'Love': Reviewing 'Witchita' and Other Shows-Within-Shows
Netflix’s new series Love wrings a lot of laughs (and drama) out of the troubled relationship between its central lovers: Gus (Paul Rust) and Mickey (Gillian Jacobs). But another strong source of humor is Witchita, the TV series that employs Gus as a tutor for its young star, Aria, played by Iris Apatow — daughter of Love exec producer Judd Apatow. A serialized paranormal drama about a teenage witch and the small town she calls home, Witchita is such a spot-on recreation of soapy teen-centric shows like Pretty Little Liars and The Vampire Diaries, it’s amazing that it doesn’t already air on The CW or Freeform. (Just putting this out there: we’d love to see either network add it to their primetime schedule.) While we wait to get our Witchita fix from Love’s second season, here are five other memorable shows-within-shows, ranked in order from most deserving to least deserving of a full-season order.
1. MILF Island
As Seen On: 30 Rock (NBC, 2006-2013)
Genre: Reality
Premise: An army of hot-to-trot moms and a battalion of pubescent boys are stranded on an island, while not-Jeff Probst (Rob Huebel) observes the tawdry action.
Our (Real) Review of the (Fake) Show: Considering that its basic premise was based around a show-within-a-show, it’s no surprise that 30 Rock was a veritable factory for assembling classic fake TV series, from Dealbreakers to Queen of Jordan. But MILF Island may just be the crown jewel in its fictional TV schedule, fusing the best parts of Survivor, The Bachelor, Kid Nation, and Temptation Island into a wholly inappropriate (and therefore awesome) primetime summer series. Morphing Probst’s signature bye-bye line to ejected contestants from “The tribe has spoken” to “We no longer want to hit that,” is just one example of how Tina Fey and her writers expertly skewer genre conventions, while also creating a reality series that you can almost imagine someone making.
2. Invitation to Love
As Seen On: Twin Peaks (ABC, 1990-1991)
Genre: Soap Opera
Premise: In the swanky penthouse of the towering apartment complex known, appropriately enough, as “The Towers,” a chamber psychodrama plays out that involves betrayal, murder, and identical twins.
Our (Real) Review of the (Fake) Show: It’s a testament to the timeless house style of daytime soap operas that the over-two-decade-old Invitation to Love still looks contemporary… apart from the era-appropriate Big Hair, of course. David Lynch’s Twin Peaks collaborator, Mark Frost, directed the clips of Love that were often glimpsed on televisions throughout the titular small town, and the storylines that unfolded inside The Towers frequently reflected what was happening in Twin Peaks. Watched in isolation, the show actually does tell a complete story with a suitably soapy ending. The acting is super-sudsy as well, with former model Erika Anderson killing it as twin sisters Jade and Emerald. Here’s hoping that Invitation to Love is still on the air when the Twin Peaks revival debuts next year.
3. Wormhole X-Treme
As Seen On: Stargate: SG-1 (Showtime/Syfy, 1997-2007)
Genre: Sci-Fi
Premise: A team of human soldiers (plus one alien) patrols distant galaxies courtesy of an intergalactic portal.
Our (Real) Review of the (Fake) Show: For its 100th episode, SG-1 essentially broke the fourth wall to speak directly to its passionate fanbase. The vehicle for that fan/creator dialogue was Wormhole X-Treme, a Stargate-esque pilot airing within the Stargate universe (not to be confused with Stargate Universe). The brainchild of Martin Lloyd (Willie Garson) — a recurring character who occasionally joined the SG-1 team — Wormhole deliberately resembled a bootleg version of its parent show. (Lloyd was originally going to call his rip-off Going to Other Planets, but as he discovered, “Research says that shows with X in the name get better ratings.”) The footage we get to see has a strong Galaxy Quest vibe, right down to the raging egomaniac playing the team leader and the cheap props and sets. And since Galaxy Quest is one of the best comedies ever made, that should be considered high praise.
4. Pucks!
As Seen On: Episodes (Showtime, 2011-present)
Genre: Sitcom
Premise: A high school hockey coach gets involved in the lives of his players on the ice and off.
Our (Real) Review of the (Fake) Show: Widely derided by its own creators and star, Pucks! nevertheless seems like it would fit in nicely alongside Step by Step, Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper, and all the other TGIF teen-centric comedies we watched on ABC back in the day. Then again, even at the time, most of us understood those shows weren’t “good” in the conventional sense of the word. And Pucks! clearly isn’t any good either, but the badness is believably realistic. It’s a textbook case for what happens to a show when every creative decision is the wrong one.
5. Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
As Seen On: Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (NBC, 2006-2007)
Genre: Variety Show
Premise: A live, late-night sketch comedy show that tapes in the Sunset Strip’s Studio 60, rather than 30 Rock’s Studio 8H.
Our (Real) Review of the (Fake) Show: In effect, Studio 60’s fate was sealed in the second episode, when head writer Matt Albie (Matthew Perry) decided that the thing that would make the show relevant again was… a Gilbert and Sullivan parody? The ensemble may have been in tune, but as an example of what’s popular in contemporary sketch comedy, it was absolutely tone deaf. In fact, all of Studio 60’s skits were similarly musty, making it a marvel that this supposedly “modern network TV show” had survived a year, let alone two decades. Even on an off night, SNL still musters up a sketch or two that are worth staying up for. Studio 60 would just put us to sleep.
Love is currently streaming on Netflix
