It is thought-about one thing of a footnote now, however Robin Williams’ final TV credit score earlier than his loss of life was for “The Loopy Ones,” a David E. Kelley-created single-camera sitcom that aired from September 2013 to April 2014. “The Loopy Ones” was notable in that it was Williams’ first time headlining a TV sequence for the reason that broadcast of “Mork and Mindy” (with Pam Dawber) over three a long time earlier. Williams had spent the majority of his profession working in standup or starring in motion pictures, usually gaining quite a lot of popularity of his performances. He was nominated for Oscars for “Good Morning, Vietnam,” “Useless Poets Society,” and “The Fisher King” earlier than lastly successful for his very beneficiant flip in “Good Will Looking.” His comedy albums additionally received him a number of Grammys, whereas his standup specials netted him two Emmys.
Williams would fortunately have made a joke about how he isn’t an EGOT, however a mere EGO.
“The Loopy Ones,” nonetheless, was seen (on the time) as a daring step for Williams. He was the newest high-profile star to acknowledge that TV was not “beneath” movie, however a status medium unto itself. (For a lot of a long time, movie stars staunchly refused to look on TV, seeing it as beneath them.) “The Loopy Ones” additionally starred Sarah Michelle Gellar as Williams’ character’s daughter and protégée, in addition to James Wolk, Hamish Linklater, and Amanda Setten. Josh Groban (!) and Brad Garrett additionally had recurring roles, and, being a David E. Kelley joint, the present attracted quite a few massive stars for visitor spots, together with Kelly Clarkson, Ed Asner, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Brad Paisley, and David Copperfield.
“The Loopy Ones,” nonetheless, was canceled after its first season, lasting solely 22 episodes. That is shocking, given the present’s pedigree. In 2016, nonetheless, after Williams’ loss of life, Kelley talked to IndieWire about “The Loopy Ones,” and he had a really palpable clarification for why it was canceled. It appears, he felt, the present simply wasn’t excellent.
David E. Kelly did not suppose The Loopy Ones was excellent
The premise of “The Loopy Ones” was ripe for potential. Williams performed Simon Roberts, an advert govt in Chicago who’s making an attempt to salvage his relationship along with his daughter, Sydney (Gellar). Simon has gone via a number of divorces and struggled with dependancy since he final noticed Sydney, so he decides to try to reconnect together with her by giving her a high-profile job as his assistant. Sydney had a crush on her office-mate Andrew (Linklater) and he, Sydney, and Simon labored alongside the lascivious but high-functioning Zack (Wolk) and his bisexual girlfriend Lauren (Setton), an assistant on the agency. (It appears interoffice fraternization is not verboten.) The sequence not solely allowed for comedic soap-opera dynamics, but additionally had loads of alternatives to ridicule Madison Avenue, with Williams usually improvising comedically horrible advert campaigns for pretend merchandise.
Kelley admitted, nonetheless, that the present by no means lived as much as its potential. He hated its tales and felt that his writers by no means discovered their stride. He was additionally unused to tv’s 30-minute construction, having reduce his enamel on hour-long dramedies. As he instructed IndieWire:
“The present wasn’t excellent. […] It began off with nice rankings, however after watching three or 4 episodes, I believed the storytelling was fairly unhealthy. I wasn’t a half-hour particular person, so I turned that over to half-hour individuals and was keen to step again.”
After just a few episodes, although, Kelley felt he ought to be capable to step in and enhance the present anyway. Sadly, CBS wasn’t amenable to the concept … and for cynical causes.
CBS did not thoughts that The Loopy Ones was unhealthy
When Kelly provided to step in to do re-tool “The Loopy Ones,” CBS surprisingly turned him down. The community felt that reveals did not must be good anymore, as the majority of audiences had been now solely partially watching TV whereas that they had one eye on social media. As Kelly recalled:
“Robin Williams was nice … however the tales made me wish to maintain my nostril. […] I went to CBS and stated to them, ‘This is not excellent.’ […] Their response was, mainly, ‘We do not care if it is any good. The best way individuals watch TV now’s they have their computer systems open, they’re updating their Fb standing. They’ve their iPads. They’re doing an e mail. They’re wanting up on the tv. Robin Williams is humorous. It is very appropriate, this present with the way in which individuals watch TV now.'”
Kelly was crushed, seeing that the enterprise that he had dominated for therefore lengthy was so bitter about its personal artwork. Kelly had already received 10 Emmys at this level in his profession, particularly for hit reveals like “L.A. Legislation,” “The Apply,” “Picket Fences” (which nearly crossed over with “The X-Recordsdata” as soon as), and “Ally McBeal.” He knew what high quality tv seemed like and was usually given quite a lot of inventive leeway in consequence. When CBS instructed him that “The Loopy Ones” was “ok,” he took it personally and turned away from main networks.
After 22 episodes, rankings dropped, “The Loopy Ones” was canceled, and Kelly may wash his palms of the entire thing. He moved on to different hits like “Large Little Lies” and “Large Sky.”
“The Loopy Ones” is not at the moment accessible to stream on any providers, though it may be rented and bought through Prime Video and AppleTV. It isn’t misplaced, however the sequence is a curio. It is an opportunity to see Robin Williams’ closing TV performances. And 22 half-hour episodes of Williams is nothing to dismiss.
