SALON

Wednesday, Jan 11, 2012 7:50 PM UTC

“Chelsea” celebrates the drunk chick

Another new sitcom conflates drinking with hilarity. Must we insist Girls Behaving Badly is so groundbreaking?

By

Topics: Chelsea Handler, Are You There Chelsea?,

Laura Prepon in "Are You There, Chelsea?"

How do you make women funny? Add alcohol.

That’s what you’d gather from NBC’s new lineup, featuring the return of “Whitney” (I know, I hadn’t realized it’d gone away either) and the new sitcom “Are You There, Chelsea?” – a block it calls “Happy Hour Wednesday.” Yet from what we’ve seen of “Whitney” already and the already grim-looking previews for “Chelsea?” I can think of few things less likely to induce Wednesday happiness. To be fair, though, the odds are good they’ll make you want to reach for the Cuervo.

Based on Chelsea Handler’s best-selling, liquor-fueled memoir, “Are You There?” features “That ’70s Show’s” Laura Prepon as a gleefully boozy, slutty party gal who prays to the higher power of vodka for the strength to get out of DUIs and awkward same-sex overtures. Chelsea, we are incessantly reminded, is a free spirit (i.e., a lovable skank), attempting to get down to earth with the assistance of her virginal roommate and dowdy sister — played, with dowdy brunetteness, by none other than Chelsea Handler herself.

The Chelsea character is meant to be a mess, but she’s also meant to be hotter than any other gal in the room, and way more fun than her “judgy super-Christian sister.” She’s a natural “Happy Hour” companion to Whitney, she of similar sexy-dork shtick and the wacky jokes about drinking water like it’s vodka. Hilarious bits involving drunk driving, little people and homophobia ensue!

Of course, there’s plenty of genuine comedy to be found in excess, regardless of which gender is falling down. That’s why “The Hangover” wasn’t called “That Time a Bunch of Guys Drank Mineral Water and Nothing Happened.” “Bridesmaids” might still have been a runaway smash without Kristin Wiig’s liquored-up airplane scene, but it was an undeniable showstopper nonetheless. And it’s notable that “Chelsea” debuts the same week that one of the all-time champs of inebriated comedy has staged a brief return. “Absolutely Fabulous” always was – and blessedly remains – based largely on the humor inherent from well-dressed ladies face-planting out of taxicabs.

Yet there’s something different in the whole Chelsea-Whitney NBC Happy Hour. It starts with its weird assumption that the notion of Girls Behaving Badly (actual title of another Chelsea Handler show) is somehow, in this day and age, groundbreaking. That’s pretty much all it takes, by the way, for Handler to earn L.A. Times critic Robert Lloyd’s breathless accolade of “real” twice in a single recent paragraph. But what really sets it apart is the whiff of voyeuristic creepiness about building a prime-time block around willowy females who dress up sexy and get their drink on. Is this really the same network that figured out how to give us the complicated, hilarious – and very different – characters of Reagan Brinkley, Leslie Knope and Liz Lemon?

Worse, though, Happy Hour reinforces the stereotype of ladies as inherently less funny than dudes. Chelsea’s humor, after all, hinges upon her being like a guy — someone who sleeps around and gets “lady wood” — but has conveniently appealing blond hair and boobs. It’s an interesting if depressing ploy, especially coming on the heels of Meghan Daum’s recent declaration that Christopher Hitchens was right about women not being funny because “they’re afraid of what they’ll have to give up in exchange, for instance the coy mysteriousness that men supposedly prize above all else.” I think Daum is dead wrong, but I can’t help noticing what a neat workaround alcohol provides for the kind of person who does indeed believe that vaginas render a human unamusing. Drinking gives the female permission to be messed up and aggressive — all the things that make for comedy — and then go back to being “coy” and cute.

But there’s got to be more to a woman, even a fictional one, than “Look at me, I’m so naughty.” Some depth of character, some occasional jokes. Because the girl at the bar slurring “I’m sooooo drunk” is just a punch line, not a promising premise upon which to hinge an entire series. And alcohol only makes people interesting when you’re the one doing the drinking.

Mary Elizabeth Williams

Mary Elizabeth Williams is a staff writer for Salon and the author of "Gimme Shelter: My Three Years Searching for the American Dream." Follow her on Twitter: @embeedub. More Mary Elizabeth Williams.

Next Article

You Might Also Like

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

Gripping photos: The people of the Turkey protests (slideshow)

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • The protests take on a festive element as police forces move out of the park and square. Wearing a gas mask, this young man dances to traditional Turkish music in front of Taksim Square’s Ataturk Monument.

  • In Gezi Park since March 31st, this protester, originally caught off-guard by the Government’s teargas and water cannons, went out and bought a Russian army mask from WWII, preparing for what was to come.

  • This rambunctious boy seems to be enjoying the chaos. After taking this picture he threw a stone at the already destroyed building in the background.

  • Forming a line, the police face off directly with protesters in Taksim Square. After a while, they retreated and there was a general cheer – a back-and-forth dance that has been common since the beginning of this protest.

  • An elderly woman in Gezi Park reads the news. The tent community occupying the park was violently destroyed on June 16th.

  • Many different groups had set up booths to promote their cause in Taksim Square and Gezi Park. Standing in front of one, this man waves his flag while posing with conviction.

  • Many home-remedies are used to minimize the effects of tear gas. This woman has put a milky solution on her face, removing her mask after the tear gas dissipated. Before sunrise, the police came again for another round of teargasing.

  • People capitalize on the uprising -- selling flags, beer, gas masks, sky lanterns and spray paint to name just a few of the popular items.

  • On Monday morning, June 11, the police execute a strong offensive. Many plain-clothed police officers, like the ones seen here, clash with protesters in the side streets away from the main stand-off in Taksim.

  • The authorities seem to be most aggressive in the night, pushing protesters away from the square and park. After being teargassed this young woman catches her breath with other protesters on Siraselviler Street.

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

More Related Stories

Comments

 31 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username ( settings | log out )

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Video of the Day

Watch More Here »

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: "We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves": Growing up primate

Recommendations