Comedy Central’s Idiotsitter: Series Premiere Review

Idiotsitter makes a seamless transition from internet to television. Here's our review of the pilot...

Idiotsitter is no longer too gangster for TV! Still gangster though! For those who have been devoted followers of the web series, an actual network spot is quite the gift. I had been waiting for the move on up from CC: Studios to the east side that is Comedy Central. 

Idiotsitter’s premiere on Comedy Central is a reboot of the web series, though the plot for the pilot is more or less the same as episode one of the original. Harvard-grad Billie (co-creator Charlotte Newhouse) interviews for a position as a Nanny for the wealthy Russell family only to discover that what she’s really interviewing for is to be a court-appointed guardian for criminally-inclined adult Gene (co-creator Jillian Bell). Billie doesn’t want the job, but can’t refuse the salary so ends up moving into the mansion and trying her luck with Gene.

Okay, this pilot was everything I wanted and more. After the perfect transition Broad City made from web series to television show, I expected the same from Idiotsitter and we got it. The idea of starting the plot over from the beginning worried me a little, would it be stale? Boring? It wasn’t. Really, there was no other way of creating this show without setting it up again from the beginning. The pilot proved to be just as hilarious as ever. The opening scene of Gene tapping on a cop car window with the tail end of a whiskey bottle while on a stolen pony soliciting sex is what dreams are made of. 

A good chunk of the pilot revolves around a party Gene throws. We do learn that TJ Miller no longer plays Gene’s best friend, Chet, which was quite heartbreaking but I will survive somehow. The episode is a perfect portrayal of Gene’s outrageous lifestyle and Billie’s neurotic conservative one. Thanks to Gene, Billie gets wasted on what she believes is just white wine but in fact has been drugged, by Gene, with a half roofie half horse tranquilizer. Best moment of the scene, and also a great portrayal of what I think are things to come in the series, is Gene and Billie hanging out in the bathtub doing Austin Powers impressions.

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The humor is obviously great and Gene and Billie give me serious squad envy but there’s more to it then that. It’s a little heartbreaking at times. Gene is the spoiled daughter of wealthy Kent Russell (we don’t know exactly what he does but we know that he just made a  hybrid sports car line) who often neglects her. And although Gene is mostly terrible and has the personality of the Tasmanian Devil, we get the feeling that she’s just looking for companionship and some attention from her father who she admires.

Billie’s character is so well done. She is so quirky and awkward and the exact opposite of Gene. Newhouse’s character is levelheaded somewhat closed-off academic. And though these characters are so very different it seems, to me, that they are just two very extreme sides of the same person. There are times when Gene and Billie share a moment amidst the chaos—after Gene “hoofies” Billie—like their love of dirty dancing. These two very different at odds women share some very strong commonalities. Like one is the angel on your shoulder, the other the devil, but both inside the consciousness of one human being. It’s not often that an absurd comedy can make you laugh and also emotional at the same time.

Creators Newhouse and Bell are just brilliant in their formation, structure, and writing of Idiotsitter. I know I am raving about it, but really it was pretty perfect. Aside from the absence of TJ Miller, I have no complaints. It’s funny, awkward, nuts, irrational, fool or tomfoolery, emotional, and smart. If you haven’t watched the web series I suggest you give the show a watch! Enjoy! 

Idiotsitter debuts Thursday, January 14th at 10:30 p.m. on Comedy Central.