A Failing Attempt at Very Small Business

In my last post, I discussed the gem of a show I found in The Librarians. After enjoying that inappropriately funny show so much, I decided to check out the briefly lived show Very Small Business for a similar dose of humor. Very Small Business is a sitcom that aired on Australian TV in 2008 for only six episodes. The series was co-written by Gary McCaffrie, Wayne Hope (one of the co-creators of The Librarians), and Robyn Butler (real-life wife of Hope and actor who played the role of Frances on The Librarians). The show stars Hope and Kym Gyngell, the actor behind Father Harris on The Librarians. 

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?

What Happens in the Library, Stays in the Library

Some time back, Hulu recommended the show The Librarians to me and while I almost immediately added the show’s three seasons* to my queue, I only recently got around to watching them.

 The Librarians is a gem of a show, airing on Australian TV from 2007 to 2010, and featuring a host of hilarious situations. The sitcom revolves around the staff of the Middleton Interactive Learning Centre, a public library run by head librarian Frances O’Brien, “a Catholic bigot with a panic disorder.” In the first episode, Frances finds that her hand is forced into hiring Christine Grimwood as the children’s librarian, despite the fact that Christine is facing drug-related convictions – and that Christine is Frances’s ex-best friend from her youth. The library staff also includes Dawn McConnichie, a klutz who is dealing with being in a wheelchair after an accident at a staff retreat; Matthew Bytnskov, the library’s self-described “writer in residence” who is as pretentious as he is lovable; Ky Lee, the stereotypically effeminate gay man starting a new relationship; Nada al Farhouk, a devout Muslim who tries to counteract Frances’s racism by reaching out to the diverse community; Neil Slider, a mama’s boy and wannabe jockey who was convicted of stealing money from his postal job to bribe owners into letting him ride and now does his community service at the library where he crushes on Christine; and Lachie Davis, who struggles with dyslexia and doesn’t quite seem to grasp that Frances hired him only as eye candy.  

Some of the other regularly appearing cast includes:

- Terry, Frances’s hapless husband (played by Wayne Hope, the show’s co-writer, producer, and director);

- Frances and Terry’s four daughters (only ever heard off screen) who are out-of-control pranksters;

- Pearl, Frances’s cruelly strict mother now suffering from dementia;

- Nikko, Christine’s boyfriend convicted of dealing drugs;

- Paolo, Nikko and Christine’s shady lawyer; and

- Father Harris, a sounding board for Frances but also her foil as he is far more liberal and embracing of others than she is.

These characters show off Australia’s diverse background by representing a variety of ethnicities such as English, Irish, Malaysian, Welsh, etc. The characters are all quirky, more like caricatures than real people but somehow still endearing. This is except for Frances, who is maddeningly frustrating at times. Understandingly, it is part of the comedy for her to be so ridiculously rigid and frightened of anyone who seems to be “other” than her, but it is also an odd experience to follow a show centered on such an unattractive personality. However, it does seem that Frances grows over time and by the third season, she is a more bearable character. Also, the more her back story unfolds, the more you do develop some sympathy for her character and can understand how she justifies her own unhappy life choices by fixating on how she is the only one holding the “correct” beliefs and following the “right” path. And, it’s always extra entertaining to see her slip up and do something so antithetical to her own beliefs, like have a schoolgirl crush on Christine.

While the stories of the characters’ personal lives and how they interact with one another is the primary focus on the show, each season has an overarching plot revolving around the library. In the first season, it is the upcoming Book Week in which the premier will unveil a new governmental children’s literacy initiative; in the second season, it is the re-building and re-opening of the library after it burns down in a suspected arson; and in the third and final season, it is a government official’s demand that the library must turn a profit or face closure. The seasons themselves are short with only six episodes each in the first two seasons and eight in the final season, which allows for a tight story arc and little room for superfluous scenes or episodes just to fill space but without adding anything substantial.

Each episode begins with something inappropriate being shoved into the book return, with this object being related to that episode’s storyline in some way (i.e., a pig’s head from the local butcher shop stuck in the returns chute signals an episode in which there is concerns about racist attacks against Nada). In a few episodes, a framing device, such as Frances making a confession to Father Harris, is used to tell that week’s story. This serves to mix things up a bit, but I’m not sure how truly effective it always is. The show often makes uses of quick flashbacks, often from earlier in the day or week, to highlight a point or squeeze in another laugh. All in all, the show seems like a cross between the British/American sitcoms The Office mixed with the Canadian sitcom Corner Gas.

Unlike many sitcoms, The Librarians is very clever (not to say it doesn’t have its share of crass** and/or slapstick moments though), doesn’t rely on a laugh track for its audience to get its jokes, and is anything but predictable. That being said, in the third season in particular, there are moments that become perhaps too outrageous – for example, the OCD governmental minister’s fear of germs over the telephone, the converting of the library to a ShowBizz Video franchisee, and Terry’s The Oils Not Oils band stretch the limits somewhat. It’s certainly still enjoyable and funny, but it also feels like perhaps the show had hit a peak in the second season and couldn’t quite follow that up.

The acting, the directing, the sets, the costumes – everything about this show fits together well for a finished product that is entertaining. If you like quirky comedies, The Librarian is the show for you.

*What’s referred to as a “season” on American TV is called a “series” in Australia. You learn something new every day. (Incidentally, this show also taught me about long service leave. If only I lived in Australia…)

** There are clearly major differences in what is acceptable television fare in Australia versus the U.S. as the show is able to use profanities and cover adult topics without evasion.