Jane Lynch is one of our comedy gods, so it’s too bad her new TV show Angel From Hell is kind of a bust. (Although it could get better.) Luckily, there’s one hilarious scene in the first episode, and you can already watch it right now.
I was actually planning on posting the above clip after the episode aired on Thursday, saying “here’s the only bit of the first episode of Angel From Hell you need to watch.” But CBS obligingly posted it already. Sadly, I have watched the first two episodes of Angel From Hell, and.... it’s kind of a misfire. Jane Lynch is so amazing that I would watch her read the iTunes licensing agreement, but she’s currently the only good thing in this show.
In Angel From Hell, Lynch plays an angel, who’s kind of an alcoholic, profane wise-ass. And even though she’s supposed to be someone’s guardian angel, watching from afar and never revealing herself, she chooses to reveal herself to Dr. Allison, a dermatologist who needs help... doing something or other. To be honest, after two episodes, I’m still unclear on why Dr. Allison’s problems are so desperately in need of divine intervention. She mostly has the usual bland sitcom problems that everybody in half-hour single-camera comedies have. The supporting cast is uniformly dull—I noticed they cut out a subplot from the original pilot involving Allison’s dad having a younger girlfriend that she disapproves of. The jokes are almost entirely one-note and cookie-cutter, and any time Lynch is off screen, the show becomes kind of a snooze.
But Lynch is so fantastic, she almost makes the whole thing work. And maybe in a year or two—if this show does as well as some other CBS comedies and gets to stick around—it’ll randomly become watchable. In the meantime, please enjoy the one funny bit from the pilot. [clip via IGN]
Contact the author at charliejane@io9.com and follow her on Twitter @CharlieJane