Here’s a made-for-Internet series with potential.
“Dating Brad Garrett,” produced by Sony Pictures TV for Sony’s Crackle.com vid site, is pretty much what it sounds like — a dating contest for the star of “Til Death” and alum of “Everybody Loves Raymond.” Garrett, newly divorced, and not for the first time, will go on a 10 blind dates with women culled from vid submissions gathered during the summer.
The Final 10 were selected by a panel of judges that include Garrett’s mother, Barbara Ames (who appears to have been an actress in the ’40s and ’50s), his first ex-wife, his urologist and his exterminator. New installments will be posted every Monday night on Crackle.com.
The first seg, which bowed this week, seems like it could have been funnier and punchier, but I’ll give “Dating Brad Garrett” at least one more shot. The submission vids posted on the show’s home page are entertaining, as are the snippets with the judges, particularly his mom.
I’ve always liked Garrett — “Raymond” wouldn’t have been the show it was without him — but if even half of the stories about him being, er, high-maintenance on the job are true, then I’m guessing these gals are in for quite an experience.
Why is Garrett doing this? After all, he’s gainfully employed, which is more than a lot of sitcom-types can say these days. (It’s also interesting, perhaps telling, to see Sony putting time and money into beefing up the original fare on Crackle.)
It’s an act of desperation, Garrett explains in the first seg (posted below). “My social life mirrors my movie career — I’m picky and not in demand,” he explains.
From Crackle:
