• by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, October 4, 2018

From its title to its execution, the new NBC sitcom “I Feel Bad” has all the elements the TV Blog has come to loathe in network comedies.

This new comedy premiered on September 19 (a Wednesday), but settles into its regular time slot this week -- Thursday nights at 9:30 Eastern. This week's episode is No. 3, but it shows little improvement since Episode One.

Then as now, the entire half-hour is narrated by one of the most self-centered characters ever developed as the focal point of a network sitcom. In this case, she's a stressed-out, 30-something mom who is juggling her family, her job and her parents (especially her nagging mother).

Narration has become commonplace on TV, and especially in network sitcoms. And every time I hear it, I have the same reaction: Viewers should not have to be told by a narrator what they are seeing. Instead, a TV show -- which by its very nature is a visual medium -- should just show us what is happening, not tell us.

In “I Feel Bad,” the narration is among the worst ever heard in a network sitcom. It goes on and on, never ceasing through entire episodes. Moreover, this narration is little more than an endless litany of complaints.

They are First World problems: The dropoff line at her kids’ school is too long, her butt is too big, her co-workers never save her a plain bagel and more. It's all trivia, delivered in an insipid whine by Sarayu Blue (photo above), the star of the show and the mom who “feels bad.”

And that's another thing: Beware of TV sitcom titles derived from phrases people use in everyday speech. “Too Close for Comfort,” “Gimme a Break” -- you get the idea.

“I Feel Bad” is in the same vein since, apparently, some people today are given to saying “I feel bad” about a host of situations.

Then there are the usual assortment of offhand sitcom vulgarities. In the first episode of “I Feel Bad,” it was a series of vagina jokes.

In addition, this mom had a sexually explicit conversation at work with a group of male co-workers that would never be tolerated in the workplace today in the real world.

In the episode airing this week, a conversation about masturbation and this woman's husband's erection takes place in the very first minute. The rest of the episode has to do with her lying to her kids and her mother.

Meanwhile, by all appearances, this woman leads a great life. Her house is beautiful, she apparently has a great job for which she is well paid and her kids go to a great school.

What on earth does she really have to “feel bad” about? Unfortunately, this show provides no answer.

“I Feel Bad” airs Thursday nights at 9:30 Eastern on NBC.