Imagine, for a moment, that a bunch of rather tasteless chimpanzees could not only dress themselves and talk but run their own cable television network. The end result might look a lot like TBS's first original comedy series, "The Chimp Channel," which debuts tonight at 8:05.
Think "The Muppet Show" or "SCTV" with chimps. With sort of a Jim Carrey/Adam Sandler outlook on comedy."(Creator/writer/co-executive producer) Tim (Burns) and I have worked together for years as comedy writers, and basically we learned along the way that chimps are a comedy writer's best friend," said creator/writer Tom Stern. "Something that sounds lame coming out of an actor's mouth can often be quite funny coming out of a chimp's mouth."
"When we pitch an idea and it bombs, we just add, 'And it's monkeys,' and that always sells it," added Burns.
Which works occasionally -- but only occasionally.
"TCC" comes from the people behind the "Monkey'ed Movie" shorts TBS has been airing for the past year. And those grew out of a failed attempt to place a show on MTV a few years ago.
"We pitched a show a while back called 'Space Chimps' that was chimps in space -- the idea that orbiting chimps came from a higher, advanced civilization, and it was going to be kind of a 'Star Trek' parody with chimps," Burns said. "And we actually shot like a five-minute pilot for MTV years ago. And I think they got freaked out about some of the difficulties of trying to do a show with chimps."
"Namely, the money," Stern said.
The failed five-minute pilot did attract the attention of the folks at TBS, who suggested the duo work on the movie parodies.
"And I think they were such a hit that they said, 'Hey, what else can we do?' " Burns said.
Those "Monkey'ed Movies" are often very funny, parodying everything from "Planet of the Apes" to "When Harry Met Sally . . . " The transition to "The Chimp Channel" isn't particularly smooth, however. There are occasional moments of humor in the first couple of episodes, but most of the moments fall flat.
And then there's the sheer tastelessness of so much of the alleged humor. If the idea of lightning shooting out of a monkey's butt makes you laugh, this is the show for you.
The concept is dangerously close to "The Muppet Show" and even closer to "Muppets Tonight" -- the only real difference is that, instead of a bunch of puppets putting on a show and running a TV station, it's a bunch of chimps.
The recurring characters include:
Ford Carter, the Australian media tycoon who owns TCC.
Harry Waller, the president of TCC.
Brock Hammond, the hunky (and obnoxious) star of most of the shows.
Marina, the diva. "Marina is sort of like consummate sex, if your idea of sex is a chimp with long blond hair and clingy gowns," Burns said. "She's sort of a cross between, say, a Madonna and a Pamela Lee. She's sort of a one-woman industry. She has her own videos, her own erotic pop-up book, her own Web site, her own pay-per-view specials."
(Essentially, a more adult version of Miss Piggy.)
Murray Price, the much-married celebrity interviewer who's modeled on Larry King.
Timmy Briar, the young intern who joins TCC in the pilot episode.
The backbone of the show is parodies of movies and other TV shows. The first episode includes take-offs on "Touched by an Angel," "Larry King Live," "Baywatch" (which becomes "Treewatch"), "America's Funniest Home Videos," "Braveheart," "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Xena: Warrior Princess." And the comedy misses far more than it hits.
(Subjects of upcoming parodies include "ER," "Siskel & Ebert," "The X Files," "The Full Monty," Gap ads, "Drew Carey," Martha Stewart, "Armageddon," "Friends," "Ally McBeal" and "NYPD Blue.")
There are some good ideas here, but most of them don't pan out. And, while this seems like the sort of show that would appeal to children, it's definitely not aimed in their direction, what with the high sexual content of the jokes.
The apes themselves sometimes seem more classy than the show.