It’s
easy to root for the little guy, especially when you can see bits of yourself
in them. This is one of the things that makes The Office's Michael
Scott such an endearing and memorable character despite his frequently awful
and cringe-inducing hijinks—his loneliness and overall need to be loved is
something we can all relate to in a way. It is much easier to follow characters
you are empathetic towards, and familiarity breeds empathy. American Auto,
like The Office, is a single-camera workplace comedy that
occasionally indulges in the type of cringe humor that its ancestor is known
for, but its focus on the upper management of a gigantic car company inherently
makes it a bit more difficult to relate to and to root for the characters. But
despite this I still found plenty to like about it.
Created by Justin Spitzer,
former Office writer and the brain behind Superstore, American
Auto is mostly great. The writing is witty and the jokes coerce
chuckles far more often than not. Ensemble comedies can sometimes have weak
links in their casts, but there are none to be found in the offices of Payne
Motors, as every person there is funny and talented. This kind of comedy may be
far from fresh at this point, but it is done exceptionally well here, and for a
lot of people, myself included, this is enough to keep me watching.
The biggest problem lies with the
characters themselves. I’m not some “eat the rich" revolutionary, but
caring about millionaires and the millionaire problems that they discuss while
flying on their private jet can be difficult, especially when these issues are,
more often than not, self-inflicted and have negative consequences for the
mostly unseen (albeit fictional) working class. The social status of the
characters also magnifies the selfish decisions that sitcom subjects such as
they frequently indulge in. Selfish people in TV shows can work really well
when they are either relatable while having redeeming qualities (Michael Scott
in The Office) or are the butt of the joke who you’re not
really supposed to root for (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Arrested Development are
excellent examples of this). But when the main characters are supposed to be
the heroes and you haven’t really been given a reason to like them beyond
“they’re funny" you run into some issues, especially when this extends to
most of the characters and not just one or two (there is one everyman character
in American Auto, but the ratio could still be better). Rich
people can, of course, be as relatable as the folks at Dunder-Mifflin or Superstore’s
Cloud 9, but American Auto needs to try a bit harder at making them
so if it ends up getting renewed for a third season.
Characterization and inherently
difficult to empathize with premise aside, American Auto is a
solidly entertaining comedy that is perfectly worthy of its workplace comedy
lineage. Fingers crossed for season 3.
American Auto seasons
1 and 2 are now available on Peacock.
This article was first published in The
Keizertimes on March 24th, 2023. Visit at www.keizertimes.com/
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