An animated series written by, directed by and starring Clio-winning ad exec Steve Dildarian, “The Life and Times of Tim” would be my second-favorite show on the Cartoon Network if it ran on the Cartoon Network.
Tonight’s opener, in which the title character is, among other things, accused of covering up his own rape by a homeless man, is so much funnier than any of the animated season premieres on Fox tonight its scarcely worth making the comparison.
As one watches succeeding installments, it’s hard to escape the idea that Tim’s blonde girlfriend Amy is the most forgiving woman on the planet.
The series’ low-key tone will remind viewers a lot of “Dr. Katz, Family Therapist,” “Home Movies,” “Lucy, Daughter of the Devil” and probably every other project with which writer-actor Jon Benjamin has been involved. (Though Benjamin is not involved here.)
… Like "Dr. Katz," a cartoon it resembles in the conversational tone of its dialogue and the intentional crudeness of its animation, it is as dry as Melba toast. Basically, Tim is a perennial loser who gets himself into trouble by saying yes to bad requests. ("I don't like where this is going," he'll say. Then he goes there.) I didn't find much of it funny, but on a kind of purely analytical level I can see how the jokes are supposed to work, and might well work on some. …
… flat-out brilliant and easily one of the funniest newcomers to television. … if it knows what's good for it, the channel will immediately order many more episodes. …
… The animation is rudimentary and the jokes aren't much better. There are two segments within each half-hour show, and it's not a good sign when a 15-minute segment feels interminable. …
… The humor that flows from this is necessarily off-color and politically incorrect, and yet I found myself laughing anyway when a human resources manager uses what she calls "bum rape humor," to which Tim says, "That's not a genre of humor." …
… It's the antithesis of cartoons such as "The Simpsons" and "Family Guy," which cram every moment with visual and verbal wit. "Tim," created by Steve Dildarian, leans hard on hip understatement and winds up feeling tamped down into monotony. The simplistic, static animation style doesn't help. …
… holds some genuine promise with its dry wit and understated sensibility. … Dildarian's ultra-low-key approach hits the right notes more often than not because it's such a contrast with the insanity of the material itself. The first few installments are more hit than miss. So I'll be back for more. At least, a little more.
