‘Benched’ is indefensibly cynical — and unfunny

Though a little worn around the edges, there’s nothing wrong with the snobby-big-fish-finds-happiness-in-a-scummy-small-pond premise of USA’s new comedy “Benched,” which premieres at 10:30 p.m. Tuesday. Created by Michaela Watkins and Damon Jones, “Benched” chronicles the travails of Nina (Eliza Coupe), a corporate lawyer who, upon being denied an anticipated promotion, throws such a huge hissy fit she becomes unemployable except at the lowest level, i.e. the public defender’s office, where she must cope with her own elitism while learning a few Life Lessons.

“Benched” is nowhere near as funny as it thinks it is, mainly because Watkins and Jones seem to believe that the endless humiliations of a thin, attractive, previously well-compensated blond woman are all it takes to make people laugh.

Rich, attractive women and corporate lawyers have become standard pinatas in the world of television — by definition soulless and greedy, they deserve whatever they get. Bringing the self-absorbed pretty girl down a peg or seven can be funny — Katharine Hepburn built a career on it — but there’s a heartlessness to “Benched” that makes its premise seem not just overly familiar but cynical and more than occasionally mean. Comedy isn’t pretty, but it doesn’t have to be ruthless.

Mary McNamara, Los Angeles Times