The Buzz: ‘The Ranch’ Part 7, A Bore On The Range
Westerns have been around since the early days of cinematic history. Since the silent era of film, westerns featuring ranches, railways, and brave cowboys have been a common feature. Now, with the addition of sound, westerns are still just as popular as ever spanning genres from comedies like A Million Ways To Die In The West (Seth McFarlene 2014) to sci-fi productions like Cowboys And Aliens (Jon Favreau 2011). It’s not just film either, television has made a prolific career out of cowboy heroes from Bonanza (David Dortot 1959 – 1973) to Reba (Allison M. Gibson 2001 – 2006). Netflix’s sitcom, The Ranch, created by Don Reo and Jim Patterson, continues the western legacy. Or at the least, it tries to.
The Ranch debuted on Netflix in 2016. Its main protagonists are a benevolent alcoholic, Colt Bennett (Ashton Kutcher) whose failed career as a football star has led him back to his family’s ranch. Alongside Colt, is his brother Rooster (Danny Masterson) and his no-nonsense father, Beau (Sam Elliot). Colt’s return brings him back in touch with his roots, his alcoholism, and his high school sweetheart, Abby (Elisha Cuthbert). The Ranch is a multi-camera sitcom and has the same humor expected of one. Albeit, the ‘M’ rating allows for a more explicit reference to drugs and sex. Still just references though as the show doesn’t directly showcase either. Another privilege The Ranch has over its network brethren, is the amount of f bombs dropped in each episode. There’s always a slight emphasis on the word as well, as if to help remind viewers that this isn’t an ordinary sitcom, it’s Netflix. All that does though is make the characters sound like prepubescents who just learned a few words of profanity.
Unfortunately, not even Netflix can escape the dreaded sitcom laugh track. Granted, it’s more subdued and less frequent than network sitcoms, but even so, the jokes are often forced or lackluster. For instance, there are several mentions of current pop culture such as “flossing” or the Frozen franchise. In some cases, the shout outs work and make sense, in others, it’s just a desperate attempt to appear relatable and trendy. The show is essentially a giant commercial for various products. Product placement appears in near every episode, from Budweiser beer to McDonalds and even Super Mario Brothers.
Given these constraints, the cast does an amicable job at giving life to their characters. Kutcher, who built his name and fame on portraying the stereotypical “dumb” character, has once again been typecast. Similar to his roles as Kelso on That 70s Show or Jesse Montgomery III in Dude Where’s My Car (Danny Leinar 2004), Colt is a dumb but good-hearted man. Speaking of That 70s Show, a lot of former cast members returned in supporting roles such as Kurtwood Smith who plays Colt’s neighbor, Mr. Peterson, Debra Jo Rupp as Colt’s mother-in-law Janice, Wilmer Valderrama as Umberto, and, as aforementioned earlier, Danny Masterson as Colt’s brother Rooster. Although, Masterson was removed from the show due to several allegations against him. As for The Ranch, characters are pleasantly stubborn or stupid in their own ways. Colt’s cousin Luke (Dax Shepard) is a trusting fool just as Colt’s father Beau is a gruff and tough “man’s man” who speaks as slow and low as molasses. They’re a likeable enough bunch, it’s just the various plotlines and struggles they go through tend to feel redundant. Dale (Barry Corbin), Beau’s best friend and eternal annoyance, serves as the show’s comedic relief and scapegoat. But his presence doesn’t just annoy Beau, it annoys the audience as well. Likewise, there’s only so many times Colt can be called an idiot, or he and Abby get into an argument before the audience can begin to predict the outcome of each episode. Beau is supposed to hate everyone and everything, but even he comes across as cyclical in his jokes.
The brighter side of the show is rooted in its darker parts. For instance, the few moments of dark humor make a delightful change of pace from the standard sitcom humor. In part seven, in the opening scene, Mr. Peterson unintentionally reminds Colt of all that he's suffered in the recent past, including the death of his brother, his wife leaving their home, and his near failure at ranching. There are also the several wisecracks at Beau’s lover, Joanne (Kathy Baker) and her Alzheimer’s. She says, "I just wanna forget about it,” and Dale replies with, “well, the good news is you will”.
An interesting aspect about The Ranch, is how the show is split into segments. Each season has different parts, so while the show is currently on its fourth and final season, it has (at this time) just released part seven. Part eight, which is to be released sometime in 2020, will still be a continuation of season four. Good thing for Colt too, since season four has so far been his lowest point yet. Colt is facing financial and even legal threats from Lisa Neumann (Wendy Malick), a big pocketed business rancher who wants to buy out both Colt and Beau’s ranch. He is also facing newfound fatherhood and the consequences of lying to his wife Abby. With that in mind, this probably explains the soft lighting of the show. It’s not low key lighting, as the contrasts aren’t stark enough to be considered chiaroscuro, but soft and somber almost. For a show about ranching, very few scenes take place on the ranch. A lot of the staging is set up to look like nighttime in shady bars or inside of garages. Understandably, The Ranch is filmed in a studio as opposed to location shooting, but it would be nice for the surroundings to match the name.
The Ranch is a sitcom that pretends to be a drama. There’s ups and downs and flatlines in between. For a Netflix show, The Ranch is not the most intriguing or best offer found in the queue. It probably would have been almost exactly the same as on a network channel.