Review: Universal Basic Guys “Down the Shore”

Overview

The Hoagies go down the shore; Tammy tries to make amends with her estranged sister.

Our Take

Anybody who has grown up in the NYC-metro area is firmly understanding of the term “Down the Shore”. It’s the term Bennys use when they want to come visit us Jersey Shore cretins thereby jacking up all of the local food and drink prices and clogging up our beaches. With this week’s episode of Universal Basic Guys, show creators and Jersey Bros Adam and Craig Malamut offer up a tale of a family union and the thing we Jersey kids know how to do best…sit inside to beat out the storm.

Having lived through Hurricane Sandy myself, Adam and Craig don’t really spend much time on the intense storm nor the long stretch of traffic, both Jersey staples that I thought the guys would want to hone in on a bit more especially with the opening scene being hilariously set up. We do get a bit of the boardwalk and some great bits courtesy of a taffy accident, but really most of the episode is spent on a family reunion that I don’t think anyone really asked for.

I don’t mind family reunion episodes at all, they can be a fun way to get a bunch of new cast which is what happens here, but if the guys were going to show the world what it is being on the Jersey Shore on Labor Day weekend I would’ve liked to have seen some sunnier weather activities that might be scenarios where people watching this across the world would be presented with more unique and personal humor that would have resonated a bit more. Otherwise, we get pretty standard fare here.