Main cast: Chris Noth (The Devil), Deborah Strang (Xantipe Finch), and Danny Gerard (Marty)
Director: Warner Shook

Satan in the Suburbs is another comedic episode with a hellish creature on the loose, because this show is probably still on some kind of high after All in a Day’s Work and its brand of comedy is oh so good.

Xantipe Finch is a single mother, romance author (complete with florid purple prose and all), and cookie maker, but despite having two jobs, she can’t pay the bills at all because, ha ha, stupid woman, so funny. Fortunately, a man shows up to save her, as per the norm, only this time it’s the Devil himself, looking for a ghostwriter to crank out the best autobiography ever.

I’m not sure why that fellow would choose a terrible, messy woman that can’t get her life in order or construct a proper sentence that doesn’t make everyone cringe hard, but hey, this is a comedy, so logic is optional.

What follows is an episode full of execrable attempts at being funny, such as Xantipe trying to attack the Devil with a spoon while saying lamely, “I’ll spoon you!” Deborah Strang’s character is super annoying and incompetent, while Chris Noth plays his character smarmy and slimy… even when the Devil is trying to be charming.

The biggest insult is that the Devil is supposed to fall in love with Xantipe because… I don’t know, comedy? The entire script seems to be composed by Xantipe herself, as it is full of ridiculous and embarrassingly bad lines, attempts at humor that miss the bullseye by an entire galaxy, and Chris Noth trying his best to make himself appear as repellent as humanly possible.

The most watchable cast member is the kid, probably because he’s the only one not trying to actively ensure that people will remember him as a walking cringe generator after this episode.

Anyway, to hell with this episode!

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