The Hard Times of RJ Berger had the potential to become U.S.A.’s answer to The Inbetweeners. Instead, it’s just an MA rated Disney Saturday morning kids show with all the generic predictability that goes with it.

This sounds harsh, but only because taking on the glossy style of a well-known formula meant the jokes could have been even more shocking. Instead they often fall flat or are just plain uncomfortable.

Paul Iacono is likeable as the well-endowed RJ, but his friends Lily (Kara Taitz) and Miles (Jareb Dauplaise) are supposed to deliver the comedy and just come off as annoying. There is also the hot, girl-next-door Jenny that RJ is in love with, another doe-eyed blonde, and her jock boyfriend Max (Jayson Blair).

Most of the real laughs come from RJ’s sex-crazed parents (Beth Littleford and Larry Poindexter) but their characters don’t get enough air-time. Just as an episode starts to become funny it is bogged down in the usual conventions: the car wash, the “big game”, the school fight all play out as you would expect.

Throwing in the occasional swear word and a new character just as obsessed with sex as everyone else doesn’t create the comedy the writers were hoping for, and the show ends in the most absurd and awkward season finale to grace the small screen since Lost ended in 2010.

The show might pick up in its second season, and it’s passable for a twenty-minute viewing when there isn’t much else on TV, but it’s not worth the $30 for the season.