Perry’s Payneful Pet Project

What you talkin’ bout Tyler?

by j. brotherlove

I understand the popularity of Tyler Perry’s "church plays" and have accepted the success of his films. But now he’s gone too far; writing, directing and producing House Of Payne, a trial sitcom about an African American family starring former heartthrob Allen Payne.

Given my impression of most of Perry’s work, it comes as no surprise that I don’t enjoy his television show. However, I never expected to dislike the show as much as I do. It is quite possibly the dullest, most unfunny thing thing I’ve seen on television.

Perry’s resourcefulness and objective to project the lives of modern-day African Americans on the screen should be applauded (there certainly aren’t enough of them). But he’s going to need to step up his game to keep a summertime television audience. I understand his 10-episode series was produced relatively quickly with limited resources. Boy… does it show!

All of Perry’s contrivances are in place; the momma who drops Biblical references, the crack-head mother, the uncomplicated father, the unwanted neighbor. The dialogue is woefully unimaginative and delivered by a cast of actors whose "acting" suggest local, cable-access programming on their resume (a shame, since there are so many talented non-working actors around). Unfortunate for us, there’s no Madea for true comic relief and nobody breaks into gospel song to break up the monotony.

House of Payne appears to use a live studio audience to its detriment; a Budget truck could drive through the pause in laughter. The dramatic bits work a bit better but not by much; especially in scenes requiring heightened emotion (cringe). With these criticisms in mind, the show has to get better. I can’t say I’ll stick around to witness it, though.

Extra, Extra
Tyler Perry’s House of Payne (TBS)
On Set: "House of Payne" (CinemATL)
Perry’s sitcom gets Atlanta tryout (AJC)
Doug Elfman’s critique (Sun-Times)

I swear TBS is where sitcoms go to the die; it’s like the elephant graveyard of the airwaves. I was at a friend’s house and watched this half drunk and it still wasn’t funny. Poor Allen Payne.

Unfortunate for us, there’s no Madea for true comic relief and nobody breaks into gospel song to break up the monotony. Not yet! It’s coming!

karsh, let’s hope this one dies a quick and quiet death. I’ve already replaced the season pass of House of Payne with House of Boateng on my my TiVo.

I caught one episode “the grandpa thinks grandson is a gay episode” and that was enough for me. Maybe Perry needs to cut back on writing and start producing other people. He’s not even trying to entertain. It’s like he’s convinced that if it flows from his pen, it must be funny by default.

*sigh*

I’m all for supporting the creativity of my brothers and sisters, but I think one thing “we” always forget in those pursuits of “giving back” is the oft-excluded element of quality. Quality isn’t always dependant on production values and not always on acting, but something has to show for it in the writing and how creatively certain stories are executed.

(You totally know what main offender I’m referring to here.)

Jason and I were talking along these lines last week. I read a decent book published by a small gay press recently but was really irritated by an unacceptable amount of copy errors. I know it’s a small gay press but damn, hire a copy editor.

Why does it seem that we often have to support inferior work to support our brothers and sisters (however you define that)? Is only support higher quality work the right step? I don’t know.

Thanks for mentioning that, Michelle. This is not a “black” thing by any mean; it’s an economic thing.

All new artists have a tough climb to success. But, creators of black or gay art/entertainment have to contend with less resources, a smaller target market, bigotry and often, less experience in the field (imagine the obstacles for artists who are black and gay).

Also, with a smaller amount of work being created for us, we tend to be more accepting of anything we can get, regardless of quality.

However, at this point, there should be enough talented people to fill a lot of these gaps. For instance, there is no reason for horribly written copy to be published. Even if you don’t have the money to hire someone like me or Jeneane, journalism students would edit your writing for free.

Our challenge as the intended audience is support our artists while offering them feedback that will help them improve their quality and content. This often gets me labeled as a hater.

Wow. A year later and not only is House of Payne not any better; it’s worse! Karsh breaks it down.

uh;
the show house of payne is really good; i like it alot; it makes me laugh alot; and if i laugh at something then its really funny; cause i like to laugh; so yea you guys need to watch more episodes; cause its really funny;
=]

Share your love:

The ability to comment on this site is a privilege; not a right. Inflammatory, off-topic and ignorant comments will be removed. Basic XHTML is permitted (if you don't know what that means, stick to plain text).