'Assistants' disappoints

Sometimes shows arrive in the mail on DVD that I'm eager to see just because of what the Hollywood folks call "the creative auspices" (AKA the creators).

That was the case with The N's "The Assistants" (8:30 p.m. Friday), which was created by Will McRobb and Chris Viscardi. The pair created Nickelodeon's "The Adventures of Pete and Pete," one of my favorite kids' shows that came along long after I was a kid. But it was a brilliant series regardless of a viewer's age.

Curiously, McRobb and Viscardi did not write this week's premiere or next week's episode, which turns out to be a relief since the show is not that good.

First, there's the Hollywood-centric premise, which is starting to get old, especially in a comedy that's not all that funny. Aspiring filmmaker Gillian (Britt Irvin) barges her way into a job as assistant to producer Zach Del Toro (Zak Santiago), a power mad jerk, who tasks Gillian with selling his old, junker car.

Rigby (Meaghan Rath), another worker in the Kinky Bunny Pictures office, sneaks her way onto a set where a director bellows, "I thought they were bringing over seltzer! This water is flat!"

Now, I don't doubt that some Hollywood folks have an overdeveloped sense of entitlement and can behave like jerks, but it's just such an obvious cliche for any La-La Land-set series to induldge in. Maybe it would be forgiveable if funny but "The Assistants" barely amuses.

Another concern: The N targets an older teen audience but the sexual innuendo and language in this show is still beyond what should be on a teen channel. At least "Secret Life of the American Teenager" on ABC Family is more circumspect with its frank conversations about sexuality; here everything is just played for  attempted laughs that it fails to conjure.