Cavemen on ABC: Will it Be as Funny as a Thirty-Minute Commercial for Car Insurance?

For all you people who complained that sixty seconds wasn't quite enough time to get your Cavemen fix, ABC went out and made you a show. Here is a preview of Cavemen, which premieres on ABC this Fall. Will it be as funny as a thirty minute commercial for car insurance? We can only hope.

Think of your favorite commercial of all-time. It's not easy, is it? Sure, some commercials are amusing, some might even make you laugh. Once in a blue moon, a commercial might even cause you to buy something. Maybe something like car insurance. But they are seldom that memorable that they beg to stick in your mind for years. Remember your favorite commercial yet? Yeah, me neither. But I'll tell you a few that stand out in my memory. The old "Where's the beef?" lady for Wendy's, Spudz McKenzie for Budweiser beer, maybe even that old Miller Lite debate. All right, now pick one you would like to watch for a full half hour, with other commercials tucked in between for good measure. Rather spend that time cleaning the oven or cutting your toe nails? Yeah, me too.

So why is ABC making a sitcom called Cavemen, based on the semi-amusing Geico commercials? Maybe only exec-producer Josh Gordon could explain that. But I'll tell you why ABC might get away with it. If you want to watch comedy, Cavemen is the only game in town on Tuesday nights. Well, that and the show that follows at 8:30 on ABC, a sitcom called "Carpoolers" with Jerry O'Connell. Other than that, nothing. Nada, zip, zilch. Tuesday nights used to be so rich in comedy, especially on NBC. Now, you will be treated to a bunch of fatties trying to lose weight on "The Biggest Loser." I have nothing against people getting trim; I'm all for it, in fact. But do I want to watch them do it? About as much as I'd like to have the contestants take turns sitting on me.

There's a saying, and I think it goes something like this: "In the land of the blind, the man with one eye is king." I presume that's what ABC is counting on with the ill-advised creation of Cavemen. The bar has been significantly lowered since the days of "Cheers" and "The Cosby Show," folks. These days, what passes for funny is a caveman in a hot tub, suffering an existential crisis. If that's not a sign of the times, of our culture dumbing itself down, I don't know what is.