Hope plays Don Angel, an entrepreneur behind the Worldwide Business Group, which publishes numerous newspapers and magazines that mainly
serve only as space for advertisements – the type of junk you receive in the
mail and almost immediately toss in the recycling bin. Don has just hired Ray
Leonard (Gyngell) to be the group’s senior journalist and write editorial
content that is little more than advertisement itself. Ray was formerly a
journalist for big and respected newspapers but has been out of work for six
years after suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome. He takes the part-time job
at Worldwide Business Group even though its pay is pittance not because he
needs the employment or money but because his psychologist recommends he gets
out and about again to counter his depression. Meanwhile, as Don attempts to
juggle all the scams he’s started in an attempt to grow his business, he is
also going through a divorce and suffering physical pain due to all the stress
he’s experiencing.
With so many connections to a show I had previously found
entertaining, I had high expectations for Very
Small Business as well. Unfortunately, these were not met. The show’s humor
was just … not so funny. There were a few parts here and there that made me
chuckle, but mostly I was not bemused. Don was a character that was very
difficult to like in any way and his constant attempts to swindle people were
not really humorous. As I mentioned in my post about The Librarians, it was sometimes a bit hard to get behind a show
that featured such a mean-spirited main character, but Don made Frances looked
like an angel in comparison. And, as I mentioned in that post, Frances did
grow somewhat as a character over the series. When faced with problems, Don
only became more of a jerk, although to be fair, this short-lived show had less
opportunity for character growth. Furthermore, with its ensemble cast, The Librarians wasn’t all Frances all the
time. With only Don and Ray at is core, it was hard for Very Small Business to give the viewer much more than Don and his
vulgar speech, flippant attitude toward women, obsession with making money, and
heartless approach to business. Ray was a far more interesting character,
especially as we learned more about his past and his coming to terms with his
previously estranged daughter Leslie who suddenly found Jesus. If the show
focused on him rather than Don, it might have been more engaging and it seemed
that his absurd life situation would have lent itself to more darkly humorous
scenarios. Instead, the show decided to fall back far too often on potty humor
(literally) to try to get a laugh out of its audience. It didn’t work.
A fun Easter egg in Very
Small Business was an appearance from Robyn Butler in one episode as a
psychologist that Don sees on recommendation from his doctor. Seeing her in a
role, albeit a small one, so very different from that of Frances O’Brien on The Librarians made it all the more
obvious how much transformation had gone into creating the closed-minded head
librarian of the Middleton Interactive Learning Centre.
Usually I lament when TV executives don’t give shows a fair
shot, but six episodes seemed to be more than enough for Very Small Business. I have to admit I even skipped through half of
the fourth episode because Don’s actions and dialogue were just becoming so
obnoxious. I might have stopped watching the show altogether there except that
I was aware of the cameo from Robyn Butler in episode five and then became more
interested in the resurgence of Ray’s story here to continue on to the sixth
and final episode.
It might be that the humor used in Very Small Business works for some viewers, but I was disappointed,
especially after the successfully entertaining The Librarians. Dear reader, what do you think? Have you seen Very Small Business? Did you find it
funny?
