The College Humor Show = Total FAIL!

It’s not hard to imagine why the geniuses at MTV thought that turning the College Humor website into a TV show was a good idea. The site is very solid — has been for years — and the original skits they’ve been creating hit more times than not. MTV is starved for non-reality programming, and with a history of airing shows like Human Giant and Wundershowzen, likes to think of itself as a promoter of ‘cutting edge’ of new comedy.

However, that history has now been severely tarnished with the premiere of The College Humor Show. Unfunny, unoriginal, boring, cheezy, lame and poorly acted are the best ways to describe the show, which should have been aborted before it ever got past the ‘what if’ stage. Jokes (or the semblance of jokes) that may play well in 30-60 second internet clips officially don’t pan out when expanded to a full half hour. We now have proof.

The cute foibles of Amir and Jake, for example, are forgivable when their medium is the internet. Their mediocre acting abilities are excused by the fact that they’re actually just computer programmers or whatever who are making funny videos in their spare time, and if a joke misses, big deal, they just shot it with their laptop and it cost them five cents to produce and the next one they come out with tomorrow will probably be better. But when you’re put on MTV, and are in the company of some truly spectacular comedy, your game needs to be stepped up big time. At least in this first episode, it wasn’t.

The only excuse that might be made in the show’s defense is that we are not it’s target audience. MTV may have kissed its 17 to 35 demographic goodbye long ago, and are now making a full court press to focus on 12 to 16-year-olds. If that is their goal, then they’re probably achieving it. The College Humor Show makes jokes that a high school freshman might get a kick out of, and does an equally good job of idolizing both the college experience and the ‘new media’ workplace. Kids need their comedy too, and if the College Humor team was aiming to make a tween version of The Office, then hey, success! But when you’ve got the word ‘college’ in your title, and you made a name for yourself on the internet making fun of drunk kids and praising the wonders of big boobs, we expect a lot more. Hopefully, this show will get better with age. Finger’s crossed. (And no, we’re not just jealous.)