Comedy Central's "Wanda Does It" falls short of its mark

By Kara Ogushi
Online Forty-Niner
Staff Writer

If Wanda Sykes is doing "it," then "it" must not be making her fans laugh in her brand new television show presented by Comedy Central.

Her new series, entitled "Wanda Does It," follows Sykes around in a mock-reality television show as she tries to pursue jobs that are not in the entertainment industry.

In her premiere episode, which aired Oct. 5, Sykes decides to become a car repossessor after selling her car to a friend goes into hiding after her check bounces.

The show's format runs with a mix of Jerry Springer-like arguments with "Real World" type side interviews with her co-stars. The blend doesn't mix well and produces a bland cocktail of yelling and sarcastic comments that seem more angry than funny.

Sykes is paired up with comedic actor Tim Bagely, who plays her stressed manager. However, the majority of the time his frustrations seem fake and unrealistic and actually end up being very annoying.

The show drags along slowly as it shows Wanda going though the process of becoming a Repo woman. There are a few small laughs here and there, but mostly the show's only interesting piece was when a timer was shown while Sykes repossessed a car to demonstrate how quickly it must be done.

The show ends anti-climactically as Sykes predictably repossesses her car from her friend.

The second episode has even more Jerry Springer-esque qualities when Sykes and her manager get into an argument with the owner of the Golden Nugget Casino in Las Vegas. Sykes is angry because the Golden Nugget pushed her performance back a week to keep the "Men of Gold" (a spin-off of the Blue Man Group), who are supposedly "selling out the house."

The scene is so full of everyone screaming so that it is difficult to understand what is being said. Sykes decides to seek the advice of a professional gambler named Herb in order to wipe out the Golden Nugget Casino in revenge.

Sykes unrealistically learns the secrets of gambling and proceeds to win almost $60,000 and once again, predictability sinks in.

Sykes' manager throws down $50 bills onto the table in his excitement, which is considered bad luck in gambling according to Herb. This bad luck causes Sykes to lose all her money and ruins her plan.

The scenes are shown as if they are recorded by a home camera ("The Jamie Kennedy Experiment" style) and fail to show the audience anything worth paying attention to.

The situations seemed very obviously staged and performed — this is not all what fans have come to expect of Sykes or Comedy Central.

The show has a childlike humor with Sykes seeking revenge on her enemies to get laughs that never come.

Sykes' list of other odd jobs that she takes throughout the series will include a professional wedding photographer, WNBA coach, airline pilot, short order cook, call girl and many others that are potentially interesting, but if the first two episodes are any indication of what is to come, this show does not look promising.

After watching the show, it is obvious that Sykes needs to work on "it" before she can say she "does it."

"Wanda Does It" airs on Comedy Central on Tuesdays at 10:30 p.m.