I predict that this show will be a failure. And it's not that it isn't good, but that it may be too subtle. I like what Matt and Trey have done. I am not sure how useful it is, and I'm sure most people will hate it (already I have heard about someone watching the first 8 minutes of it, and then switching the channel in a rage proclaiming: "This is the worst television show ever").
When I first heard that Matt and Trey were doing this, I was excited. I didn't know what to expect, and neither did anyone else. Of course, my first thoughts were that they'd do another animated show. When I found out it was live action, I was curious. But, then, I did like Orgazmo, while many people hated it. Still, having seen it tonight, it is nothing I could have actually predicted accurately. However, if you've seen the commercials they've been running ad nauseam on Comedy Central Lately, you might have a better idea. I kept thinking, "Jeeze, they're promoting the heck out of this thing. They better hope it is a success, or else they'll be screwed." Well, hopefully I'm wrong, and they won't be screwed. Those commercials were not just for saturation, though. They were valuable documents telling us how this show was to be taken; they must have known that it would be difficult for most people to understand their jokes. What "That's My Bush!" is is just what the commercials told us it was: a parody of sitcoms. Matt and Trey are taking extremely common sitcom plots, placing President Bush and his wife Laura into the central roles, and adding common sitcom supporting characters. These supporting characters provide a main key for interpretation. There is Maggie, a wisecracking maid, a descendent of Alice from "The Brady Bunch" and Mr. Belvidere. There is Princess, the blond bimbo, descended from characters like Kelly Bundy from "Married with Children," and any number of the "Friends." Then there is Larry, an advice giving neighbor, descended from such neighbors as Lenny and Squiggy in "Laverne and Sherley." None of these three characters should be anywhere near the White House, of course, especially Larry, who just walks into the White House unannounced and plops down on a chair. Also present are laugh tracks, the "oohs" and "ahs" of a live studio audience, and catch phrases belonging to both George and Laura, Laura spouting "That's my Bush!" and George spouting a line that everyone in the pseudo-live-studio-audience says right along with him, "One of these days, Laura, I'm going to punch you right in the face!"
The first episode is constructed around the familiar plotline of a man having two dinner dates on the same night, because of which he must rush between them frantically. G.W. is the man, of course, Laura his wife who wants a quiet evening alone, and his two guests the leaders of the opposite sides of the abortion issue. The pro-choice leader is a gigantic lesbian, and the pro-life leader is, unbelievably, a computer-animated fetus who survived his abortion and has lived for 30 years!
One of the major problems of this show is that Matt and Trey follow this sitcom standard plotline so closely that it provides few surprises. The only alternations are the unconventional characters in the conventional roles. This doesn't lend too many genuinely hilarious moments. The whole concept is funny, but not laugh-out-loud funny, as South Park or Orgazmo are. Many people may smile at the cleverness the show exudes, but many will walk away thoroughly unimpressed. It is possible that the show will get better as it goes on. Next week's episode involves a bunch of frat buddies of G.W. who crash the White House. That may prove funnier. I think the disgustingness of the fetus may have been enough to ruin a lot of appetites. Still, I really enjoyed the first episode. I hope there are enough intelligent people in the world to appreciate it for what it is.
