The news that ABC has ordered a full season of Dr Ken is not surprising. Despite the naysayers who do not “get it” the show is funny. Kevin O’Connell is a perfect case in point. The episode has Ken coming to grips with the fact that his wife’s old boyfriend is not a “pasty-faced” Irishman but the hunky Will Yun Lee (Wolverine, Total Recall) who was adopted by Irish parents.
Not only is Kevin good looking and athletic, but he is a generous humanitarian and, from the look of it, an all around nice chap. Ken is beside himself with jealousy and annoyance that his wife lied to him about O’Connell. Everyone seemingly prefers this plastic surgeon to Ken, his son and daughter are instantly drawn to the man as are Dr Ken’s coworkers.
At the hospital ball, where Ken does a stand up “satire” of all the staff in the place, he re-writes his material at the last minute, poking fun at Kevin to assuage his wounded ego.
As usual Dr Ken hits the funny bone just right. Each gag revolves around Ken Jeong’s comic delivery and his costars also prove that they can deliver. Each actor has a chance to shine and Kate Simses continues to be the queen of comedic timing in this show.
Co-creator and show star Jeong has wisely surrounded himself with performers who are adept at comedy and this makes the show work on more than one level. There cannot be many who do not find Ken funny as his delivery and timing are spot on.
ABC have ordered a full season for the show, congratulations to the entire cast and crew and the writers, and it is nice to see the network recognizing that they have a hit on their hands. While IMDb rankings are still lower than Fresh Off the Boat (to be fair, IMDb contributors seem to have in it for Dr Ken and most of its cast, the message boards pertaining to the series are all quite nasty and derogatory) the show is funny and all the cast members shine, unlike the Huang family comedy. (Many of the younger actors are “lacking” in the delivery department on Fresh Off the Boat.)
Kudos to the whole cast are in order for this sixth episode. Tisha Campbell-Martin, Dave Foley (who feels like he is channelling his inner Terry Thomas sans the English accent), Suzy Nakamura, Jonathan Slavin, Krista Marie Yu, Albert Tsai and, of course, Ken Jeong all turn in tour de force performances.
Guest star Lee is brilliant as the “nice guy” who actually supports Ken, while he is slowly dying on stage, and the San Andreas actor shows just why he works so steadily. Another great episode for Dr Ken and proof that, despite best efforts from other unfunny shows, the sitcom as television genre is not dead and that filming before a life audience still works well.
Dr Ken airs Fridays on ABC, tune in and hold on to your sides.
