Leveling up the comedy without giving up the entertainment
The best way to describe The Guild is to simply say it isn’t more than it’s advertised. The show revolves around a girl named Codex (played by Felicia Day) who has a very strong addiction to an online Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG). The first episode of the show is about her addiction to the game and the surprise arrival of an unwanted guest who is madly in love with her…. through the MMORPG. Zaboo (played by Sandeep Parikh), who is a spunky, ADHD kid who wants to conquer everything in life in ten-minute time span (see Steve Schardein for details and comparisons). Throughout the first season of the show, well pretty much both seasons, the show focuses mainly on these two characters. Codex has to figure out the best way to get rid of Zaboo without being incredibly blunt. To help her in her quest, no pun intended, she brings her four other MMORPG companions together in real life. Of course, stereotypically speaking, their online personas certainly have nothing to do with their offline personalities. Throughout the season you’ll find Codex dealing with Zaboo, his mother, a stuntman who lives in her apartment and the best way to get Zaboo out of the house and on his own.
What’s really unique about this show is how simple it really is. I know that it has been heavily advertised on the coattails of Dr. Horrible’s Sing-a-long Blog, mainly because Day also stars in that as the love interest, but The Guild can stand on its own. The characters in the series are unique and very well developed. The first minute you see Day on screen you understand who Codex is. She is a nerdy, single girl who has been completely consumed by this mystery MMORPG. It affects her life and how she interacts with the outside world. You learn all of this with a simply conversation with Codex and his therapist. All of the characters get introduced and developed in the same way. For a 3-8 minute online episode this is pretty darn brilliant. There are shows that run 60 minutes that can’t establish their characters as well as The Guild does. You can credit the acting, but the real bulk of the credit goes to the writer, who happens to be Felicia Day. Day apparently has some experience (tons I’m sure) with World of Warcraft. It’s almost a guarantee that if you played the game once, you’ve played the game for a year, so it’s safe to assume that Day knows her way around an MMORPG. Day created a world for these losers in training that is confined, which is the first step of creating a world in writing. With such an enclosed world established, Day was free to write different types of situations to fit inside that world and she certainly doesn’t disappoint. In one episode you have Zaboo moving in with Vork (the cheapskate character that doesn’t use electricity because it’s cheaper to keep food fresh with bags of ice), which generates the perfect ‘odd couple’ and helps the two characters play some subtle comedy off of each other. There are many moments between the two seasons that create moments like this and opportunities for fresh comedy.
With all of this said, the series isn’t perfect. The actors, especially Zaboo and Tinkerballa (played by Amy Okuda), are a bit rough in their art. You can see the green roots of these acting rookies by their early dialogue in the series. Most of it seems read, uninspired and hopeful for more episodes. It’s not what you would expect from other shows, even Dr. Horrible’s Sing-a-long Blog, which has some pretty high-class actors helping out perfectly with the comedy. Despite the rough starts, you can tell when the actors either get comfortable with their roles or actually realize the show would continue (or both). The comedy is delivered easier and with accurate timing (especially in season two) and it just seems a helluva lot funnier; which is great when you’re not trying to force it.
The biggest question here is, “Is the show worth $19.99?” For me, someone who has seen countless comedies and reviewed a (bleep) ton of blu-rays…. yes I think it’s worth it. If you’re not willing to fall in love with the comedy completely, you have to give appreciation for the attempt. Some of the greatest comedians and shows came out of independent sources. It’s quite amazing to see a sitcom developed and delivered for the web in a professional fashion without the attachment of a huge studio. This is how things are beginning to shift and happen right now and it’s neat to watch. The Guild combines this method with fresh actors, who may not normally get a chance to star in a sitcom, with limitless creativity that speaks to today’s ‘instant gratification’ generation. The show fits the mold for subtle comedy and speaks to the demographic it clearly thrives from. In other words, if you’re spending the majority of your time online doing Facebook or whatever then this one is for you.
Bright, witty, yet raw, The Guild is cheap enough to own and deep enough to entertain. Hopefully Day and crew keep moving forward and make this experience even bigger.
As for the special features side of things, here’s what you’re looking at:
◦ Special Insert: Gaming Glossary and Note from Felicia Day
◦ Cast and Crew Interviews
◦ Audition Footage
◦ Gag Reels
◦ Audio Commentaries
◦ Table Read
◦ Script PDF Files
◦ Play All Feature
Honestly, I’ve seen better shows not have this many special features. The audition footage is great, but only rivaled by the gag reels. The PDF files are a treat too; I wish movie studios did this for fans. All in all, very solid features for an entertaining web sitcom.