Cooper's Bar

The crux of the issue with this show for me is that Cooper doesn't even really want to be a star that bad. In the show, he keeps talking about wanting to open a bar if starring in his own show doesn't work out. In fact, he seems to prefer opening the bar and seems reluctant to be the lead of his own show! The show, from its outset, lacks any stakes.

On top of this, it just isn't that funny. Much of the humor is supposed to come from how down to earth and blue collar Cooper is in comparison to the dog eat dog world that Kris (played with utter commitment and gusto by Rhea Seehorn who deservedly netted a nomination for this role), the caustic representative of the company that wants to buy (steal) the rights to a "Cooper's Bar" tv show from Cooper, represents. The problem is that the Cooper and his pals are too unlikeable to represent the "sane" man by comparison to Kris and her ilk. Cooper himself is grouchy, derisive of younger generations, close-minded, and a little arrogant. His friends are all varying degrees of naive, clueless, and conceited. Since the "sane man" group is hard to root for, it creates less comedic dissonance between his pals and the company's representatives.