Up The Creek is a series that you have to be in the right mood to watch. If you are in the right mood, the characters of Up The Creek can be as entertaining as a soothing hot cup of tea after a long day. Or, for that matter, a relaxing glass of wine. If you’re not in just the right mood, however, every episode has the potential to be kind of painful to watch. One reason for this is that the web series utilizes a laugh track for every big punch line. The laugh track is a conscious choice, on the part of the show’s creators, but a risky one. Frankly, my reaction was mixed.
Up The Creek, which the creators call a “sip-com,” is written, directed, produced, and acted by local artists. The show’s plot centers on a man (Grant, played by Mike Boedicker) who inherits his family’s winery and the colorful cast of characters employed to work with him. There is no shortage of eccentricity amongst the cast or their actions, nor any lack of crazy situations. However, there is no season-long 
thread to allow you to get to know the characters; instead, there are just small vignettes that feature one or two jokes by different characters. Nearly every joke used on the series is a long-form joke. This means the big jokes of each episode have a beginning setup, middle smaller joke, and then one big payoff. This can get a little monotonous (verging on tiresome) in places, but some of the best moments of Up The Creek happen when you’re not thinking and just observing.
Observation is key when watching Up The Creek, as viewers are often rewarded in big ways when a joke doesn’t pan out. One fine example of this occurs is in episode 7, entitled, “The Drinking Dead.” In this episode, Major Tom and Rusty (two employees of the winery, played by Mike Trippiedi and Bill Kephart, respectively) fear 
the possibility of the 2012 apocalypse, so they freak out when grape pickers start attacking the winery because the grape pickers want some R & R.
Up The Creek essentially models itself off of the great British sitcoms of the early nineties. Much like the Britcoms from which this web series draws influence, some episodes are hysterical while others seem to fall terribly flat. That did not bother me in the least because, luckily, that’s the type of humor I am used to. I fully realize that the type of humor in Up The Creek won’t win over everyone, but the cast is universally hilarious when it comes time for their specific characters to shine.
A prime example of this comes in episode 6, entitled “Shotgun Wedding.” In this episode, Antonio (played by Matt Hester) is being hunted by immigration because he doesn’t have a green card. The only real option he has is to marry his girlfriend. Problem is, the girlfriend’s father (played by Peter Davis) is a camo-clad bit of a backwoods cliché who loves beer and hates wine. If Antonio’s green card problem is solved, it will only be because his father-in-law gains an appreciation of wine. This is not, perhaps, the most complex plotline, but when you consider that most episodes of Up The Creek run between six and ten minutes, the situation seems perfectly bite-sized. (Or, perhaps, sip-sized. Perhaps “sip-com” has another meaning.)
The small moments make the biggest difference for this locally produced web series. As with nearly all big-budget network comedies, there are moments that hit and moments that miss, but this low-budget, locally grown series has a lot going for it, including a lot of talent and a lot of heart. I would be thrilled if Up The Creek poured me another sip sometime soon.
Check out the series, available on blip.tv, and see if it’s to your taste.
Four Stars.