ABC offers ‘Celebrity Dating Game’
Beware of corporations bearing “irony.” The press release for “The Celebrity Dating Game” (10 p.m., ABC, TV-14) contains the words “wry wink.” Whenever television is touted as “wry,” you can expect anything but subtlety. And “wink” simply means obvious innuendoes can be expected.
Time was, shows like “The Dating Game” featured average Joes and Janes interrogated by smooth and glib Jim Lange, who was smart enough to get out of the way as the would-be couples provided the comedy. Networks were confident enough that average dating-age people were capable of some degree of wit or unintentionally humorous outbursts — and that an audience wanted to see folks like themselves in the spotlight.
A million mergers later, we have an entertainment industry that has no confidence or interest in “regular” people. “Celebrity Dating Game” uses a “wry wink” to explain why it now trades in the semi-famous, but the message is clear: its producers assume its audience can’t be bothered watching someone they have seen on TMZ.
The spirit of contemptuous condescension is conveyed by the hosts, actress/singer Zooey Deschanel and Motown appropriator Michael Bolton. Their patter, delivery and overall energy level seem dangerously decaffeinated, as if the only way to preside over something so decadent and unoriginal is to affect the pose of a soulless mannequin, a lifeless husk impersonating the formerly famous.
› The CW departs from its comic-book formula with the summer series “The Republic of Sarah” (9 p.m., TV-14). Sort of.
Like nearly all series that depict small towns, “Sarah” takes place in a picture-postcard-perfect place — in this show called Greylock, New Hampshire. Residents wake up from their Norman Rockwell delusions to discover that a vein of a rare mineral has been discovered beneath their streets. A key ingredient in new technology, it is in shorter supply than gold. Soon, a mining company, Lydon Industries, backed by the power of the state, sets about buying up the town to reduce it to rubble.
They didn’t count on spunky high school teacher Sarah Cooper (Stella Baker). It’s like “The Gilmore Girls” or the gang from “Riverdale” suddenly decided to take on the Man.
Things get weird, and the show gets its title, when Sarah discovers a quirk in the town’s paperwork, indicating that it was never actually incorporated into the United States.
So, at a time of remarkable political division, “Sarah” sets about splitting the difference. The fight against Lydon Industries clearly echoes recent real-life actions of anti-fracking activists and those who fought the XL pipeline. The “Gee, our problems might be solved if we simply secede from the Union,” philosophy speaks to another audience entirely.