As so eloquently defined by the Urban Dictionary, a “doucheaholic” is a person suffering from extreme douche-ness. The person who cuts you off in traffic and then proceeds to scream at you. The person who talks badly about you to your friends. The person who brags to no end about countless sexual conquests. All clear-cut signs of douchery.
Now take all these varying douches and put them together in a dysfunctional support group. And here you have the premise of today’s review, a comedy titled Doucheaholics.
Written and directed by Sean McCarthy, this award-winning indie comedy series takes place in a group therapy session humorously titled Doucheaholics Anonymous. Where bad-tempered, poorly mannered men and women go to share their experiences and feel safe from outside judgement.
In Doucheaholics, we meet the many shades and colors of douchery from a diverse group of individuals. Each with a different story to tell about their social misconduct and general aberrant behaviors. What’s interesting about this is how each person, portraying an exaggerated personality type, is rooted in a real behavior we all exhibit in our lives.
Take the character of Laura (Jenn Tripp) for example. A seemingly normal mother struggling to balance her frantic life who, after getting into an altercation with an elderly woman, goes off on a deranged tangent. It’s an exaggerated scenario that we’ve all been through to some degree. For our lives become so hectic and stressful that we can’t help but burst at the seams. The show is just a humorous, slightly satirical take on our real life conundrums.
The show has this absurd level of humor that tests how far you the viewer are willing to suspend your disbelief in the name of comedy. Occasionally Doucheaholics took it pretty far, but not once did it lose me (on account of how much I enjoyed the series). Perhaps my favorite scene displaying the ridiculous nature of Doucheaholics is when the overly promiscuous character known as D-Cup (Ashley Sullivan) sprints down the sidewalk while projectile vomiting into the air. A vile, yet comical display of creativity.
I believe the overarching concept for the show itself is simple and kind of weird, an idea you might cook up with your friends one night whilst joking around. The creators of Doucheaholics took this idea and ran with it, putting an obvious amount of pride and dedication into this project, which payed off in the long run.
Doucheaholics is a delightful romp, with an entertaining cast and self-aware vibe that you only get with a show like this. The parameters for being a douche have never been so well-defined, yet relatable to the average person all the same.
The Verdict: A-
-Zachary Flint
Check out the Doucheaholics website here
Doucheaholics Facebook page
Doucheaholics iTunes page
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