Cavemen episode reviews

Episode 1. "Cavemen" Joel drags the guys to a BBQ hosted by his girlfriend's stern father.

It's a great idea for a show. Three cavemen, in modern times, and use their story to look at race issues. Brilliant. But, as a comedy?

Joel is our hero, and he's a likable enough guy. He's got a great girlfriend, and all he really wants to do is be accepted by her dad. Nick is the cynical one (and the only character to get any laughs) and he's sure everyone sees them as stereotypical cavemen. Jamie is the uncomplicated one.

I also really liked the hero's girlfriend's friend (Stephanie Lemelin), who was looking for something "wild" with one of the cavemen. She was cute and kinda funny.

I loved the concept of this. It's brilliant, it' clever, it works. And if the darn thing was funny, I'd be keen to watch the pilot again.

Episode 2. "Her Embarrassed Of Caveman" Joel thinks his girlfriend doesn't want her friends to know she is dating a caveman.

The most-hated show on TV finally makes it to air. The pilot I watched during the summer has been re-cast and re-thought, but it is essentially the exact same show. Which means? Everyone alive hates it. Except me, I really like it.

While the show is lacking in the laughs-department, it is still clever and likable. Using Cavemen as a metaphor for racism is a good idea. The two leads are, I think, very good. And their characters are very well crafted and interesting. The brother (now recast) is still just The Joey: dumb and funny.

Episode 3. "Nick Get Job" Nick gets a job. Nick gets fired.

There were some laugh-out-loud moments in this outing (which had our two contrasting best-friends working together in the same place) but no more than last week. How many is that? Not enough. Some of the commentary on racism was very very clever. But generated no laughs. I admire the writers for pushing their agenda up-front from the start, but they may wish they had soft-peddled it for a while and found a few more laughs in the scripts. Much as I love this show, I fear that it's days are numbered.

Episode 4. "The Cavewoman" Nick falls for Heather.

Finally! A very funny episode. Kim Director guests as Heather, a cavewoman, who (in the show's cleverest script so far) makes life hell for all three of the regulars. She dates one of them, flirts with another one and bullies the third repeatedly about calling a friend of hers for a date. It's impossible to decide which of the stories is the funniest. But, I think, poor Joel's mumbled attempts to explain things to his girlfriend is the episode highlight: "It's not a problem that I'm dating you, it's just a problem for dating Heather. [pause] No. Okay. That's not what I meant either." Closely followed by Andy telling Heather "I'm a gay man. I enjoy the gay lifestyle." to get her to leave him alone.

Episode 5. "Mascot" Nick takes a job as a substitute teacher.

This show has turned a corner and is now very funny. It's becoming obvious to me that the character of Nick (played by Nick Kroll) is a goldmine of comedy. His worldview is very extreme, so the writers can drop him into any given situation and watch what happens. This week, he - inadvertently - beats up a teenage girl (while hundreds of other teenagers watch in horror). But, he later consoles himself with the knowledge that it was only "hundreds". This, of course, is before it shows up on a YouTube equivalent.

Episode 6. "The Shaver" Joel has a new friend, who might be a caveman who has shaved...

Oh, dear. A major backward slide with the least funny episode so far. Nick was annoying and Joel was boring in this one. Andy's story, however, got some laughs thanks to the incredibly hot Stephanie Lemelin. Andy, she discovers, has quite a lot of road rage and it gets her in the mood very fast whenever he cuts loose. Andy, of course, is oblivious to this. Lots of laughs to be had, leading to my favourite line in the episode: "Why don't we wait out all this traffic? Pull into one of these cheap motels!"

Episode 7. "Rock Vote" Election time.

My favourite shows have always been the ones with something important to say. As a kid, I loved shows like Lou Grant and Quincy for that reason. Today, while I'm just as impressed by the coolness of Jack Bauer and Starbuck as everyone else, I take a lot of enjoyment from the ability of shows to reflect the world we live in today. Some shows, not all shows.

I responded quickly to Cavemen because I recognised a project that had something to say about race relations (and, even better, had found a very novel way of doing it). Episode 7, which proves there is a lot more to this formula than race relations, is all about Andy (a brilliant Sam Huntington). He's clueless about voting, so Joel and Nick take it upon themselves to educate him. Along the way they meet two candidates (one slick, one nuts), their apartment is robbed, and gun-toting Thorne (Stephanie Lemelin, who gets funnier every week) introduces Andy to the joys of bearing arms.

While early scripts were thoughtful, but lacking in laughs, the show has now managed to strike a successful balance. Script and delivery combine here to give laugh after laugh in every scene. It's one of the best shows on television, and I'm proud to be a fan.

Episode 8. "Nick Work, Andy Jerk" Joel moves out.

Nick Kroll is usually the best thing about this show, and he's very good in this episode, but the most laughs come from Sam Huntington as Andy gets a really strong storyline. He's gotten himself a job, knee-deep in corporate America, and he doesn't quite fit in. Andy (being Andy) runs around trying to make friends with everyone. Which leads to meetings on "personal space" and so forth. Very funny and (as is often the case with this show) very insightful. Meanwhile, back on the homefront, Joel and Nick have a fight over Kate and Nick's treatment of her. Eventually Joel moves out and Nick becomes a total slob. While it covers ground familiar to anyone who has ever seen a sit-com before it must be said that - to the show's considerable credit - it manages to raise several good laughs. All in all, with it's dead-on social commentary and successful jokes, this is one of the very strongest episodes.

Episode 9. "Nick Sick" Joel gets dumped.

Nick gets sick and think he is dying. Meanwhile, Kate decided to dump Joel (for no apparent reason) and move on. She neglects to tell him this, of course, and he spends the episode chasing her to find out what is going on. It's a funny episode. Nick Kroll gets all the best lines/moments but Sam Huntington and Bill English are pretty close behind him. At this stage in the production, all three actors have a total handle on their characters and are able to get laughs by just reacting to stuff. Nick has no insurance, so he pretends to be Joel for a while. Stephanie Lemelin (who is incredibly hot) gets lots of good screen time in this one (which is incredibly wonderful). Her adorable character, Thorne, is nice to Joel through out the whole break-up mess, even advising him to buy socks as a gift in one (hilarious) scene. One of the better episodes.

Episode 10. "Andy Stand-Up" Andy does comedy.

It's a bit too preachy (which can get embarrassing) but this is still one of the very best episodes. In this one, Joel is trying to bounce back from his break-up with Kate. When he hears that she hated his clothes he gives his wardrobe a total overhaul, and the entire plot thread yields many laughs. It's a good storyline. It captures truth: The moment after a relationship has ended when you still bump into your ex a lot and try to give yourself a total make-over so they will take you back. Highlight? Kate's mom talking about Joel's clothes.

But Andy gets most of the scenes in the episode. This is good for two reasons: Andy is coming close to overtaking Nick as my favourite character in the show, and his girlfriend (Stephanie Lemelin) is both hot and adorable. In equal measure. Not an easy one to pull off. I know. I do it every day :)

Andy takes a stab at stand-up comedy. It's a wild ride. He sucks, gets great, becomes a huge hit, learns a lesson about racial stereotypes and goes back to sucking again.

When it gets preachy (on race issues) this episode veers into the territory of embarrassment but when it stays funny, it is very, very funny.

Episode 11. "Cave Kid" The guys compete to mentor a cave kid.



The first episode with the perfect balance between comedy and preaching. Nick's desire to expose the child to his cultural heritage makes perfect sense, really, and much of what happens between them very funny. Joel, meanwhile, wants to use the kid to get close a beautiful co-worker (Virginia Williams, who is stunning) and competition between him and Nick is hilarious.

Episode 12. "Hunters And Gatherers" Nick competes with Maurice for the attentions of Heather.

Very funny. Nick and Joel both get storylines and both are funny. Race issues are not used to fuel the comedy (for once) and - instead - it's a tale about gender roles and different types of men.

Episode 13. "Caveman Holiday" Another of those episodes with a pretty good idea but not enough jokes to make it work. Early episodes were like this, then the show overcame it and managed to turn out a succession of very funny installments. This is not one of those.

It is the Caveman holiday of Long Night. Basically, it's Christmas. All Cavemen gather and celebrate the traditions that came from the time when they survived the Ice Age. Andy (the innocent one) is over-eager, Nick (the cynical one) is happy to sit back and make fun of it all, while Joel (the mature one) is trying to put it all behind him and act like this is just any other day. He goes to work as normal. And then... guess what? Towards the end of the story he has a glorious epiphany and rushes home to join in the festivities. Yuck. The episode is trying hard to be a send-up of Christmas episodes but there aren't enough jokes to make it work and it ends up being an example of a bad Christmas episode.