By Sarah Osman

When will there be a sitcom worthy of Tim Meadows’s talents?

(L-R): Harriet Dyer as Colette and Alex Tarrant as Noa in CBS’s DMV. Photo: Bertrand Calmeau/CBS .

Like many Americans, I believe that the DMV is Dante’s fifth level of Hell. Has anyone ever had a pleasant experience at the DMV? And if it’s Hell for those of us who go there, what’s it like for those who work there?

That’s the question asked by CBS’s new sitcom, DMV. Set at a random DMV in East Hollywood, the series follows the typical beats of a workplace comedy. There’s the romantic will they/won’t they, the baffling customers, and the weird camaraderie among the workers that can only be built when working in such a miserable place. Part Superstore and part The Office, there’s nothing inherently wrong with DMV. But there’s nothing all that remarkable about it either.

The series focuses on Colette (Harriet Dyer), a surprisingly perky driving test employee with a big old crush on Noa (Alex Tarrant), a hunky New Zealander. There’s Vic (Tony Cavalero, who was brilliant on The Righteous Gemstones), a dry himbo who takes his testees through fast food drive-thrus (and makes them pay for it); Gregg (Tim Meadows), a cynical, tired employee who’s been at the DMV forever; sassy photo ID taker Ceci (Gigi Zumbado), and Barbara (Molly Kearney), the new manager of the branch who’s doing her best to protect them all from being fired by Big Sac (her name for Sacramento).

It’s not that the cast isn’t talented or doesn’t give it their all. This is a great group of comedians who have all shone on other series. It’s the writing. There’s only so much you can do with juvenile jokes about “Big Sac.” The DMV itself is one of America’s greatest punchlines, so if you’re going to do an entire show about it, you’d better bring some innovative material. Sadly, the series doesn’t offer much that is new. Even in the cutaways of what people are doing waiting to be served at the DMV fall flat — their behavior feels far too quirky. In reality, everyone would be on their phones nattering away. The cutaways in Superstore worked because it’s believable that people would do strange things at a Walmart, a fact confirmed by my friend, who has worked at one for years (my favorite story was a man beating another man with a bag of dog food). Here, the eccentric behavior feels shoehorned in. A recent episode of Abbott Elementary set at the DMV felt funnier. It came closer to what existence might be like at the DMV than what the TV series named DMV supplies.

In the pilot, an overarching episodic storyline was set up. Higher-ups from “Big Sac” were planning to close one of Hollywood’s four DMV branches. (Frankly, it is unbelievable that one town would have four DMVs). Barbara knows this, but her underlings don’t. She does her best to shield them from the threat while also impressing the consultants. At the end of the pilot, we learned that the new consultants will be at the branch every day to continue their investigation. But then they didn’t show for multiple episodes after that. It’s this sort of messy structure and writing that make it difficult to be confident about DMV. The central storyline is Colette and Noa’s will they/won’t they relationship, and that lacks the chemistry of similar relationships in other sitcoms. We don’t really care all that much about whether the couple will get together. This wouldn’t be a problem if the other storylines in the series were more interesting — but they’re not.

It’s not uncommon for sitcoms in their early years to struggle to find their footing. As more episodes come along, perhaps DMV will  improve (there was a great scene where an employee had a complete mental breakdown). With a cast this talented, I certainly hope so. But if DMV doesn’t get better, the show will be as boring as a visit to an actual DMV.

Sarah Mina Osman is based in Los Angeles. In addition to The Arts Fuse, her writing can be found in The Huffington Post, Success Magazine, Matador Network, HelloGiggles, Business Insider, and WatchMojo. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of North Carolina Wilmington and is working on her first novel. She has a deep appreciation for sloths and tacos. You can keep up with her on Instagram @SarahMinaOsman and at Bluesky @sarahminaosman.bsky.social.