The Whole Shebang

blog

Playwright Rich Orloff's charming, whimsical comedy about the creation of the universe delivers impish fun along with a provocative message. Excellent script is fleshed out beautifully by tender, light-hearted performances.

Playwright Rich Orloff’s charming, whimsical comedy about the creation of the universe delivers impish fun along with a provocative message. Excellent script is fleshed out beautifully by tender, light-hearted performances.

A very special student (Mark Linn-Baker) goes before a review board of the dean (Marian Seldes) and two senior professors (Jack Aranson and Stephen Pearlman) to defend his thesis project — the creation of the heavens and the Earth.

As the nervous student explains his project (completed in only seven days), he is pleased by the board’s praise for his creation of a self-sustaining, aesthetically pleasing ecosystem. One professor singles out fish and cows as particularly shining achievements.

Related Stories

concert crowd and stock arrow VIP+

New Live Music Data Suggests Cautious Optimism

GREY’S ANATOMY - “If Walls Could Talk” - After firing some of Grey Sloan’s best, Catherine continues to interfere with Meredith and Amelia’s research. Accidents at a climate change protest bring unique cases to the hospital, and Bailey encounters a blast from the past. THURSDAY, SEPT. 26 (10:00-11:00 p.m. EDT) on ABC. (Disney/Ser Baffo) CAMILLA LUDDINGTON, JAKE BORELLI

‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Star Camilla Luddington on Sticking With the Show for 13 Seasons, Jo’s Pregnancy and Alex Choosing Izzie

However, this project seems to have one tragic flaw: the design of human beings. To the learned board, the human race appears to be quarrelsome, egotistical and generally stupid.

Popular on Variety

Desperate to defend homo sapiens, the student attempts to transport two average human beings to the hearing room. However, Harvey Doe (Martin Mull) and his wife Edna (Teri Garr) show up instead of their more distinguished in-laws, John and Mary.

Harvey is a laid-off factory worker and Edna is a directory assistance operator in Dayton, Ohio, where they have two undistinguished, socially maladjusted children.

As Harvey and Edna describe the litany of human complaints, from boring jobs, disaffected children and frustrating sex lives, the student’s hopes for a good grade disappear. In this university, God is clearly an underachiever.

Writer Orloff brings a witty and engaging innocence to this material, and creates a very amusing extended sketch.

Perfs are excellent, with Mull and Garr delightful as the bewildered couple, and Mark Linn-Baker as the nerdy deity in tweeds. Seldes, Aranson and Pearlman are quite good as the stern profs. Director Burt Brinckerhoff shows a steady directing hand in this successful, low-budget rendition of a stage play.

Read More About:

Jump to Comments

The Whole Shebang

(Tue. (9), 10-11 p.m.; A&E)

  • Production: Taped in New York by Nederlander Television and Film Prods. Executive producer, Gladys Nederlander; producer, Stuart Goodman; director, Burt Brinckerhoff; writer, Rich Orloff.
  • Crew: Camera, Steve Jambeck, Lyn Noland, Alain Oresto; editor, Rob Ortiz; production designer, Tom H. John; audio mixer, Al Centrella; music, Brian Keane.
  • Cast: Cast: Mark Linn-Baker, Teri Garr, Martin Mull, Marian Seldes, Jack Aranson, Stephen Pearlman.

More from Variety

Most Popular

Must Read

Sign Up for Variety Newsletters

By providing your information, you agree to our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy.We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services. // This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Variety Confidential

A Variety and iHeartRadio Podcast

ncG1vNJzZmiukae2psDYZ5qopV9mhnp%2Fjq2taKqVq7amw9Joq6GdXay1sLjEZqqhnZKWu6h5kGtnaWxjZoVyfI4%3D