Work It
GenreSitcom
Created byAndrew Reich
Ted Cohen
StarringBen Koldyke
Amaury Nolasco
Beth Lacke
John Caparulo
Rebecca Mader
Rochelle Aytes
Kate Reinders
Kirstin Eggers
Hannah Sullivan
ComposersStephen Robert Phillips
Tim Paruszkiewicz
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes13 (11 unaired in the U.S.)
Production
Executive producersAndrew Reich
Ted Cohen
Camera setupMulti-camera
Running time30 minutes
Production companiesSummer School Productions
Bonanza Productions
Warner Bros. Television
Original release
NetworkABC
ReleaseJanuary 3 (2012-01-03) –
January 10, 2012 (2012-01-10) (United States);
November 6, 2013 (2013-11-06) (NZ)

Work It is an American television sitcom that aired on ABC from January 3 to January 10, 2012.[1][2] Set in St. Louis, the series is about two men who must dress as women in order to keep a job in a bad economy.

The series had received overwhelmingly negative reviews.[3] The series premiere was watched by an American audience of 6.16 million.[4] Ratings dropped to 4.9 million viewers in the second episode, and the series was cancelled by ABC on January 13, 2012, after two episodes aired, following another attempt at a "man-cession" comedy called Man Up!, which failed earlier in the season.[5]

Premise

Work It centered on men laid off from a fictional St. Louis GM plant after the Pontiac line was phased out, who believe that the current economic recession and job shortage has affected men more than women. One of the men, Lee Standish, inquires about a job opening at Coreco Pharmaceuticals, where he finds that the company employs female sales reps almost exclusively. He then dresses as a woman, applies for the job, and is hired. Character development, starting in the first episode, involves the men learning how to be more "sensitive".

Lee and Angel's coworkers at Coreco are Kristin, a clingy divorced mother who instantly took a shine to Lee; Kelly, who is far more apt to cavort with men and indulge in drink than to do her job; Grace, the condescending regional sales leader; and Vanessa, the boss, whom the workers wrongly assume is a lesbian, and whom Angel immediately becomes enamored with. In addition to the women at work, the guys have to hide their secret identities from Lee's wife Connie, a nurse who works in a doctor's office; his teenaged daughter Kat; and Connie's brother Brian, who was laid off along with Lee and Angel and now resides in his ex-wife's home.

Cast

In the unaired pilot, Kacie Lynch played Kat before was replaced by Hannah Sullivan.

Episodes

No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air dateProd.
code		U.S. viewers
(millions)
ABC Airing
1"Pilot"Beth McCarthy-MillerTed Cohen & Andrew ReichJanuary 3, 2012 (2012-01-03)2968056.16[4]
2"Shake Your Money Maker"Gary HalvorsonTed Cohen & Andrew ReichJanuary 10, 2012 (2012-01-10)2J64524.90[6]
New Zealand Airing
3"Girl Fight"Jeff MelmanLindsey ShockleyAugust 28, 2013 (2013-08-28)2J6457N/A
4"Field of Schemes"Shelley JensenMark Cullen & Robb CullenSeptember 4, 2013 (2013-09-04)2J6463N/A
5"Close Shave"Gary HalvorsonMark Cullen & Robb CullenSeptember 11, 2013 (2013-09-11)2J6453N/A
6"Space Invaders"Gary HalvorsonJoe LawsonSeptember 18, 2013 (2013-09-18)2J6454N/A
7"Breast Awareness Week"Shelley JensenClaudia LonowSeptember 25, 2013 (2013-09-25)2J6455N/A
8"Immaculate Deception"Jeff MelmanBrian Keith EtheridgeOctober 2, 2013 (2013-10-02)2J6456N/A
9"Surprise Package"Beth McCarthy-MillerTed Cohen & Andrew ReichOctober 9, 2013 (2013-10-09)2J6458N/A
10"Hunger Games"Andrew D. WeymanEric Goldberg & Peter TibbalsOctober 16, 2013 (2013-10-16)2J6459N/A
11"Cinderella Story"Andrew D. WeymanJoe LawsonOctober 23, 2013 (2013-10-23)2J6460N/A
12"Masquerade Balls"Shelley JensenClaudia LonowOctober 30, 2013 (2013-10-30)2J6461N/A
13"My So-Called Mid-Life Crisis"Shelley JensenSteve GabrielNovember 6, 2013 (2013-11-06)2J6462N/A

Reception

Critical reception

Reception for the series was very negative; it was largely panned by critics and viewers alike. Metacritic gave it a score of 19/100 (overwhelming dislike) based on 22 reviews.[3] Matt Fowler of IGN gave the pilot episode a score of "0",[7] the first television review since 1998 from the company to get a score of "0" (according to Fowler). Robert Bianco of USA Today also did not give it an enthusiastic review, calling it "witless, tasteless, poorly acted, abominably written, clumsily directed, hideously lit and badly costumed".[8] He gave it a grade of one star out of four.[8] The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reviewer compared the show unfavorably to Bosom Buddies, which had a similar premise.[9] Emily VanDerWerff of The A.V. Club gave the pilot an F grade, stating, "Let's just get this out of the way first: Work It is awful. The grade should indicate that. But it's fascinatingly awful, in that way where you wonder how the hell something like this got on TV in the year 2012."[10] Alan Pergament, formerly of The Buffalo News, expressed surprise that the show even made it to air, stating "I do recall I couldn't get those 22 minutes of my life back. It was so unfunny and forced that I suspected it would never air."[11]

Controversy

LGBTQ advocacy groups have expressed concerns about Work It, saying that it trivializes the obstacles faced by transgender people in the workplace. Groups that have expressed concern include Human Rights Campaign, the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center's Transgender Economic Empowerment Program and the Transgender Law Center.[12] The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation released a statement that, while acknowledging that the series pilot "does not explicitly address transgender people", still concluded that "[d]uring a period in which the transgender community now routinely finds itself in the cultural crosshairs, the timing couldn’t be worse for a show based on the notion that men dressed as women is inherently funny."[13] Frequently cited is the print advertisement for the series, which features two men dressed as women standing at men's room urinals.

The pilot was criticized and protests took place at the network offices for a line of dialogue delivered by Amaury Nolasco's character Angel, who claimed that as a Puerto Rican he would "be great at selling drugs". [14][15]

Ratings

The pilot episode scored a 2.0 adults 18-49 rating and 6.160 million viewers.[4] The second and last episode saw a 25% drop in the adults 18-49 demo, scoring only a 1.5.[6]

Episode number
Production number		 Title Original airing Rating Share Rating/share
(18–49)		 U.S. viewers (in millions) Rank per week Note
1
1-01		PilotJanuary 3, 20123.8[16]6[16]2.0/56.160TBA[4]
2
1-02		Shake Your Money MakerJanuary 10, 20123.2[17]5[17]1.5/44.90TBA[6]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Hibberd, James (May 17, 2011). "ABC unveils 2011-12 fall schedule". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved June 7, 2013.
  2. ↑ Gorman, Bill (November 18, 2011). "ABC Mid-Season Premieres: 'GCB', 'The River,' 'Missing,' "Work It,' 'Shark Tank,' 'Wipeout,' 'Celebrity Wife Swap,' 'Dancing With The Stars'". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on November 20, 2011. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  3. 1 2 Work It - Season 1 Reviews, Ratings, Credits and More at Metacritic
  4. 1 2 3 4 Gorman, Bill (January 5, 2012). "Tuesday Final Ratings: 'Biggest Loser,' 'Unforgettable' Adjusted Up; 'NCIS,' 'Celebrity Wife Swap' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on January 8, 2012. Retrieved January 5, 2012.
  5. ↑ Fienberg, Daniel (January 14, 2012). "ABC yanks 'Work It' after two airings". HitFix.com. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
  6. 1 2 3 Seidman, Robert (January 11, 2012). "Tuesday Final Ratings: 'Last Man Standing,' 'Work It,' 'NCIS: LA,' 'Unforgettable,' 'Parenthood' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on January 13, 2012. Retrieved June 7, 2013.
  7. ↑ Fowler, Matt (January 3, 2012). "WORK IT: "PILOT" REVIEW". IGN. Retrieved June 7, 2013.
  8. 1 2 Bianco, Robert (January 1, 2012). "Cross-dressing humor falls flat in 'Work It'". USA Today. Retrieved June 7, 2013.
  9. ↑ Owen, Rob (January 1, 2012). "Stupid 'Work It' is lame 'Bosom Buddies' remake". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved January 5, 2012.
  10. ↑ VanDerWerff, Emily (January 3, 2012). "Work It". The A.V. Club. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
  11. ↑ Pergament, Alan (January 3, 2012). Shows to look forward to in the new year. Retrieved January 6, 2012.
  12. ↑ Kinser, Jeremy (December 16, 2011). "Is Sitcom Work It Insulting to Trans People?". The Advocate. Retrieved June 7, 2013.
  13. ↑ Kane, Matt (December 16, 2011). "Why ABC's New Sitcom Work It Hurts the Transgender Community". GLAAD.org. Retrieved June 7, 2013.
  14. ↑ Martí, José (January 5, 2012). "ABC's Puerto Rican Drug Dealer "Joke" Fiasco Spreads Through Social Media and Community". Latino Rebels. Retrieved January 8, 2012.
  15. ↑ Lopez, Erica Y. (January 5, 2012). "Puerto Ricans to ABC: We are Not Drug Dealers!". Fox News Latino. Retrieved January 8, 2012.
  16. 1 2 Porter, Rick (January 4, 2012). "TV ratings: 'Work It' has mediocre premiere for ABC, CBS coasts to Tuesday win". Zap2it. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
  17. 1 2 Bentley, Jean (January 11, 2012). "TV ratings: CBS and 'NCIS" win Tuesday; 'Work It' down". Zap2it. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
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