Spun Out (2014–2015) User Reviews

5 (average)

[morgancurtismorgan · 5/10 · 21 March 2014]

I give Spun Out a 5 out of 10 which I think is a very fair rating for this show. I would call it an average show so the over all average rating will have to do for it obviously! The thing that really makes this show hurt in the over all enjoyment I have for it is the acting which is really over the top and bizarre for most of the characters. The worst culprit is the actor who plays the office's stupid guy, who takes his pants off for no reason and he makes a jingle that is nothing but him talking about cats or whatever. I get it that he is supposed to be the bizarre guy who is supposed to make us laugh just because he is so stupid and bizarre. But here is something to consider, if the guy is working at a recording board and taping himself and he has headphones plugged in and turned on then why is the music also playing loud in the office around him? Don't these people understand how headphones work?

The bad acting and stupid mistakes like that really ruin this show for me. The only actors I like are the dark haired girlfriend (or ex girlfriend or girl who is just a friend I'm not sure what their deal is yet) and of course Dave Foly who is great in everything. All the other actors are trying way too hard or something especially the stupid guy I mentioned but also the dark haired guy (main character) and the blond girl. If they had people who could be funny maybe I could tell if the show is any good but for now I can't tell for sure.

Flawed but funny.

[mars_central · 6/10 · 1 November 2015]

It is easy to be negative about this show. There are some glaring faults, especially in early episodes, that make Spun Out difficult to enjoy. However, the show does have some genuinely funny moments and some of the cast do give strong performances that elevate the humour and bring some needed depth to the show.

I'll deal with the negative elements first. The main office set feels like a set. Lots of sitcoms have that problem, there's no way to completely hide it, but you usually are able to forget it. This set you just can't do that.

The writing needs to tighten up it's focus. There is rarely a main story to an episode and the cast are divided up into two or three unrelated stories. The show would benefit from allowing itself to focus on one story and allow cast members to sometimes play smaller roles for an episode instead of giving nearly everyone equal time.

On the positive side, some of the cast are great. Dave Foley and Holly Deveaux stand out and help bring out better performances from their co-stars. This is most obvious with Rebecca Dalton, who, despite looking nothing like Foley, seems totally natural as his daughter and has genuine rapport with Deveaux. But she has little chemistry with Paul Campbell, especially early on. Campbell has grown into his role, but early on he really did struggle with the focus the show put on his character. Al Mukadam is solid and clearly enjoys it when he's allowed to go a little over the top.

The writing can be genuinely funny and occasionally heart-warming. But it does lack consistency which I believe is due to it trying to force comedy over narrative. Of course the goal is to make us laugh, but sometimes a sitcom needs to back away from that and allow itself time to develop it's characters. Spun Out can do that and is stronger when it does.

Canceled by a Perv... But it Wasn't Any Good Anyway

[gameofpeter · 2/10 · 21 July 2015]

I'm sure everyone reading this has already heard everything about the lurid story concerning the weird little bald guy with the fanny pack in this show (the character's name is Bryce I think, Dave Foley's assistant), the guy who played Fake Moby or Fake Dean in the awesome show Community... he (allegedly) put cameras in his apartment that he rented out on the cheap to young women and police (allegedly) found the equipment hooked up and the recording devices and believe he also (allegedly) did the same thing in his other place in L.A. Super, super creepy.

But on the bright side we haven't really lost anything because this show was no good anyway! The laugh track is super aggressive, it just looks and feels tacky and the plots are super stupid with the lamest jokes you've ever heard in your life, and every single line is a joke. It's literally like these are scripts of a 1980s sitcom they dug up and produced for some reason. So it's very dated but on top of all that they don't even do it right. It's even worse than that because almost every actor is of the quality I would expect in a high school play or maybe they just can't do comedy. I bet Dave Foley must have been drunk constantly with his coffee mug full of rum just to get through taping every day what he as a comedy legend must realize is a really awful show.

"Hey Dave." (huge laughs) "Hey Bryce." (huge laughs) "I wanted to ask you for a raise." (huge laughs) "I wanted to ask you if you forgot about my rule that you never come into my office without knocking." (huge laughs) "But I found something. (huge laughs) It's in my fanny pack. (huge laughs) (opens his fanny pack) (huge laughs). "No Bryce don't open the fanny pack!" (huge laughs)

If you think an exchange like that is super funny you will love Spun Out, but if you have a brain that is actually functioning at a level of 12% or higher, skip it and watch something else. Assuming you'll ever have the chance to watch this awful series again - which I doubt highly.

Disappointing

[veganmitch · 8 April 2014]

Let's first talk about what they did right. At least it looks like an American sitcom as far as technical aspect go. This is actually important, the American sitcom is a proved business model so if you want success start by not trying to reinvent the wheel. When you use cheap sets and bad lighting, sound, shooting (i.e. Satisfaction) it lends itself to being very hackneyed. Where Spun Out fails is in the writing and acting. From what I was able to discern from watching three episodes is that the character Nelson Abrams is playing a gay man. In many respects, this is the most homophobic portrayal of a gay man on TV. My reasoning is the only thing that makes this character gay is he say's "I'm" gay. Either the actor refuses to do anything "gay" on TV or the writers have never actually met a gay man. One episode had his supposed significant other completely obscured by a massive completely unreasonably large Karaoke trophy. In this same episode this gay character is worried about a female co-worker spending too much time with his significant other. Worried the same way a guy would be worried if his gal was spending a lot of time with another man. I don't know if these guys know how it works, but gay guys don't worry if their boyfriend is hanging around chicks. I'm not the first to say this, but who the hell are the people green lighting comedies this year? Do they not realize that there are so many amazing comedy writers that are waiting to hitch a ride south of the border? Stand-up comics are not always good at writing and neither are people who have resumes that feature the number of TV commercials they've been in.

Stunk Out

[victor_redlick · 3/10 · 27 April 2018]

This show was a real stinker. I give it three stars out of ten simply because you earn stars for Dave Foley from Kids in the Hall being in it. He is similar to his role in News Radio where he is running an office, but it's a different character and really feels like he is just reading his lines to get his pay check here and who can blame him? The stories and jokes were awful, I hope these writers and producers never work again based on how stupid this show was. I hated all the other actors except the one brunette actress. Every actor in this over acts or does a pathetic imitation of another actor or is flat and simply not funny. The two leads are terrible with no chemistry and not a funny bone between them. Goodbye and good riddance to this horrible attempt at a sitcom that failed like a car crash.

Another Horrible Unfunny Canadian Yawn Fest

[edfyfe7 · 1/10 · 1 September 2015]

This show has awful jokes. Really static unsympathetic characters and story lines that have been used a thousand times. A show so bad even the fake laugh track isn't into it. It really seems like every Canadian sitcom these days is just a poor carbon copy of slightly less mediocre American sitcoms. Even the bloopers reels aren't funny.

Also doesn't help that one of the main cast members got arrested.

This show is a real embarrassment. Only friends and family of the show's actors and writers will praise this garbage heap.

I feel sorry for all the struggling Canadian actors, comedians and writers that have to work for garbage productions like this CTV mess of a show. Shame on the Canadian television industry. Like Dan Harmon said all TV shows are just baby food made out of corn syrup even the good ones but this show makes baby food look like caviar.

Tried To Like It

[ourcatch22-690-400278 · 3/10 · 4 June 2014]

I tried really hard to like this movie and I really did want to be able to say that I liked it and that it is finally a good Canadian comedy series that is well made but I just can't do that because I would just be telling a lie.

This show is such a huge mess it is ridiculous, and an unfunny mess to boot. I don't even know where to begin about it since everything is so wrong.

The cast is the main thing, so many completely unfunny people telling jokes very poorly. The only recognizable one is Dave Foley (of Kids in the Hall fame) and he looks like he's probably embarrassed to be seen in this (and he should be). I hope he fires his agent and finds a new one that will get him in A Bug's Life 2.

If you're a fan of multi-cam sitcoms, you'll love this one!

[marshaagreene · 10/10 · 9 March 2014]

I grew up on multi-cam sitcoms and I was so impressed with "Spun Out"! It reminded me of the shows I grew up on, all of the characters had at least one moment to shine, and I don't care if there's a laugh track -- "Friends" had one too, and I loved that show!

I can't believe anyone could say there was not a single laugh in the pilot. If you don't think it's funny when the Beckett walks into the lunch room with that egg salad sandwich, then you don't know comedy! There were a ton of great one-liners, Dave Foley is a comedy god, and I really liked that there was a "real" moment between Beckett and Stephanie that didn't feel heavy- handed or overly sentimental.

If you're looking for a multi-cam comedy that tells a lot of jokes and doesn't rely on sexual or gross-out humour, definitely check out Spun Out!

Classic Sticom feeling

[vherostar · 7/10 · 14 April 2014]

Reminds me of a classic 80s-90s sitcom rather than the modern ones we have been getting out every week now. It's nice to go back in time for a while and remember shows like this. It works really well too and I hope it has a future. If you are a fan of classic 80s and 90s sitcoms (newsradio, cheers, less than perfect) you will probably like this..

Each character seems well written and different and it works well for this show and each episode doesn't feel like its strung out or too short..

So if your up for some classic sitcom then give this a try as I doubt you will be disappointed. If your looking for a laugh a minute type comedy then this probably isn't for you as this is a feel good comedy not a laugh a minute comedy.

Awful

[filmpudding · 1/10 · 25 August 2015]

Spun Out is awful.

Even without the fact that one of the cast members is apparently a perverted psychopath who puts cameras in girls' apartments to spy on them, it is just bad in general. It is not funny or even just good on any level.

The actors are terrible at acting and also terrible at comedy, they can't even deliver jokes. Then again they probably do not have their hearts in it really because the scripts they have must be written on used toilet paper.

Worst comedy ever, worst acting ever, worst scripts ever, all adds up to worst show ever.

Plus a dirty peeping pervert. There is nothing I can think of about this show that makes it one bit worth watching.

Great show!

[jenniemay6 · 9/10 · 9 March 2014]

This is a funny show with tons of potential! Dave Foley is amazing and the other actors make up a great ensemble. It's cool to see Canada make something that fits alongside American shows in terms of quality and look. I liked that there were tons of jokes but also real moments and nice relationships. I loved seeing Al from Radio Free Roscoe, Paul Campbell from Almost Heroes and Holly from Less Than Kind. The whole cast is funny, likable and hot! It's amusing reading the hateful reviews on here. I never understand people who take the time to write a huge essay on how much they hate something, especially after one or two episodes! Ignore those and check out the show.

A Turkey

[cleavantderricks · 3/10 · 1 May 2018]

Someone said this show is a turkey and that is the perfect word for it. It just seems appropriate to call this show a turkey. Or maybe a lemon. Nothing to see here. Just a terribly written show where the stories and characters are nonsense and none of the jokes even come within a whiff of being funny, even in a "ha ha these dad jokes are so bad it's kind of funny" kind of way. The acting is also terrible by everyone including David Foley. We shouldn't give him a pass in this just because he was in Kids in the Hall. You can see them differently. He was great in other things but this show is garbage, he and everyone else are all garbage in it. Three stars because I have seen worse shows believe it or not.

How the hell did this rubbish get to a second season?

[steve-81636 · 2/10 · 22 July 2015]

The best thing about this show is that it so incredibly terribly awful, that you know that the reviews on here where it has been rated highly must have been done by publicity people.

In addition, the fact that it got nominated for some awards for the first season also tells you that the whole "award" thing in Canada is totally corrupt and it's just people glad-handing CTV.

I watched one episode of the first season and thought it was appallingly bad (the one with Jason Priestly) and then given that it was renewed I thought it must have improved so I watched the second episode of the second season - no, it's even worse, if such a thing is possible.

The only reason I give it two stars is because the wardrobe is better than average. So they look quite pretty. I find the show is best watched with the sound muted.

Terribly Done On All Fronts

[jody_peters8 · 3/10 · 8 November 2014]

Nothing about this show is even one bit funny, not even unintentionally funny because it is so poorly produced, poorly acted, poorly written and just plain bad.

The actors are all terrible and deliver the lines terribly but maybe they just realize none of this matters because the show is so bad they have no hope anyway.

The writing is terrible with every single joke being either stupid, awful and unfunny or so predictable you already know it's coming and usually both of those things.

The directing and producing are terrible with the show unbelievably unfunny, predictable like I said, super stupid and unbelievably plots, and a laugh track that is so obnoxious and desperate to try to convince us that this crap is funny that it actually gave me nausea and made me angry.

Why is something this bad on TV?

I give it 3 and the only reason I don't give it a 1 is that I love Dave Foley and he is not bad in this. Otherwise I would be trying to vote zero or even negative numbers

Not Even Dave Foley Can Save This Turkey

[yougottrumpedshow · 1/10 · 3 February 2018]

Dave Foley is usually great but has absolutely nothing to work with here, either on the page or in his fellow cast.

The writing is pathetic, with jokes that are both predictable and bad that a child could write or see coming a mile away. The situations are hack level and unbelievable with no consistent logic and nothing of interest to stay tuned in for.

The characters are all less than one dimensional, uninteresting, unlikable.

The actors are awful (except Foley). The lead guy and love interest are good looking but so awful at delivering lines and jokes (and acting in general) that it doesn't even matter.

Worst of all is the creepy little bald dude who is trying so hard to imitate the dean from Community, and who apparently is an alleged pervert? How did that story end up? Was he guilty?

A horrific embarrassment for Canadian comedy

[doug-findlay · 1/10 · 28 March 2014]

No one loves this show. The glowing reviews on here are insider comments posted by people involved with the program. Those reviews remind me of when Wile E Coyote would pop open a tiny umbrella to shield himself from falling boulders...they are a hopeless attempt to stem the coming avalanche of punishing reviews.

Please don't accept my 1 star rating as anything on the positive side of the scale. This is without a doubt the worst show I have ever seen on TV, and I'm including Bumper Stumpers and Definition. And it's not just me...the whole family sat in stunned silence as this wreck slowly burned in front of us. The only laughs we had came from reading the reviews we scrambled to find after the show. We just HAD to make sure we weren't being slowly poisoned by carbon monoxide and somehow lost our senses during the broadcast...the myriad of devastating reviews confirmed we were out of danger.

Don't avoid this show. Watch an episode and give yourself delicious fodder for ripping this thing to pieces with family and friends.

So there's a Married with children laugh track.

[bobabode · 7 March 2014]

And... every character is 'the funny one'. The race to a joke is blindingly fast as each character one ups the other to a fragmented mess in the end. Lost track of the individual characters during my only watch so maybe if I give it another try, and let them assert themselves the be a payoff. Humour is there in bales but there is no time to sort it out before another is piled on.

Not good, not great and to put a twist one of the repeated punchlines during my view.

'I WOULDN'T tap that'.

Like the first time though, I think I will expect better results now that I'm braced for the onslaught.

I Like It

[turkman1412 · 9/10 · 9 March 2014]

I like the characters, the actors, the stories, etc. Lots of humour.

A few weird moments which would fit n well in Kids in the Hall. Love seeing all of the Canadian actors.

I don't think the laugh track is necessary.

I will be watching all episodes.

I'm rating 9 out of 10.

Hopefully Comedy Channel will promote it so that it gains an audience that it deserves.

Holly Deveaux could be used a little more.

Looking forward to more guest stars like Tricia Helfer.

Not Funny (At All)

[eugene-mcnamee · 2/10 · 7 March 2014]

Firstly let me say that the review from 'slickmcshady' is clearly written by someone from the show. Any review that can list all the actors and script writers and all of their previous work is suspect to say the least.

Now the show. Stereotypical, clichéd, lazy sitcom. I found myself wondering why the laughtrack was being played at moments that were decidedly unfunny. I didn't laugh once during the entire half hour. There should and could have been great potential for a sitcom set in a PR firm but unfortunately it is all to formulaic. If this is what they produce for the pilot I really can't see a future.

Avoid. 2/10.

great show ... funny and goofy

[franker79 · 10/10 · 12 March 2014]

Spun Out is funny and definitely worth giving a chance. Some people complain about the "laugh track", but having been to the live tapings as a member of the studio audience for multiple episodes I can honestly say that the show is genuinely funny. Also, Gordon (Darcy Michael) has me laughing every time he speaks, his delivery is hilarious. Like any new sitcom the first few episodes are always the toughest for anyone to really get into because we haven't had a chance to get to know the characters yet, and neither have the writers. Having said that, Spun Out has shown that it can be funny right off the start, which leads me to believe that as we (and the writers) get to know the characters better the show will only get better.

Unimpressed

[gusfaute · 1/10 · 8 March 2014]

This show is not very funny and that is really all that you need to know about it.

The acting is not very good either and other than Dave Foley from News Radio and The Kids In The Hall there are no recognizable big name actors in this.

The production is of good quality for a Canadian show but it just looks and feels like they are doing a production style that is from the United States in the 1980's.

The directing, writing, producing is also bad with very nonsensical characters and plots and very bad slash predictable jokes. It could party be that the actors are not good at performing the plots and jokes but what they have to work with is also part of the problem for sure in making this show bad.

Do yourself a solid and avoid.

Not at all funny

[davorm · 2/10 · 8 March 2014]

This is a pretty typical and unfunny sitcom. Not much else needs to be said, really. With every moment filled to the brim with laugh tracks, trying to get you to think it's funny only insults my inelegance. If this was actually taped in front of a live audience then there must have been a laughing gas leak somewhere in the building.

It feels totally generic, it's just a bunch of people you don't really care about, working at some random office. The work they do is unknown, they just sit at desks and hang out. It should have something with more substance. With most good shows you can describe it with something that will set it apart.

On the up side, the acting isn't bad, so really it's just the little thing called writing, no biggy.

Was curious at checking this show out, as it does have Dave Foley in it, but even a Kid in a Hall can save this one. I just had to turn it off, I did make it more than half way, think there was about 8 minutes left and figured I'd rather take that time to write this review.

Shame that most Canadian content is just so poor. Maybe one day things will change.

It's Official-- R.I.P. Dave Foley's Career

[fembot1003 · 1/10 · 7 March 2014]

This show is so atrociously bad and completely empty of even the thought of humour let alone the presence of any attempt to make any real comedy- - actually I can't even think of words to describe how bad this show is.

I mention Dave Foley in the summary title line but maybe that is not very fair to him since he is the only person in this steaming dog's breakfast of a show who has any ability whatsoever to be funny at all. Believe it or not he is not even bad in this show.

The problem with this show is that he has nothing and I do mean nothing as in absolutely zero to work with. He is given horrible jokes and expected to spin fecal matter into gold. I am guessing the script was written by a 70 year old man who used to really be an important writer back on the best sitcoms of the seventies and eighties like Webster, because the story and one dimensional stereotypical stock characters and the coma inducing jokes are so pathetic and just feel as though they are coming from some horrible place that time and comedy both forgot.

The rest of the cast seem to come from the reject pile of a local used car lot commercial. There's a pretty girl who is a fish out of water, another pretty girl who is supposed to be one of the guys and who has some kind of romantic entanglement with the male star, the male star who is about as interesting as a bowl of water and who couldn't deliver a line or a joke to save not just his own life but the entire planet, the office dolt who says the stupidest things (because I guess for some reason that is supposed to automatically make him funny instead of so annoying that he enraged us every time he opened his damn stupid mouth?), and the male star's office wonder boy gay friend who is incredibly drab and is maybe the worst actor of the bunch which is really saying something. Then there is for some reason the bald office yes man who is a cross between Dwight from The Office (attitude) and the bald dean from Community (seriously this guy looks and acts exactly and I do mean exactly like the guy from Community which I guess is supposed to make him and this show funnier but actually all it does is completely ruin Community for me). The entire cast is so bad I think CTV would be doing themselves a favour if they put them all in a boat along with all the tapes and scripts of this show, rowed it out to the middle of the nearest lake then started drilling holes until the sweet freezing water swallowed them all possibly saving Canadian television forever. Of course I am exaggerating but my point is this show truly is one of the absolute worst pieces of television I have ever had the displeasure of watching. In my entire life. It. Really. Is. That. Awful.

I had super low (almost zero) expectations for this show and still somehow you managed to blow those negative expectations out of the water by actually being worse than zero. I would have been entertained more sitting and staring at a blank television screen for half an hour. No I'm not saying that to be funny or mean I am saying that because it is literally true, I could have at least used my imagination or thought about something productive rather than be confused and get angry watching a cast of misfits try desperately to deliver lines that maybe could not have even been funny in the first place.

Dave Foley if you ever read this please run-- don't walk but run away from this ape turd of a show as fast and as far as you possibly can. Just don't stop running until you can no longer hear the pathetic and desperate laugh track begging you to laugh along with it in the hope of convincing you that something in this show is actually funny, because nothing is except for you, and you hopefully will come to your senses and run away run away run away!

Why oh why oh why can't I give this show a zero? The minimum I can give it apparently is one out of ten and that seems way too good for this show.

Please someone I beg you to burn these tapes and let's all agree never to even mention this show ever again because it is just too painful to even think about this bear vomit of a dung fest.

Well it took a sex pervert

[mitch-cutler · 1/10 · 1 February 2015]

but the show is finally off the air. If you're looking at the reviews that just give glowing reports of this show, they're fake. It wasn't funny, admit it and stop being so arrogant.

I call CTV a network with more money than brains. They have good buyers of other people's successful shows, but can't put something compelling by themselves.

It's not my career or money that's wasted, and it's not my legacy of producing nothing of real note. Guys like Norman Lear can look at a highly successful career, not whoever put this together.

it's arrogance plain and simple.

Terrible sitcom

[chris-chasely · 1/10 · 4 April 2014]

This new sitcom is basically adding more insult to Canadian TV. As the other reviewer stated, I too did not laugh even once during the 2 episodes I have watched. Furthermore, I don't plan to watch more because of major boredom. Simply put, the show is pathetic and not worth spending your precious time, the laugh track is extremely irritating as it is unrealistic, to say the least. Sadly, this is what Canadian networks come up with. In Spun Out, I did not find any actors worth enjoying except Foley, but the script does him no justice either. The others show no talent whatsoever and the script is really unworthy. I can add the direction could have been more realistic and not over the top as it so seems. If this continues to be 'our' caliber, we should seriously think about the future of Canadian Television. Very, very disappointing.