Scaring the Cavemen: Fun and Games in the Dog Days of Press Tour

It's a given that critics get a little giddy toward the end of the TCA tour. Two weeks living out of a suitcase -- even one parked in one of the ritziest hotels in Beverly Hills -- will do that to you.

So when I and a group of mostly black TV critics saw the actors from ABC's Cavemen series sitting on a patio at the Beverly Hilton, decked out in full regalia, having a smoke between filming promotional shots for the network, we couldn't resist. We had to go over and talk to them.

We didn't really say anything mean or aggressive; we mostly made small talk about where we were from and how the tour was going. But you could see in the eyes of the actors, who were fully made up in the fake hair, plastic noses and arm/hand hair, that they were wondering if we would hassle them about the show.

"Some people are pissed that we're even making the show," said actor Bill English, sweeping a lock of fake hair out of his face to exhale a plume of cigarette smoke.  "We're only in it for the money," joked the guy who plays the funny ascerbic cavedude, Nick Kroll.

In a few minutes, a beefy-looking security guy came to the table and said the guys had to shoot some more promotional spots. But as we left, one of my friends saw the guard pushing the guys into a meeting room, saying "Don't leave here."

Did we intimidate the guys just because they know some critics, particularly critics of color, don't find Cavemen's allegory to black people all that amusing? I'm not sure. But I think it may have helped them a bit to know that there are real people on the other end of their portrayals -- people who have to live with the consequences of their creative choices every day.

NOTE: Don't assume the TV show, as depicted in the pilot circulated to critics, is like the GEICO ads. It is not. While the cavemen in the GEICO ads look more like repressed metrosexuals, the allegories to race are much more obvious and heavy-handed in the initial pilot. See a scene from the pilot here.

Comments

[Mike]

Eric, let me preface this by saying that nine times out of 10, I really enjoy reading your blogs. But this is rediculous. I watched the clip. It is not degrading black people. They didn't talk in ebonics, and they referenced Reba! I don't want to go off on a rant, but take a joke. If they were ripping on rednecks, saying "cracker" and "honkey," I'm sure it would be okay. I mean, no wonder your bleeding - for lack of a better term - won't stop. You keep picking the scab.

[Ron]

Eric, I don't think you have to worry about the allegory to black people in this show. If this clip is any indication, the show won't last six episodes. A comedy must be funny, and this clip ain't.

[dcdave]

Eric,
I don't think you have much to worry about. The pilot isn't an indication of much, as it's been re-shot and re-written about 1000 times by now. One of the original actors has been canned.
This was just another shot at an easy concept, with no real plan of action except to make a quick buck. Kind of like the Iraq War. I think the pilot may be inadvertently offensive, but the actual show will be sterilized for launch, and as Ron said, it "won't last six episodes".

[The Carl]

Six eps? My money sez it won't last more than two!