The Business / ...Jackie Woodman

NYPress.com

INDIE-FENSIBLE
Two IFC comedies are wide open

On August 5, IFC begins a study in contrasts as two of its original comedy series, “The Business,” and “The Minor Accomplishments of Jackie Woodman” return for a second season. Viewed back-to-back they provide a lesson to budding producers on the perils of having too much freedom, demonstrate that naked does not mean sexy, and prove that, in low-budget TV, nothing matters more than good writing.

“The Business” drowns in a dreck of its own making. It’s the story of Vic’s Flicks, an indie film company that, having succeeded in porn production, now aspires to loftier cinema. But the show itself never rises above soft-core standards. Vic is an offensive Jewish stereotype who spends the entire second episode with a full erection and utters sterling witticisms like, “Who wants to bang?” His gorgeous business partner, Julia, is of course sexually repressed. The company accountant, Wendell, is gifted with more than mathematical ability as several full-frontal scenes, one involving a stapler, demonstrate. The shameless creator/desperate co-producer/uninspired writer is Canadian director Phil Price. In addition to sabotaging a potentially rich premise by employing dialogue about topics like “going number two,” he enjoys inserting sight gags that involve the use of two melons and a banana.

Alternatively, “Jackie Woodman” knows when to use restraint and how best to go over the top. It makes fun of itself, and various social issues, without dumbing down the action. Jackie, a struggling screenwriter who also writes for a tabloid and indulges in any drug at hand, is the creation of comic Laura Kightlinger. While last season’s episodes sometimes felt too much like a stand-up act, this year Kightlinger blends it right, setting up run-ins with an all-lesbian SUV road club and a group of Christian environmentalists who name sinners to a “holy shit list.” She scolds Hollywood with lines like, “Praising and practicing affirmative action are two different things,” and practices a charming neurosis, telling her mother, “Don’t encourage me, you’ll only discourage me.” When Jackie rants against a writer whose only comic idea involves being “whacked in the nuts,” one can only hope that Phil Price is watching—and taking notes.

- Stan Friedman   August 15, 2007