Workaholics: Season 4

BY Michael EdwardsPublished Jun 3, 2014

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Somehow, Workaholics has managed to stick around longer than just about every other scripted show that Comedy Central has ever made. Its gleefully sophomoric brand of humour has really struck a chord with an audience composed of people who are not dissimilar to the characters depicted in the show.

For the uninitiated, Workaholics is all about a trio of college dropouts — Blake, Anders and Adam (played by Blake Anderson, Anders Holm and Adam DeVine, respectively) as they avoid becoming contributing members of society. The really obvious comparison is with It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, because they both feature a gang of self-centred friends who have wacky adventures in which nothing ever goes right. The difference is that the workplace setting is a call centre rather than a bar, and there's a lot more getting stoned involved.

This new season is a whole lot more of the same. After an epic 20-episode third season, the fourth was trimmed to a much more manageable 13 episodes, which has helped slightly with the quality control issues that made for some painful viewing last time around. That said, it is beginning to appear more and more like the show's premise is wearing thin, as the plots are getting more and more outlandish, and not in a good way. The gross factor is ramped up dramatically at times, sometimes needlessly, and there's more mean-spiritedness on display too. There are still some big laughs to be found, but even those come with an element of déjà vu, meaning that this season might appeal to existing fans, but it definitely won't convince anyone who hasn't been convinced before. The show is also very, very male-centric, with the few female characters stuck at the periphery and not given enough chance to contribute.

Considering that DeVine and Holm in particular are cultivating healthy careers outside of Workaholics, starring on more mainstream shows like The Mindy Project and Modern Family, they probably have less time to devote to this show. That probably explains why there are none of their trademark drunken commentary tracks on this set, nor any other extras that might have required additional involvement. Instead, there are just ten minutes of deleted scenes, a ten minutes long blooper reel and a handful of cute promos.

The show is already confirmed to come back for a fifth season, so hopefully they've already come up with an escape strategy; without some kind of major reboot, Workaholics is ready to be put out to pasture.

(Paramount Pictures)

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