alnair20aug93
(Long Runner)
10/17/2017 06:40:42
•••
WesternAnimation Holy Shitake Mushrooms
Even with just from the preview, this show is what 2 in the AM PM and Regular show supposed to be! Raunchy humor at it's best.
WesternAnimation Wasted potential, thy name is Close Enough.
After hearing about Close Enough being cancelled after only three seasons last month, I out of curiosity watched the entire series on HBO Max, a few episodes at a time.
I had seen short snippets and clips of Close Enough in the years beforehand. From the bits and pieces I saw before deciding to actually watch the series, to me it seemed like basically Regular Show 2.0 — TOO similar to Regular Show. Too similar to stand out on its own merits, and to have its own identity.
And after seeing each and every episode of Close Enough, I couldn't be more right. This IS just Regular Show 2.0. I completely understand why this show got the axe so soon. Bravo, HBO Max.
It's incredibly difficult to judge Close Enough on its own merits, because it's basically just Regular Show all over again, only with human characters, and not nearly as fun or enthralling either.
Because of this, Close Enough is a bland, tired, old hat, been-there-done-that affair with little to save it from the depths of mediocrity. This does not make for compelling animation in the year 2022. So it's really not hard to see why this show was canned.
There's no point in discussing most of the cast, really. Josh is dollar-store Mordecai, Emily is discount Margaret/CJ, and Alex is essentially the Great Value equivalent of Muscle Man. So what is there to talk about?
The only characters that spark any interest in me are Bridgette and Candice. Bridgette is the one character I can actually say I kind of like. She's like an older version of Miko from Glitch Techs — the cool Japanese-American Genki Girl.
By and large, she is the sole bright spot of the series, her snarks and remarks often breathing a tiny bit of life into this dry husk of a show.
One thing Regular Snow didn't have was a child character as part of the main cast, so Candice is somewhat original. She's of the bright yet impulsive little girl variety (think Anais from The Amazing World of Gumball). Candice can also manage a decent joke or one-liner once in a while, but those are sadly few-and-far between.
It's unfortunate that J.G. Quintel and co. had too much Regular Show on the brain during the making of Close Enough. Such a shame — this actually did have potential to be a really good show, its own original thing, but it seems that wasn't in the interests of ol' J.G. Oh, what could have been....
At this point, it looks like J.G.'s creativity meter is all used up. I can't say I blame him though; the guy's pushing 40, and he already created one of the most iconic and well-remembered cartoons of recent times, one of the longest-running on Cartoon Network, in fact. That is an achievement in and of itself.
At the same time, though, it's sad acknowledging what Close Enough could have been if it was different enough; had it not been so derivative of Regular Show, it most likely would not have been cancelled and could have even lasted as long as Regular Show.
But ultimately, this depressing plateau of rehashed ideas will most likely be forgotten by the masses in the coming years. Shame.
I think the most feasible option for J.G. is to step down from cartooning — he's already done a great service to the animation industry with Regular Show, and continuing to produce hackneyed claptrap like Close Enough will only damage his legacy.
Or at the very least, a long break is in order to allow his creativity banks to refill. Because for now, they're all used up, if Close Enough is any indication.
It's no Regular Show, but it's Close Enough.... not.