This was neither as bad as some expected nor as good as Whoopi's best work might have indicated. The emphasis on timely social and political humor is a breath of fresh air in the modern sitcom world, because producers have become gun shy about possibly offending touchy viewers. I'm sure we'll be hearing from them about how every mention of ethnicity is automatically offensive, but many of those jokes in "Whoopi" are genuinely funny. The best part of the show is the chemistry between Mavis and Nasim, the Persian handyman. The banter between the two of them, both challenging and friendly, is a strong base to build a show on. Less successful is Mavis's uptight brother and his "Afrophilic" Caucasian wife. One can easily see how they were conceived as an ironic counterpoint, but both characters are much funnier in concept than they are in execution. Maybe when they become actual characters rather than schema they will be more entertaining.
Review of Whoopi
