"Man vs. Baby" isn't even remotely funny.
For those of us who grew up laughing at Mr. Bean, Rowan Atkinson's face will always evoke nostalgia. In that British comedy, Atkinson's character never speaks (he only says "Bean" once or twice), so my first reaction is usually a mixture of surprise and astonishment whenever I hear the actor's real voice.
Creators: Rowan Atkinson, william Davies
Stars: Rowan Atkinson, Sunetra Sarker, Susannah Fielding
I doubt I'll ever fully get used to the fact that Atkinson can talk. It's no wonder, then, that as soon as I heard him in "Man vs. Baby," I jumped up in my seat, amazed. Mr. Bean talks! How fantastic! But there's something else that also left me speechless. The opening scenes of "Man vs. Baby," which concisely summarize Trevor's (Atkinson's) family life, are so dramatic that I thought the actor wanted to reinvent himself as a melodramatic actor with this series. Perhaps Atkinson is tired of being labeled as the guy who only knows how to do comedy. Perhaps with Man vs. Baby, he wants to tell the world that there's more to him than the Mr. Bean persona.
Given the kind of sentimental drama this series offers, I'm glad Atkinson is still sticking with comedy. In its message and tone, Man vs. Baby resembles many Christmas stories. Once again, a lonely man finds joy in the company of strangers and close friends, who initially consider him odd or simply don't have time for him.
Man vs. Baby, however, takes things more literally and a bit corny with the presence of Baby Jesus, a mysterious infant who manages to draw other characters into Trevor's orbit: sometimes directly (like a police officer and a social worker), sometimes indirectly (like a couple who return to the attic to thank Trevor and give a gift to the titular baby). I'm not sure the title of this series is quite right. Man vs. Baby serves as a continuation of Man vs. Bee, and the "vs." It made sense in that 2022 comedy, since it was about Trevor trying to kill a bee. Here, Trevor is simply taking care of the baby (he has no other choice). Wouldn't "Man and Baby" or "Man with Baby" be more appropriate?
Anyway, nothing should matter as long as the show makes you laugh, right? Well, the problem is that "Man vs. Baby" isn't even remotely funny; or rather, the most it manages is a few chuckles thanks to a fart joke and a list that keeps printing. If someone had caught me watching this show, they would have seen a guy pulling his hair out in frustration and screaming. I just couldn't accept many of the scenes. For example, why didn't Trevor buy diapers when he went shopping with the baby? Later, after ordering them online, one thing leads to another, and when Trevor gets in the elevator, he finds the bag of diapers some distance away. What does he do? He uses a shoe to stop the elevator doors from closing, a plan that, unsurprisingly, backfires.
Couldn't he have gone up to the attic, grabbed the remote, and then gone back to get the diaper bag? Yes, I know this is physical comedy, and making statements like this is practically a crime. But here's my point: shouldn't you judge a scene logically if it doesn't fulfill its purpose properly? You see, my feelings are a direct result of the exasperation I felt watching "Man vs. Baby." Here's a character so incompetent that, instead of laughing, you just wish he'd improve and stop being clumsy. His incompetence isn't funny.
To give you an idea of how irritated I was with this show, I was particularly bothered by Trevor crossing his arms to feed two babies—that is, feeding the baby on the right with his left hand and the one on the left with his right. It's never a good sign when you start asking a comedy character to behave normally. I suppose there's something here about how the rich mistreat their workers (Trevor cooks for the penthouse residents, but they leave for New York at the last minute, and his boss doesn't pass on the message). However, Man vs. Baby isn't interested in delving into that dark side. The worst part is that it ends just as things are about to get hilariously chaotic. The ending is an excuse; it's irritating.
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