Rebel Wilson Is Fat on 'Super Fun Night'

Super Fun Night—the sitcom starring Rebel Wilson that premiered on ABC last night—seems to ask the question: how many fat chick jokes can be squeezed into 22 minutes? The answer: 13.

But the real problem of Super Fun Night is that it’s simply not funny. Ironically, the show with four Spanx jokes in one episode is seemingly constrained by its own self-imposed limits of basing its humor largely on its lead actress’s physique. And just like Spanx, it’s forced, uncomfortable, and demonstrates a lack of confidence in who Wilson really is as a comedian.

In New York‘s profile of Wilson (which was also weirdly weight-focused) the show’s producer, Conan O’Brien, said, “Rebel is revolutionary. Her weight is vastly overshadowed by her talent. It’s like the early Beatles—after the world heard the songs, no one cared about their haircuts.”

But Slate’s Willa Paskin had a more incisive take:

O’Brien is trying to be nice, but his metaphor needs some work: Wilson’s weight is only like the Beatles’ haircuts if they sometimes used their haircuts as an instrument.