‘Idiotsitter’ Is the Jillian Bell-Driven Vehicle That Has Been Missing From Our Lives

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Idiotsitter

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The comedy gods (or at least the executives at Comedy Central) must be listening to my entertainment prayers. Jillian Bell is leading her own comedy tonight at 10:30 p.m. EST called Idiotsitter. And it is everything I could have hoped it would be and more.

If you’re not sure you know who Jillian Bell is, don’t worry. You probably already know her pretty well. She’s been a series regular on the Comedy Central show, Workaholics, where she plays the gang’s sole female friend who swings from desperately trying to fit in to living her own quirky life. However, Bell really hit mainstream fame through her role in 22 Jump Street, where she played the judgmental antagonist, Mercedes. She was the college student turned kickass criminal who never once smiled and had a thing for matching pajama suits. You may remember her for calling Schmidt (Jonah Hill) out for looking 45 years old. She’s also one of my all-star comedy woman crushes.

I started crushing on Bell during my first Workaholics binge, and it was comedy love from then on. Bell is the comedic point guard Adam DeVine, Blake Anderson, and Anders Holm’s workplace, weed-based comedy so desperately needed. While she never overtly steals the spotlight, she sets up jokes and wacky antics in her own mild-mannered, deadpanned way. Like the best all stars, you don’t walk away praising Bell because she forces herself front and center, staring at the camera and demanding your attention. She plays her roles calmly, quickly, and close to character, with the camera happily following along. While Bell is an amazing supporting comedic player, I’ve always thought she was talented enough to headline her own show, a hunch that was partially proven by her leading role in the webseries Hamburger Hummus. But starting today, Bell has leading her own pseudo-adult tale, and it is tight, you guys.

Based on a webseries of the same name, which was created by Bell and her co-star, Charlotte Newhouse, Idiotsitter follows a Harvard graduate and general real adult (Newhouse) who is financially forced to babysit a rich woman-child (Bell). The comedy skewers rich families with too much money and not enough sense, but more than that, it’s the ultimate tale of never growing up. As insane and vulgar as the series is, there’s a lot of warmth between the central friendship in the pilot. While Newhouse, who gives a great straight man performance that feels the right amount of stuffy and condescendingly sweet, is Bell’s clear foil, the series doesn’t dive into the women-hating-women rut that so very many female-driven comedies rely on. In this way, the main relationship of the series works as more of a Parks and Rec-esque Leslie and Anne dynamic but with far more drugs, swearing, and cash.

But is the show funny? Hell yeah. It’s entertaining in the same chronically uncool it-becomes-cool-again way that characterizes Workaholics. If you’re looking for a new comedy to start the new year, this should be it.

You can watch Idiotsitter’s pilot now on Comedy Central.com, or catch the premiere live tonight at 10:30 p.m. ET on Comedy Central.