Should I give “DMV” a try?

Ever since I saw Harriet Dyer as one of the cast members in the Australian import drama Love Child, I thought she had a chance to make it big in Hollywood. And she had a few American television shows that almost got her there – a supernatural procedural called The InBetween that suffered from miserable writing; two years on the sitcom American Auto that had … some … laughs, and a really strong run on the Aussie import rom-com Colin From Accounts, which I’ve bookmarked for its eventual third season drop on Paramount+.

Now while she’s finishing up that third season of Colin From Accounts, Harriet Dyer has joined a CBS sitcom that will premiere next month – a workplace comedy called DMV. Yep, it’s about life at the Department of Motor Vehicles.

Here’s a trailer with Dyer, as she guides someone through a parking lot obstacle course.

Well, I mean, has there ever been a happy experience at the Department of Motor Vehicles? Are there people who go to the DMV and say, “Oh, boy, I really want to experience the wonderful world of sitting on wooden benches until my name is called, so I can stand in front of a camera and take the worst selfie that will haunt my driver’s license for the rest of my life”? Yeah, me too. 😀

Here’s another teaser for the DMV series. And this one also stars Saturday Night Live alum Tim Meadows.

I know. At one point in time, the workplace comedy was considered “must watch” television. The Office, for example. Or in earlier years, The Mary Tyler Moore Show or WKRP in Cincinnati. At this point, though, it seems like workplace comedies pop up as part of the network schedule the same way advertisements for Colonial Penn Life Insurance pop up on soap operas. ABC has Abbott Elementary (school workplace comedy), NBC has St. Denis Medical (hospital workplace comedy), so why not let CBS have their own slice of life workplace comedy experience?

At this point, I’m just watching it for Harriet Dyer and Tim Meadows, and even then, I’m only watching this until the third season of Colin from Accounts drops, so that Harriet Dyer can drop her almost-got-it American accent and go back to her full Sydneyside voice.

Let’s see how this all plays out. As long as it’s not as bad as a real visit to the DMV … I’ll give it a chance.