On Friday, television blog WarmingGlow announced that HBO has signed on to produce a new show starring comedy folk duo Garfunkel and Oates (Kate Micucci and Riki Lindhome) of “Pregnant Women are Smug” fame, since, as Bette Midler has argued, funny women are often confined to the smaller screen.
It seems impossible not to draw comparisons between Garfunkel and Oates and HBO’s …
… critically-acclaimed Flight of the Concords, even before the concept for the show has really been announced. Even WarmingGlow’s title argues that this is just “Flight of the Concords, but American and with Women.”
Apart from that, the blogger doesn’t really offer too much snark, but does lay out a list of “musts” if the show is going to work.
(1) No rapping. And (2) an overly enthusiastic stalker fan. Is there a male version of Kristen Schaal? I vote for Eugene Mirman or John Hodgman. Or Jim Gaffigan. Or Patton Oswalt. Man, there are a lot of creepy-looking male comics out there.
But does Garfunkel and Oates really have to be another Flight of the Concords in order to succeed? Perhaps more importantly, will a show starring two female comedians have the same crossover gender appeal as everyone’s two favorite kiwi dudes? Because even if it does succeed, if this new show is just a lady-version of HBO’s old favorite, won’t it always risk being seen as “lesser-than”?
There has long been a debate about whether female comedians can be as funny as their male counterparts. If they are deemed amusing, it usually seems to come at the cost of their sexual appeal, having to be the “funny fat lady,” as the UK’s Ruth Jones recently bemoaned, or a frumpy Liz Lemon-type. Will it work with two leads like Lindhome and Micucci who look hipsterish, spritely and cute?
But what do you think? Are attitudes about female comedians changing? Can women be considered funny and attractive? Will you watch the pilot episode of Garfunkel and Oates?
Garfunkel and Oates. Sounds like a couple of second bananas.
Um, I think that’s the point.
You suck at being subtle.
Oh sweetie, you suck at a lot of things. We’re just too polite to point it out.
I think women can be seen as attractive, funny, and smart but that doesn’t mean they can carry a show. In order to do so, I think there needs to be an element of physical comedy as well as verbal. And how much fun will they make of themselves?
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I love Drew Barrymore and she’s not afraid to do physical comedy. Neither was Jennifer Aniston in her early years. As much as I hate Cameron Diaz, she’s another woman who will do physical comedy.
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Whereas I know I should like Tina Fey because she’s smart and supposedly breaks stereotypes, but I just don’t think she’s funny. Being a female Steve Carrell is not a good thing.
‘hipsterish’ is NOT a compliment..
Do they actually have some background, or is this just riding on the success of their one video? I’m tired of hearing every single person who does something of mild note being turned into a TV show. Do people actually watch these things? Do they actually get picked up?
I watched that video when it came out. I thought the concept was amusing, but I found the singers rather annoying, and definitely not funny.
These two are not funny. I don’t get it.
These two are not funny at all. I also do not get it.
Does the little one have downs syndrome or something? Seriously.
They aren’t funny. They aren’t clever. Do not compare them to Flight of the Concords. That’s just insulting.
@jeneria
I’ve seen shows with men that were smart, funny, amd attractive. but that was no guarantee that they could carry a show,either. To me this whole “can women be just as funny as men” is just some dumb, stupid, sexist BS, because men aren’t funny simply BECAUSE they’re men (I’ve seen way too many stupid shows with male comedians/comic actors to know that they sure as hell do NOT have a claim on being funny,because some of them aren’t even funny to begin with). This only because an issue when women started seriously competing with men in the comedy business,and getting just as popular. I don’t care if a comedian is a man or a woman, either you can make me laugh or you can’t. Period—that’s all that should matter.
Riki Lindhome is so Fugly she looks like she has downsyndrome. Garfunkel is a good name for her. Does she know how ugly she is? I mean did you see her in changeling I thought she was the changeling an ugly down syndrrome alien. Why is no one commenting on her creepiness. YUK! She is Nasty!
They remind me of a female version of Flight of the Conchords but are different, and it’s not just gender. Not that it should really matter, because talent is talent. Why does it have to be binary?
G&O is great!