Miracle Workers Too Often Plays Like Lesser Cousin of The Good Place | Demanders

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Miracle Workers Too Often Plays Like Lesser Cousin of The Good Place | Demanders

by
Brian Tallerico



February 11, 2019
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Regular readers of my TV reviews know how much I love NBCâ??s â??The Good Place,â?* far and away the best program on network television and one of the best comedies of the decade. Itâ??s somewhat heartening to see that showâ??s influence all over TBSâ?? â??Miracle Workers,â?* another program that imagines the great beyond as a bureaucratic nightmare complete with petty personality conflicts and embedded commentary on what it really means to be human and â??good.â?* However, having seen five (of seven)آ*episodes of â??Miracle Workers,â?* Iâ??m struck even more by the degree of difficulty pulled off by â??The Good Place,â?* a show that never forgets to be hysterically funny while itâ??s also being fascinating in its philosophy. Neither departmentâ??the philosophy or the humorâ??creates the same impact in â??Miracle Workersâ?* despite the presence of a strong cast and interesting concept. Most of all, no matter what show you choose to compare this one to, it suffers from the biggest problem a comedy can have: itâ??s just not funny enough.

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Simon Rich, who created the underrated â??Man Seeking Womanâ?* on FX, adapts the novel What in Godâ??s Name in â??Miracle Workers,â?* which basically reimagines Heaven as a neverending string of office departments at a Place called “Heaven Inc.”آ*Over there is the Dept. of Genitals and the Dept. of Volcano Safety, andآ*over here in the basementآ*is the Dept. of Answered Prayers, where Craig (Daniel Radcliffe) works a lowly, horrible existence. Heâ??s not allowed to directly answer prayers, forced to make tiny impacts on the world below to give people what they need when itâ??s even remotely possible to do so. In other words, he can move dead leaves one at a time to answer a prayer to find lost keys, but heâ??s not handling the big stuff. He stamps those asآ*â??Impossibleâ?* and sends them on up toآ*God, played as a bathrobe-wearing variation on Jeff Bridgesâ?? The Dude by the too-good-for-this-show Steve Buscemi.

God has stopped really caring about Earth, only spurred to action when he decides itâ??s time to smite the religion-hating Bill Maher (one of the only truly funny bits although even it goes on too long and becomes an extended dick joke). A new angel named Eliza (Geraldine Viswanathan of â??Blockersâ?* and Sundance hit â??Halaâ?*) mistakenly convinces God that itâ??s time to give up on the experiment known as Earth. God decides heâ??s going to blow it up, but Eliza convinces him to issue a stay if Eliza and Craig can answer an â??impossible prayer.â?* They choose one from a historically difficult categoryâ??the love prayerâ??and try to gently influence the paths of Earthbound Sam (Jon Bass) and Laura (Sasha Compere) into one another.

Clearly, thereâ??s enough plot for a seven-episode limited series, but â??Miracle Workersâ?* struggles to balance its narrative with its running gags and extended ensembleâ??I didnâ??t even mention Karan Soni as Godâ??s put-upon assistant. Thereâ??s both too much show here and not enough of it is funny. Throwaway bits Like God not knowing how to use a microwave are much better than every time the show has to return to its forced love story. And the world-building is disappointing as well as most of the show takes Place at Craigâ??s depressing work station or in Godâ??s man cave. Itâ??s a show that you keep waiting to click into gear, to get funnier, smarter, more enjoyableâ??and there are glimpses of it in Buscemiâ??s hang-dog approach and Radcliffeâ??s quirky performanceâ??but it never quite gets there. Itâ??s a TV prayer left unanswered.آ*

Five episodes screened for review.



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