I am – Hercules!!
A new animated sitcom about a dysfunctional high school faculty, “Sit Down, Shut Up” is the latest brainchild of “Arrested Development” mastermind Mitch Hurwitz. It stars the voices of “Arrested” alumni Jason Bateman, Will Arnett & Henry Winkler, as well as SNL vets Will Forte, Kenan Thompson and Cheri Oteri, plus Kristin Chenoweth (“Pushing Daisies”), Nick Kroll (“Cavemen”) and Tom Kenny (“SpongeBob SquarePants”). How does it stack up against Fox’s other Sunday night cartoons? Not as funny as “King of the Hill” (which it replaces) but far funnier than “Family Guy,” “American Dad” and the current incarnation of “The Simpsons.” For the record, I laughed aloud only once during the pilot, but more during episode two. I can’t say it made me chortle frequently enough to add it to my already bulging DVRs or let it lure me away from “The Amazing Race.” The critical reaction makes one wonder if maybe David Cross, Portia De Rossi and Michael Cera might have been the magic elements that made “Arrested” such a cult fave: USA Today gives “Sit Down, Shut Up” one and a half stars (out of four) and says:

… the end result is unpleasant, sophomoric and — in its string of gay and ethnic jokes — bigoted in ways that are hard to defend in a show this humor-free. If you want to get away with being offensive on TV, you have to be awfully funny, and Sit Down gets much closer to "awful" than it ever does to "funny." …

Entertainment Weekly gives it an “C” and says:

… Sit Down needs to step up. …

The New York Times says:

… “The Simpsons” and “Family Guy” do an entirely more imaginative, irrepressible job of ferreting out the drudgeries and provincialism of middle-class life. …

The Los Angeles Times says:

… weak -- not hopeless, but given the pedigree, heavily disappointing. … makes no memorable use of the cartoon medium and relies too much on sex jokes and dirty puns, from the name of the school (Knob Haven) and the characters (reluctant P.E. teacher Larry Littlejunk, played by Jason Bateman on down. ("I want everything exposed and out in the open," to give you a newspaper-friendly example.) It's a kind of humor that registers at once as juvenile and geriatric. On the scale of Fox animated sitcoms it's closer spiritually, if that's a word you can apply to an animated sitcom, to "Family Guy" than to "The Simpsons" …

The Chicago Tribune says:

… far less inventive than "Arrested," and "Sit Down's" rapid-fire pace isn't anchored by anything real or relatable. Much of the goofy crassness of the Bluth clan of "Arrested" was balanced by the awkward naivete of the young George Michael Bluth (Michael Cera), but "Sit Down's" cynicism isn't leavened by a similar sweetness. The result is a show that feels brittle and manic. Jokes that would have been funny accompanied by an amusing reaction or a sprightly bit of physical comedy in a live-action show here come off as flat or mean. …

The Washington Post says:

… isn't any good …

The San Francisco Chronicle says:

… not much to get excited about here, though the second of two episodes sent by Fox was an improvement over the tepid pilot. … there's just no real comedic spark, and the animation, which is mixed with live action, seems to be of an indistinct off-brand Nickelodeon quality. …

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says:

There are some truly funny moments in Fox's manic animated comedy "Sit Down, Shut Up," a series that requires almost rapt attention to pick up all the jokes and amusing dialogue that's hurled at viewers. If a TV series ever suffered from Attention Deficit Disorder, this is it. … there's something clever enough about the jokes, not to mention the speed at which they fly, that mutes the show's more gratuitous impulses.

The Newark Star Ledger says:

… The disappointing new project from "Arrested Development" creator Mitchell Hurwitz is mainly a reminder of how much the "Arrested" cast -- several of whom provide voice work here -- added to that show. … I hoped that, at the very least, it would tide me over until the "Arrested" movie became a reality. Instead, it's an example of how genius doesn't come every time out, even with similar combinations of talent.

The Denver Post says:

… passes off painfully juvenile zings as humor and, unlike "Arrested," not in a good way. Sit down, change channel. …

The Boston Globe says:

… completely hackneyed, a dull dropout from the Adult Swim school of looney 'toons. … Aren't we years and years beyond finding politically incorrect situations funny simply because they're taboo? Comedy writers need to go one step further and twist the jokes, milk them for more than simply shock value; that's one thing "South Park" does so brilliantly. These days in animation, shock-value humor is merely quaint.

Variety says:

… Despite a pedigree that includes “Arrested Development” creator Mitch Hurwitz and many of that program’s stars, “Sit Down” seldom rises above sniggering double entendre. Seemingly preoccupied with impressing teenage boys, the show should possess scant appeal outside that demo. … a disappointingly blunt instrument from creative collaborators associated with better. The development here is arrested, alright, but unlike their last Fox foray, there’s nothing thus far to stand up and shout about.

The Hollywood Reporter says:

… the problem is that the show just isn't funny. It's one thing to make sly nods in the viewer's direction; it's another entirely to stock a series with characters named Miracle Grohe and Sue Sezno and expect people not to wince every time those heavy-handed puns slam home. …

8:30 p.m. Sunday. Fox.

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