What would happen if God gave up on Earth and decided to end it all? TBS’s comedy “Miracle Workers” explores this very question.
Looking down to Earth from Heaven Inc., God (Steve Buscemi) and his employees continue to keep everything running. Seeing how poorly everything is going with how humans act and natural disasters, God becomes a grungy, sweatpants wearing, unmotivated boss who completely gives up on his company, Earth. Given only two weeks to save Earth, Eliza (Geraldine Viswanathan) makes a bet with God to answer an impossible prayer: make two socially awkward humans (Sasha Compere and Jon Bass) fall in love. With the help of her coworker Craig (Daniel Radcliffe), will they be able to answer the prayers and save it all in time? Director and writer Simon Rich is known for his writing on “Saturday Night Live”, “Inside out” and his novels and writings that have appeared in The New Yorker. Rich’s humor is threaded throughout “Miracle Workers” plot with every strange request from God, hilarious late-night humor about genitals, and silly background settings within Heaven Inc. Buscemi, known for countless roles including “Fargo” and “Reservoir Dogs” and Radcliffe, known for “Harry Potter,” set “Miracle Workers,” up with an amazing cast that viewers know will give a good show. They also appeal to both young and old bringing even more viewers in. The show’s leads, Viswanathan and Radcliffe, work together to balance out their roles. Viswanathan’s blunt delivery gets taken a step down by Radcliffe’s shy and nervous character who has spent the past two years working alone, taking hours to just move one leaf on Earth while in the Prayer Department. Perfectly representing the company owner, Buscemi has delegated his tasks to his personal assistants, Sanjay (Karan Soni) and Rosie (Lolly Adefope). Soni and Adefope offer stereotypical workplace energy as they appear to fight for who God’s favorite assistant is. The view of Earth from Heaven Inc., along with the different offices and God’s domain, assists in creating a realistic image for viewers. God’s luxurious office compared to the small office settings of the individual departments such as Body Odor and Volcanic Eruptions give a real company feel that is extremely relatable to working on Earth just with drastically different job roles. The driving force in each episode is how will they work towards answering an impossible prayer in time to save everyone and their jobs. While a funny and cleverly written show, season one is sure to answer the question of whether the Earth is saved or not. If the Earth isn’t saved, it would be extremely difficult for a season two to be written. If the Earth is saved, season two would have a completely new plot or need a new question answered. It will be interesting to see how this show will be continued into the future or if it will end with just a single season. This review was a product of my Journalism 3630 Reviewing and Criticism class. Edits to my original reviews have been made based on comments by my professor. Please contact me for original copies. |
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