperately eager to please. In Stuart’s case, his seemingly insensitive action is simply the desire to belong and receive validation from others.  This vulnerability humanizes his character and the viewer’s uncomfortable recognition of his situation is empathetic.  Cringe comedy has an all too human core.    

        

The presence of well developed secondary characters illustrate that Stuart’s womanizing is merely an elaborate facade.  Stuart prioritizes his hope to date a model above his friends.  He frequently ditches his friend Wade, who is blind sided by his wife’s request for a separation, in favor of meeting women.  With the focus squarely on Stuart his selfishness is worthy of “not sympathy but scorn” (Watson).  Though Hello Ladies is careful to balance Stuart’s character flaws by following Jessica and Wade, who are often plagued by the same problems facing Stuart.*  In this way, Stuart’s selfishness becomes contextualized and leaves room for character development.  Additionally, his relationship with supporting characters indicate another aspect of Stuart’s personality.  His friendship with a person like Wade instead of a real womanizer like Glenn (Sean Wing) articulates his true character.  His friends also seem to genuinely care about him.  In Episode 3 “The Date,” Rory (Kyle Mooney) physically prevents Stuart from sending a callous email to Annie (Lindsay Broad), who has neglected his texts after their initial date.  This small action implies that Stuart is worthy of the viewer’s sympathy because he has the capacity for devoted friendships.        

Hello Ladies has many subtle and overt moments of genuine emotion.  “But after eight episodes, it's unclear why we should feel anything for Stuart Pritchard, a situation not helped by his rather thin characterization.” Contrary to Mr. Jagernauth’s point, Stuart is a complex character.  In the Pilot, Stuart gives Jessica a consoling look after Glenn avoids making dinner plans with her.  Stuart’s concern is incongruous with the James Bond-esque bravado he uses to hit on women, which subtly hints at his true romantic aspirations.  These aspirations become overt in Episode 7 “The Wedding.”  As the couple recites their vows to each other, Jessica and Stuart warmly smile while Glenn buries face in his cell phone.  This reaction to commitment further reduces Stuart’s womanizing as response to his loneliness.  Additionally, towards the end of the episode Stuart and Jessica have a moment that speaks to the excellent chemistry between Woods and Merchant.  In my view, this episode more than makes up for the previous discomfort because it shows that Stuart and his friends are capable of growth  After eight episodes, how can you not root for these characters? 

Hello Ladies is also shot with an empathetic sensibility.  In the Pilot Episode, after Stuart spectacularly fails to pick up women, he goes to the grocery store by himself to buy chicken wings.  This sequence is a series of wide shots that place Stuart in his environment and convey his fish out of water loneliness.  These views of loneliness also occur in Episode 6 “Long Beach,” that serves to link Jessica, Wade, and Stuart.  In this episode, Jessica tries to deepen her relationship with Glenn that is ultimately rejected.  Wade attempts to rekindle his romance with his wife, who rebuffs this advance, while Stuart fails to pick up women at a club in Long Beach.  The camera shows each character alone after their respective rejections through cut scenes.  These scenes visually connect the characters to each other that further encourages sympathy.  Though the unique quality of this series is that it balances this view with a comedic one.  As Jessica and Wade are rejected by their partners, Stuart runs with the tough guys and ends up with a guacamole stain.  This balance between misfortune and humor lends realism to the characters that makes them relatable.               

            

My central problem with these reviews is that they fail to consider an opposing view and, in some cases, their negative reactions are laced with vitriol.  Criticism is a useful tool because its informed outsider's perspective can improve a work's overall quality. Though in order to achieve this aim, it is important that a critic's opinion respects the artist and the art and recognizes the separation between the two. For example, some reviews of Hello Ladies devolve into personalized attacks that had little to with the show. For me, good criticism encapsulates those values and presents a balanced opinion. In order to provide a some balance, I wrote a dissenting opinion. Hello Ladies is a complex comedy whose characters grapple with the time old existential dilemmas of loneliness, relationships, identity, and personal fulfillment. These dilemmas combined with other quirks flesh out the characters who are best shared with company. Each person I watched Hello Ladies with brought out an aspect of the series I hadn't noticed before.  A show that can speak to the vulnerability of its viewers on a personal and collective level deserves a second chance in spite of the negative reviews. (Plus, the music in the series fits well with the show's personality; I have never felt more esteem for the schmaltzy saxophone solos in tracks.)   

* Thanks to these story arcs, Hello Ladies passes the Bechdel test contrary to what one might expect from the title’s suggestion. This test does not dictate a show's value but rather asks the viewer to look with a different perspective in mind, namely how female characters are represented.        

Work Cited

[Note: I used parts of these reviews to further my argument, please feel free to read these reviews in their original context to form your own opinion...because that is benefit of a work cited list.] 

Goodman, Tim. “Hello Ladies: TV Review.” Rev. of Hello Ladies, writ. by Stephen Merchant, Gene Stupnitsky & Lee Eisenberg. The Hollywood Reporter. 29 Sept. 2013. Web. 9 Nov. 2013

Jagernauth, Kevin. “Review: Hello Ladies Season 1, Starring Stephen Merchant.”  Rev. of Hello Ladies, writ. by Stephen Merchant, Gene Stupnitsky & Lee Eisenberg. The Playlist. 18 Nov. 2013. Web. 18 Nov. 2013

Watson, Keith. “Stephen Merchant’s Hello Ladies was a disappointing misfire.” Rev. of Hello Ladies, writ. by Stephen Merchant, Gene Stupnitsky & Lee Eisenberg. Metro. 18 Oct. 2013. Web. 10 Nov. 2013.