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Sit Down, Shut Up: Pilot (series premiere)
by Kona Gallagher, posted Apr 19th 2009 9:31PM
(S01E01) I still stand behind the early look of Sit Down, Shut Up I did a few days ago: the pilot was underwhelming. For everything that works about it, there seem to be at least two things that don't. However, before I did this review, I decided to watch the pilot again, so it would be fresh in my mind. What I found is that the show definitely grows on you.
While I didn't really laugh at all the first time through, re-watching it allowed me to pick up on some of the more subtle things that I missed. That, combined with the fact that I've seen the second episode, which is much better, really made me appreciate this episode more.
One of the things that's going to make Sit Down, Shut Up great is creator Mitch Hurwitz's propensity for callbacks and subtle jokes going on in the background. There were few things that I noticed the second time through that I missed the first that completely cracked me up, like the way Larry massaged Stuart's throat when he was giving him the pills, or when baby Merch snatched the bottle away from Miracle so he could feed himself after she said something particularly stupid.
Even Happy and Andrew, who were my two least favorite parts of the pilot when I first watched it, didn't bother me nearly as much the second time around. Even Sue Sezno, who was another character I wasn't particularly thrilled with, made me chuckle a few times ("well you can't fire someone who's a fan of Salman Rushdie").
In all, I think the first time you watch Sit Down, Shut Up, it's really easy to blow it off as another animated show that's trying too hard. However, it's actually worth sticking around and watching a couple of episodes. A lot of great sitcoms start off rough and then grow on you; just because this one happens to be animated (mostly) doesn't change that fact.
Other items of note and some of my favorite lines from this episode:
- Ennis Hoftard's "little nutsack" that is mentioned several times throughout the episode.
- The entire scene with Larry and Sue talking about Miracle coming out of a fuzzy monkey is probably my favorite scene in the whole episode. I also like the fact that the Larry (and I'm sure, others) use it as an excuse to see her naked.
- The names of Deutschebog's Filthies: "Actually, Pacific Rim is a cooking magazine!"
- The fact that they call his porno mags "filthies" in the first place also made me giggle, as did Hofftard's realization that he was not looking at a meal, but at a three-way.
- The fact that baby Merch is smarter than his mother. He may not be old enough to talk, but he's old enough to distance himself from her dippy ideas.
Stuart: "Isn't it true they cause birth Defects?"
Larry: "Only in babies."
"Science class should be the first one to go: Everyone knows it's just a bunch of Voodoo the Jews came up with so they can charge us for medicine and stuff." - Miracle
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