Review of "Hysterical Hangouts with the Hindlegs" by G.S. Gerry

Score: 86+/100 (8.6+ out of 10)

UPDATE: Apparently, the events in this book are based on real events. In other words--as crazy and unlikely as it sounds--the events described in this book actually happened to people the author knew! This actually forces us to adjust some of our prior feelings about the book. In the original review, we expressed feeling like the suspension of disbelief (that works of fiction should be striving for) was missing. The insight that these stories are fictional retellings of actual, real-life events actually changes things a bit, providing context.
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​Original Review:

Are you up for some shenanigans and hijinks?
Are you geared up for some classic slapstick humor with a bit more edge?

Hysterical Hangouts with the Hindlegs is a satirical, reality-TV-styled novel (or script) told as a “Season 1” of an eleven-episode show. In this goofy tale of mischief and woe, 20-something-year-old Viktor Sniperbone becomes smitten with his girlfriend Mandi, whose family is a piece of work. He then decides to secretly record her chaotic family, the titular Hindlegs, to create the “realest” reality show ever. Comedy ensues! Well, at least in concept it does.

This story is somewhat like The Osbournes meets Jackass, a wild family reality circus with Osbournes-style personalities and Jackass-level stunt energy, all tied together by a season-long secret camera scheme.

Or maybe it's more like a classic family or ragtag friend drama like Leave It to Beaver, Three Stooges, or The Little Rascals with a lot more edge and crudeness, perhaps like Family Guy, The Simpsons, or American Dad.

It's like a mix of different things, and these were perhaps the most flattering comparisons we could think of.

This script/story/book really seems to be finding its legs like a newborn giraffe that's just fallen eight feet from its mother's womb. It's sluggish and a bit sloppy. There's almost no formatting as far as indentations or indications of who is supposed to be talking in the script. Things are described in paragraph-form more like a novel. It always reads more like a draft, a teaser, or a trailer than a finished product. We thought that was problematic. There's an unfinished, hollowed out, bare-bones feel, like someone was supposed to come back and flesh things out later.

This, unfortunately, seems like a placeholder for a bigger, better project.

And, like a newborn giraffe, it struggles a bit, mostly because we weren't so enamored with Viktor, Mandi, or any of the other characters. They seemed very cartoonish and two-dimensional. We couldn't take anything they said or did very seriously. So, we also couldn't take their risks very seriously either. There's a severe lack of suspension of disbelief, which is something we experience from time to time with books that have stakes and/or characters we can't buy into. And that's a problem when you consider that every episode ends on a cliffhanger. The key to a cliffhanger is that you buy into the stakes and want to see what happens next.

Yes, in The Simpsons or Family Guy, few things of lasting consequence tend to happen, but there's a certain charm and charisma that radiates from a character like Homer Simpson or Stewie Griffin. We just weren't feeling anything close to that with Viktor, Mandi, Commodore, Birtha, Rider, Tucker, and Hunter. Maybe it'll come with more episodes and more seasons that will allow some of these characters to develop and shine.

The closest comparison we have for Viktor is that he's kind of like Ferris Bueller. He’s a charming rule-bender who masterminds a big scheme behind the backs of adults (here, secretly filming the Hindlegs) and talks directly to the “camera” as the ringmaster of the bit.

Another thing that didn’t sit well was the streak of mean-spirited humor. Mandi’s dad loses a finger and the narration shrugs it off as “now he has nine,” which treats a serious injury like a throwaway joke. Rider opens the car door at 70 MPH and hangs out while Mandi screams that he could die, and the narrative literally tells us that he doesn't care. A batch of chickens are tossed around and killed as if they were cannon fodder, which reads more cruel than comic. Viktor gets hogtied by the brothers during a hazing bit and is treated like a prop while everyone cracks up instead of checking if he’s okay. Moments like these stack harm on humiliation, inviting us to laugh at pain rather than with the characters, and they undercut sympathy for Viktor’s secret-show scheme.

Why it matters: when the comedy doesn’t pause to show care, consequence, or remorse, the tone tilts from playful to punitive. Readers start to feel the family is simply mean, and Viktor’s role as instigator feels less charming and more reckless.

Now, in Jackass, the guys do messed up things to each other all the time. In The Simpsons, Bart is constantly playing pranks and vandalizing stuff. In Family Guy, everyone beats up on Meg. So, there's precedence for this kind of thing. But we were still caught off guard by it. Keep in mind, in the author's previous work, Trust on Trial, there was a much more refined, clean-cut, white-collar feel with very clear morals, ethics, and a seemingly positive direction. This seems to be the opposite. It fluctuates between poking fun at and celebrating the stupidity and antics of the characters.

This book is also a lot more vulgar than we were braced for granted the author's previous work. A bunch of the characters are foul-mouthed and say immature things that are tantamount to your mama jokes. There are a bunch of innuendos. Characters outright cuss and curse. We're not prudes about this stuff, but it really clashes with the tone and style that the author had established in Trust on Trial, which might be the point.

Let's put it this way: these aren't good examples to follow. They're cautionary tales.
And perhaps that's something else that Hysterical Hangouts has in common with TV shows like Family Guy. We're not supposed to look up to and admire these people, we're supposed to say, "Gee, I'm so grateful we're not THAT bad, THAT stupid, and THAT crazy."

In fact, it's tailor-made to make you feel good about yourself, your family, and your life. At least you're not THAT bad.

Perhaps that makes sense.

Now, with all the negatives aside, this still has the upside of a baby giraffe. Yeah, it might be sloppy, unfinished, and wonky right now, but we can definitely see the potential. It can someday grow into an 19-foot-tall wonder. Maybe this could be refined into a TV show someday.

Check it out on Amazon!