Passed Pilot Theater is a recurring feature where we look at various television pilots that were abandoned by their network at some point in development and try to figure out why the network passed on going to series with the show.
On the surface, pairing up the Barenaked Ladies with a television comedy format seems almost obvious. The band’s first album, Gordon, showcased the Canadian group’s ability to mix silly and sincere pop sings, and over a decade’s worth of touring helped to solidify their reputation as a band who could improvise songs and comic repartee on stage with ease. And during the band’s initial run of popularity through the middle-1990s, it is easy to imagine a television executive seeing the group as a new iteration of the the 1960s sitcom-turned-pop sensation The Monkees.
Unfortunately, the resultant pilot would turn out to be anything but an exciting new iteration of The Monkees. And could possibly even make one yearn for the abysmal New Monkees instead.
The Barenaked Ladies Show was first announced in the trades in September of 2004, promising that the show would “use as its base the comedy sketches the band performs during its concerts” and that musical performances “the group and other guest stars will also be part of the mix.” No writers or director had been attached to the project, but ultimately screenwriters Alec Berg and Jeff Schaffer and director Brent Carpenter were brought aboard. At this point in their career, Schaeffer and Berg were probably best known for writing a baker’s dozen episodes of Seinfeld during the show’s final four seasons including “The Summer Of George” and the infamous “The Puerto Rican Day.” They were also just coming off having written and directed their first feature film Euro Trip, which gets a mention in the pilot. Carpenter was an experienced sitcom director who by that time had logged episodes of Union Square, Caroline In The City and Greg The Bunny. That last show was a Fox series, so it is possible that the network suggested him to direct here. But despite the talent on hand, the project just crashed and burned.
The pilot opens with the band – Steven Page, Kevin Heam, Tyler Stewart, Jim Creeggan and Ed Robertson – in concert, singing the show’s theme song to a cheering, adoring crowd. It’s silly, self-referential and somewhat reminiscent of the band’s live shows. And certainly referential to the iconic opening of the Monkees’ television series as well. With the crowd still cheering, we follow the band off stage back to a dressing room, where Ed compliments Steve on his confidence on stage. Steve admits that it is a new pair of pants before it quickly is discovered that he is actually wearing a pair of women’s pants. Before the women’s pants issue can be explored any further, the band’s manager Pierre comes into their dressing room to tell them that he has booked them a gig for the next day. The band is not happy as that was going to be their only day off that month. This is not the worst thing that Pierre has done to the band, and the group quickly reminisces about a sitcom he tried to book them into called “Makin’ It Happen,” where they played five brothers with Star Trek‘s George Takei as their father.
The next morning, the band’s bus arrives, with new driver McGinty, played by Harland Williams, who just randomly throws their gear around before they get on board. Arriving at the seedy motel their manager booked for them, they find Michael Richards as an insane desk clerk who claims he can stop time with a stop watch. He then proceeds to click the stop watch and claim that he has “made love” to various members of the band while they were frozen. The guys head across the street to a much nicer hotel only to find out that the place has been entirely booked for a wedding. The group lies to the receptionist and says that they are the wedding band. She gives them a room and then pushes them into a banquet hall where they discover that the wedding is a traditional Chinese marriage ceremony. The group picks up some traditional Chinese instruments and performs “One Week.” George Takei, who just happens to be there, gives them a thumbs down and declares that he has “never met these men before in my life.” The show, mercifully, ends with Ed thinking maybe he can get a date with the bride.
So what happened?
While the concept of giving a band like Barenaked Ladies their own show to have wacky adventures seems like a good idea, the execution was, to put it nicely, disappointing. The band’s non-musical performance seems surprisingly amateurish and somewhat self-conscious, odd given the number of videos and television appearances they had made by this point. There should have been a comfortableness to them being on camera that is desperately missing. Perhaps their ill at ease stance was informed by the fact that there is really nothing funny in the script at all. No amount of energetic delivery could shock life into the dead material here. Bits about Kevin talking to his keyboard and the “Makin’ It Happen” cutaway are flat and underdeveloped. Another bit – in which the screen goes into a split-screen with Steve and Ed giving DVD-like commentary on what is happening in the actual scene from the show starts off promising before going with a hacky gag about a stunt double not looking like the actor they are doubling. The Michael Richards segment that basically hinges on sexual assault and the borderline racism of the final scene at the Chinese wedding are just gross and off-putting.
Fans of the band could possibly like some of the on-stage performance bits that were interspersed through the shows as bumpers between scenes, including a portion of “Near/Far,” a concert mainstay for years. They also burst into short songs in the context of a couple of scenes such as singing about the need for privacy while drummer Tyler is trying to go to the bathroom in the bushes on the side of a highway. (Don’t ask.) But beyond that, there is nothing here to recommend watching the pilot presentation unless one is a die hard superfan completist.
There is precious little information on the pilot available online and it is easy to see why. Once everyone involved saw what they had on their hands they probably worked hard to put it into rear-view mirrors as fast as they possibly could. The band seems to have declined to even discuss the project in interviews, that is, if they were even asked about it at all. The initial announcement of the project barely made a ripple beyond the trades and its lack of a pick-up to series was met with deafening silence. After the production, the band just went back to its regular routine of touring and recording, the Barenaked Ladies Show pilot being a forgotten blip in their overall career.
And maybe that’s for the best.
