Channel Surfing: Inside Amy Schumer - "Real Sext"

Welcome to a new column called Channel Surfing, in which I sporadically look at current TV shows and talk about them. These are not ones that I care to write weekly recaps for and are instead reflections either on the episode, the series, or particular moments. This will hopefully help to share personal opinions as well as discover entertainment on the outer pantheon that I feel is well worth checking out, or in some cases, shows that are weird enough to talk about, but should never be seen.

We are living in a great time for the TV comedy world. No, that doesn't mean that the biggest comedies in the ratings are necessarily the best. I just believe that thanks to a mixture of ambitious network decisions and the rise of female-written shows that transcend audiences, we have entered a more ambitious, unique time. Shows like Girls and The Mindy Project have recently managed to place their creator's on Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People list. While there is still ways to go before the tides properly turn, the unique products that come with female perspective have caused a welcome shift in TV.

For instance, Girls may be one of the most revolutionary shows in recent years. While we've always had the class of women who use their disproportionate figures for laughs, it was usually in a broad way. What Lena Dunham has done is not necessarily just used her "15 pounds overweight" figure as subject matter, but also made it seem like it wasn't an issue. These are women of the modern era, and they are very flawed in comparison to the skinny and attractive model of decades past. True, occasionally grotesque things are played for humor, but most of all, Girls revolutionized how women and their bodies can be perceived on top of just how women in control of their own TV shows can lead to something authentic and brilliant.

That is all I could think about as Inside Amy Schumer began playing. Upfront, I will say that I am not a huge fan of titular comedian Amy Schumer. I have listened to her first album "Cutter," and it felt more preordained to lowbrow jabs at off color subjects. However, she did have a stint on Delocated and a brief appearance on Girls, thus making it an intriguing subject to tackle. While Comedy Central has been a haven for this Channel Surfing column, it is mostly because they are going through a fascinating phase of giving every comedian you ever loved a show. With exception to Nathan for You and the Jeselnik Offensive, 2012 hasn't been too successful.

This is not to say that they haven't given comedians their voice. It is more the question on do we want these voices? Schumer tends to be a shock jock, and the episode plays off of that. She is not a traditionally gorgeous woman, so opening "Real Sext" with a scene in which she has a mouth full of noodles only makes the show seem more off putting. True, it is much in the Girls vein of exploring women outside of attractiveness, but as the show progresses, it seems more like Schumer loathes her body as opposed to adding any sincere commenting on it. In the opening sketch, she has an awkward chat on her phone with someone that results in her saying asinine things like "rub all of my feet." The least that can be said is that this may be the most comical moment in the episode's run.

Then the episode progresses to the familiar Comedy Central style of stand-up/sketch/stand-up/sketch in which it almost seems like Schumer doesn't so much tell good jokes, but mostly sets up the next video. While it may be more to break taboos, the sketch that followed was a parody of Hooters in which all of the waiters have massive bulges in their pants. In fact, that is really all this sketch has, including a man with a sagging bulge and quite possibly the weirdest Coyote Ugly parody. The core center (trying to cheer up a friend) is intriguing, but this feels like it was created just for the sake of discomfort.

That is the trouble with the show. It proceeds to include jokes about the holocaust, rape, and a few racist remarks. Whatever good ideas that the show has, it is immediately ruined by the decision to make a wild, off the mark response. In a clip that involves convincing old people to not be racist, it practically ends with someone calling an old person a "bitch," which seems to delineate from the sketch, which took a jab at easy targets. Admittedly, by inverting the humor, it kind of works, but the targets are still too simple and the feel is almost too mean.

This is the biggest issue that Inside Amy Schumer really has. It tries to be uncomfortable in way too many ways. The stand-up is lackluster and compared to Comedy Central's past of brilliant segues by Key & Peele or Chappelle's Show, this just falls flat. Familiar jokes about taboo subjects is not enough to sustain humor. To make things worse, all of this uncomfortable jabber seems to be said by someone who finds joy in finding the discomfort in her own body and playing it for humor. While it is more spoken than presented for laughs, it just makes Schumer seem like a terrible person who is very unattractive in personality.

Then the woman in the street bit adds a nice break from routine. By this point, it can be comparable to the Ben Show, which more relied on embarrassing people into saying ridiculous stuff. However, Schumer's desire to get people to open up about sending naked pictures of themselves results in nothing too groundbreaking or the least bit clever. It is the tamest part of the show, but mixed in with a whole lot of people insulting each other, there is little to make the audience feel like reaching out to strangers will make Schumer seem more endearing.

Why does Inside Amy Schumer fail where Girls succeeds? Maybe it is a stretch to compare the two when the former is a sketch show and relies more on brevity. Maybe it is just that Schumer relies too much on shock without much in the ways of substance. Girls works because while these characters are shockingly damaged, there is a gray zone that while they are unlikable, they aren't obnoxious about it. Schumer tends to rely on familiar routines and while it does make for a few chuckles, it feels unfortunate to see these ideas in the confines of a show. Sketch comedy is a touchy field, and few people are great at it. 
Schumer is by no means the worst at shock humor, but she doesn't succeed in giving a reason to care. The community feeling isn't established and her stand-up routines aren't structured well enough to complement the rest. Most would say that Maron is just like Louie, but that would be too much of a stretch. It has a more conventional narration. Inside Amy Schumer, while maybe more in line with Comedy Central's history, is Louie if done wrong. The format almost feels like a clone and by trying to make a sympathetic ugly person as a protagonist for the show, it forgets to really give them dignity.
The show isn't embarrassingly bad, but when an entire sketch revolves around pants bulges and another around taking sexy pictures that look terrible, what is there really to strive for with Inside Amy Schumer? Maybe with a little charm and a few tips on how Girls created a cultural shift in comedy, maybe this show will stop feeling dated in the portrayal of sexual women and create something more in line with the next crop of female bred shows.