Workaholics (2011-17), about a trio of clueless dudebros led by Adam Devine (left), has gotten very, very bad press: gayness as an insult, weird, reprehensible; the possibility of bromantic partners being attracted to each other presented as "hilarious and absurd." Devine responded that critics were heterosexual snowflakes looking for a fight; "The gays have a sense of humor. They get us."
I'm not usually very forgiving about casual homophobia, but I'll check it out. Episode 5.5, described variously as: "When they go to a gay pride party in the neighborhood, they make fools of themselves pretending to be gay." or "a wild night at a neighbor's house leads the guys to question their relationship." Sounds cringy from the get-go.
Note: Workaholics contains a lot of humiliation nudity, both rear and obscured-frontal.
Scene 1: Telemarketing company boss (the always amazing Jerry O'Connell) is giving a speech about teamwork when the guys come in late; he calls them "young bucks," but they counter that they are "hung bucks....because our things are huge" Well, whip them out. Tomorrow they have a team-building contest: he demonstrates by falling into the arms of an employee, who catches him. The guys try falling backwards, but no one catches them, har har.
Scene 2: The office bullies brag that they have a "mature adult relationship": they know each other's biggest regrets and deepest fears. The guys try to prove that they know about feelings and stuff. "Adam, what's Der's biggest fear?" "That his dick is smaller than mine." So, their schtick is a dick joke every five seconds. I forgive Keefe for learning about "hard woods" at Woodpecker's Carpentry.
Left: Der (Anders Holm)
That night, while drinking beer on the roof of their house, they try and fail to connect on a deeper level, so they can win the contest. Suddenly a guy approaches who is working valet for the Pride party down the street, wanting to park cars in their yard. They think "pride" means MMA, and ask why they weren't invited. He doesn't answer, so they put on their martial arts t-shirts and crash the party.
Scene 3: Still thinking that it is a MMA party, they are shocked to see that it's all guys, and there's a giant rainbow "Happy Pride" banner.
Left: Blake (Blake Anderson)
They discuss: "Dude, are you pretending to be gay?" "Well, it's a pretty sweet party. We don't want to be kicked out."
The hosts are played by Michael Urie and Tim Bagley, both gay in real life.
The guys continue to pretend that they are gay: "Oh, we're very involved in the scene. The having sex with guys scene. We're three-way gay with each other." The hosts wonder why they're pretending: straight guys are welcome.
Scene 4: Getting drunk on free booze, the guys continue their attempt to connect on an emotional level. Meanwhile Adam drinks booze out of a dolphin's snout and exclaims: "If ejack tasted this good, I'd drink it by the gallon!" Wait, does that mean you know what it tastes like? They start chanting "We're here, we're queer, we want to drink beer!", to the embarrassment of the other guests.
The pride cake comes out, and of course the guys crash into it. "What the fuck is wrong with you!" the host exclaims.
More after the break
Scene 5: Morning. They awaken nude, in bed together. Uh-oh, here comes the gay panic. I saw this on Three's Company in 1979. Adam has "dried jizz" on his chest (and face). Der has a used condom in his butt. "This is bad! This is really, really bad."
The guys yell that they've been sexually assaulted by some of the guests, but the hosts tell them that they actually were screwing each other. This makes them even more upset.
Left: Der (Anders Holm)
Scene 6: The team-building contest is about to begin. Uh-oh, they couldn't decide on a team color, so the boss got them rainbow t-shirts as a humiliation. That's mildly homophobic.
The guys are surly and distrustful, and when the team-building tests require touching, they recoil: "Back off! You're in my space!"
They accuse each other of sexual assault using car metaphors. Adam: "You guys are sickos! You pushed your cars into my very tender, very tight little garage. Snowflakes, they aren't upset because they might have had gay sex. They think that their friends sexually assaulted them. I'd be upset, too.
After a number of disruptions, the Boss asks them what the problem is. Adam explains: "We have some...friends...who used to be close. Then they hooked up with each other hard." Boss: "Well, tell them to have an honest, mature, adult conversation."
Scene 7: The guys have a conversation. They don't discuss their feelings much, but just having Adam and Der around helped Blake work through his grief over his uncle's death. Adam was an outcast in school, constantly bullied, so just having two guys who accept him is a blessing. Whatever happened last night, they're going to stay friends. This is actually sort of heart-warming.
They trust each other again, and physical contact is fine. Even when an obstacle course pushes them in a butt-to-crotch position, like anal sex, or when building a human pyramid requires them to have their buddy's crotch in their face, like oral sex.
Scene 8: The guys return to the party hosts. They want to apologize for being jerks by bringing them a cake with rainbow flags and a twinky cock and balls. They admit that the hookup was their first (and only): they're not actually gay. But it did bring them closer together as friends.
Hosts: "You didn't screw each other. We staged the whole thing because you were acting like drunken jerks." Everything except the jizz on Adam's chest: he was masturbating, yelling "I am the gayest of them all," and jizzed himself. So Adam felt comfortable masturbating in front of a lot of gay guys. That's quite an ally. Now let's talk about how he can splash himself in the face.
The guys are relieved, but not as much as you might expect with gay panic. They are actually more concerned with why the hosts refuse to invite them to their next party. The end.
Beefcake: The guys in their underwear.
Gay Stereotypes: Only Blake's fruity "Hello." Everyone else is decidedly low-key. Michael Urie doesn't swish nearly as much as he did on Ugly Betty.
Heterosexism: The guys never look at, mention, or talk about girls. Maybe in other episodes they are horndogs, obsessed with getting laid, but not here.
Homophobia: Maybe the boss's choice of rainbow t-shirts for the guys' team-building exercise and the guys' initial reaction to finding themselves at a gay party, but those are both marginal. Otherwise the guys behave like allies. They are upset over the "hookup" because it was non-consensual, not because it involved gay sex.
Penis Jokes: The guys are obsessed with penis size, especially Adam.
My Grade: Raunchy, but not in the least offensive. B.
See also: Adam Devine's House Party: A bisexual foam orgy is promised.
Adam Devine's hot, hung humorous, and homerotic photos, Part 2
About the splashing. In Season 2 of "The Righteous Gemstones," Kelvin has his thumbs broken, complains that Keefe has to hold his dick when he pees, or he'll splash himself in the face. That's impossible for urination, unless you're standing on your head, so maybe he is referring to being unable to aim adequately while masturbating, so Keefe has to help.
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