Unselfish UnSaturday – This workplace comedy opens in a second-hand sporting goods store where the hearing-impaired manager, DJ Demers (DJ Demers), attempts to inspire several employees for the annual Saturday fundraiser. He does so by offering an incentive if the team reaches its sales goal of $20,000. DJ describes the incentive as something everyone needs and loves before Cynthia (Geri Hall) points out Keeran’s (Seran Sathiyaseelan) absence.
Jen Hauser (Elise Bauman) interrupts Wayne’s (Dan Beirne) internal debate over DJ’s reward to ask him to cover her shift tomorrow so she can train for the Olympic javelin qualifiers. He appears to be solely focused on DJ’s reward and if the incentive is cash, he sees it as the perfect opportunity to buy a microphone for his podcast. His refusal to take the shift forces her to propose a sale challenge.
With Wayne’s help, Keeran hobbles through the store’s side entrance, where his late arrival is blamed on a cycling accident. Wayne immediately intervenes and lies to Keeran about the incentive after learning that he is considering taking the day off to nurse his injury.
Jen intervenes and tries to make a big show of her learning sign language when she notices DJ having a hard time communicating with a mumbling customer (Dan Darin-Zanco). She only ends up embarrassing herself once DJ informs her that he doesn’t know sign language. Instead, he claims to rely on boy language, context, and lip reading. DJ joins Cynthia at the checkout counter to discuss the event’s disappointing turnout. He gets much more than he bargained for once she launches into a huge spiel about how the decrease in profits and excessive inventory will be the downfall of the store.
While handing out event coupons in the strip mall parking lot DJ encounters his sister, Nat (Maddy Foley), who is dropping off Josh (Chris Robinson) for his shift at the store. Nat reminds Josh to leave her a good review and at the same time, encourages him to tell DJ about Sports Dynasty’s big event. It doesn’t take DJ long to contribute his event’s poor turnout to the success of Sports Dynasty’s event. DJ turns down Josh’s offer of a drink at the neighboring bar. Josh’s mentioning of Gwen (Nadine Bhaha) working nearly changes his mind. Instead, he calls Cynthia and tells her to meet him outside with a stack of coupons.
DJ and Cynthia attend the carnival-themed event, where it’s revealed that Sports Dynasty’s manager, Carlito (Marito Lopez), has been trying to put DJ out of business ever since he was named manager over him. It doesn’t take long for a guard to show up and order them off the property once they start handing out coupons. Carlito’s arrival and DJ’s subsequent dunk tank showdown prevent the encounter from ever making it that far.
Before Carlito and DJ faceoff, Keeran struggles with his ankle injury. Although on separate occasions, both Wayne and Jen offer their help. Jen goes one step further by giving him an ankle bracelet from the store’s inventory. She also appears to gain the upper hand in their competition Mennonite Man (Ray Francis) comes in with a slew of children looking for ice skates.
Returning to Sports Dynasty’s carnival-inspired event and against Cynthia’s advice, DJ gets the first attempt to sink Carlito. Although he narrowly misses, he misses and Carlito steps up. Cynthia continually advocates against DJ’s decision and eventually questions how the water might affect his hearing aids. He refuses to remove them because he doesn’t want to give Carlito the slightest impression that he thinks he’ll get dunked. Seconds later Carltio scores a direct hit but there is a delayed reaction or the machine malfunctions and it’s a few more seconds before DJ is dunked.
Left humiliated, soaked, and nearly deaf, DJ aimlessly wanders around the carnival and ends up offering his unsolicited advice to several of the event’s attendees. In the first scenario, he attempts to perk up a young boy (Taj Levey) who appears to be depressed about his small physical stature. DJ tells him that he was also small at the boy’s age but turned out to be one of the best hockey players in town. In another scenario, DJ interrupts a man’s (Kenneth Mohabir) phone conversation to tell him that he should never call himself fat because athletes come in a variety of sizes.
Sometime later DJ returns to his store where he meets with his team again. As he begins to talk about the failure of the event, the young child and heavyset gentleman interrupt. It’s not long before the store is filled with paying customers. After the event and totaling profits, the store appears to be $14 short of reaching its $20,000 goal. Wayne also appears to be the leading seller by $21. This changes when Keeran comes out of nowhere and buys the ankle bracelet that Jen gave him earlier. The purchase not only puts the store above its goal but contributing the purchase to Jen makes her the top seller. No one appears to be too excited when the incentive is revealed to wings at Angry Al’s.
One More Time Review
What a huge disappointment! Although workplace comedies are oversaturated, this one, for some reason, did feel a bit fresh starting out. I don’t even know what or how to describe the failed attempt at some of the humor. The episode wasn’t a complete dud, but it certainly didn’t resonate like a series premiere should have. DJ wasn’t entirely awful, but I don’t know if this show even has the potential to grow on me. I’d give this episode a 4 out of 10.
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