It's game on with The CW's Oh Sit!
08/14/12 12:12 PM
Premiering: Wednesday, Aug. 15th at 7 p.m. (central) on The CW
Hosted by: Jamie Kennedy, Jessi Cruickshank
Produced by: Phil Gurin, Richard Joel, Deena Dill
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom
Networks in full-blown desperation mode perhaps are entitled to present Oh Sit!, whose competitors race around a slippery, body-banging course in hopes of remaining on the show's "Sit List."
Or as co-host Jamie Kennedy tells viewers up-top: "Twelve weekend warriors who are in shape and out of their minds will put their asses to the test."
Yes, we're talking about summer programming on The CW, a network whose fortunes continue to sink a dink a do. Still, Oh Sit! more or less qualifies as a perfectly acceptable answer to the likes of ABC's Wipeout or NBC's recent summertime flop, American Ninja Warrior. Constants fall down, go boom while commentators either make sport of them or commend their grit.
On Oh Sit!, the once promising Kennedy shares a desk with Jessi Cruickshank, who initially comes off as the WORST HOST EVER but eventually settles in with lines such as, "You have a very lucky cornfed bum."
This is in reference to a competitor who keeps sitting in the "Chair Island" chair with the most monetary value. To explain further would be fruitless.
Each hopeful is given a nickname, the most riotous being McPushy Pants. There's also Jenni From the Block ("I can be a bitch') and The Beard, who has a big black one modeled after San Francisco Giants reliever Brian Wilson. Correspondent Tanika Ray, who interviews him, is credited by Cruickshank with "some spectacular, beard-related journalism."
The show may be a joke, but the various obstacle courses look legitimately grueling. Even an Olympic decathlete might get pretty gassed after a while. In Wednesday's premiere outing, one competitor almost immediately gives up while another gives his ankle a serious twist. After each elimination round, a host is usually inclined to say, "Let's take a look at the Sit List."
The races are accompanied by live band music and even a performance from "multi-platinum artist" Kevin Rudolf. When the music stops, competitors scramble to cross various bridges for a coveted seat on "Chair Island." Those who don't make it to the next round are fated to dive into one of the show's many pools of water for a brief "Swim of Shame."
The winner-takes-all grand prize adds up to a not-so-shabby $32,250 on Episode 1. "This is the best thing that's ever happened to me," says the recipient.
That's good for a laugh. And although its title is needlessly sub-juvenile, Oh Sit! does manage to be stupidly entertaining during its small handful of best moments. The CW will take that, particularly when one of its other hot weather attractions, Remodeled, was seen by a ridiculously paltry 392,000 viewers nationally Monday night.
Oh Sit! certainly has a fighting chance to beat that mark. It had better, lest it truly be in a world of s*it.
GRADE: C
PROGRAMMING NOTE -- Lifetime's five-part series The Week The Women Went premieres Tuesday, Aug. 14th at 9 p.m. (central) after originally being scheduled for a June 6th launch. Silly me, that's when my review was posted. So if you'd like to take a look -- or another look -- you can find it right here.