Come to Papa review

In most of my reviews of obscure sitcoms nobody gives a crap about, I mentioned Come to Papa, a show that was supposedly incredibly bad, not to mention lost for several years. I used it as an idea that this would've been worse than some other sitcom I reviewed, I mean I don't know, when was the last time I ever talked about a sitcom?

Since then, half of the show's broadcast episodes had been found, one of which is on YouTube while the other is on MEGA. I'd like to give a shoutout to Panama Mike for uploading the first episode, thank you for helping us get an idea what many of these old sitcoms were like (and for saving the first episode of Pauly which I covered ages ago)

When it comes to sitcoms, they're more of the same, which is why I refrained from covering them unless they did something unique or are notable for the wrong reasons.

Background

Come to Papa was a star vehicle for comedian Tom Papa, who was fresh off of Saturday Night Live. The show debuted in 2004 and lasted for four episodes, because people absolutely hated it. People claimed it wasn't funny... and that was about it.

It got to a point where the show actually became lost, with the only evidence of it ever existing being a resume clip for Stacey Scowley. The out of context clip had molded everyone's opinion on the show based on available footage, and admittedly, it set my expectations very low. While I was looking up an episode of DiResta for my LostMediaWiki article on it, I found an episode of Pauly in my recommendations, and clicking on it, I found an episode of this show.

Is it as unfunny as they say?

The show centers on Tom Papa (as Tom Papa), using yourself as your own character doesn't bode well for me, if you frame your plot as an idealistic life (or you're so wasteful you try to cultivate your own little world.), but that's just me. Papa works as a writer for a newspaper in New Jersey, ran by Steve Carrell, pre-The Office, but more on that later.

The idea behind this is that Papa wants to break into more comedic writing, but is stuck at his work until he can find a breakthrough. With a limited premise, the sky's the limit, so points for not making shit complicated.

For the episode, Papa decides to write a commercial for a crazy car salesman, and the conflict comes when the latter accidentally burns down his business, but wants to take the fault to preserve his insane status. Fair enough, didn't run into that as much. I don't ordinarily laugh during sitcoms, but I actually managed to make it through the entire episode. It may not be funny, but it was watchable.

One thing I find neat about the show is how it handles transitions, it cuts to a pencil drawing Papa made detailing the context of what happened then and what would go on next. It gives the show a little extra character to it.

Now let's address the clip that gave any indication of this episode existing, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsKaFbs6698

In this, with a lack of context we have an unfunny show. But here's the context behind that. In the opening, Papa was sent to get coffee, but was half-awake and clumsily handed over money to the baristas. The baristas assume Tom was retarded, something that carries over the next few times they come by. This wasn't foregone, as it allowed Tom to get out of a court hearing regarding the salesman.

With context, we at least get justification for the laugh track, it brings the episode up from garbage to otherwise okay.

Another thing I like, while Carrell's better as Michael Scott, I did enjoy those bits on how he desperately wanted a cup of black coffee (relatable), and it seemed the world was against him as his servings included milk. The payoff was a coffee machine that did the same thing.

On the other hand, there was a gag involving a mailman who kept going in the house which had no payoff aside from something rather vague. I'm leaving it as indeterminate until I'm certain he's a recurring character.

Overall

While this sitcom isn't really a head-turner, it's better than what people may lead you to believe. It's harmless, better than other sitcoms I've seen, though I feel it was for the best it was canned early. If it had gone on, Steve Carrell wouldn't have been able to do The Office, and as James Spader proved, without Michael Scott, you have nothing.

If anything, Tom Papa had a better chance than John DiResta.