THE MONITOR: ‘The Marriage Ref’

No recent show has inspired blood-in-the-water frenzy like “The Marriage Ref,” the Jerry Seinfeld-steered reality program about quibbling couples that’s among the most widely reviled new shows in recent memory. For Seinfeld, who’s stacked the show’s early episodes thick with celebrity friends to little avail, it’s been framed as a possible legacy-killer. For NBC, it’s seemed like little more than a Hail Mary pass to resuscitate the 10 p.m. time slot in the wake of Jay Leno with another familiar, if deflated, hometown brand.

But all that’s a bum rap. “The Marriage Ref” is clever and funny, a sharp amalgam of docusoap drama and game-show slickness, with untethered celebrity commentators. At least that’s what it could be, with just a few tweaks. Here’s how to redeem a show worth thinking hard about, and saving:

Interrogation: In the show’s current structure, the couple is filmed enacting its quibble, the celebrity panel watches the video, makes jokes, casts a nonbinding vote, and then the Ref, host Tom Papa, delivers his decision with canned humor. It’s too hermetic -- interaction should be encouraged. When the couple faces the panel via video to receive the verdict, they should be subjected to inquisition, “Newlywed Game”-style. After all, the couples are the real stars here: The heaviest laughs each episode come from the quarreling lovers, not the celeb talking heads -- one woman intends to withhold sex from her husband until he completes “five clean acts” (as in housecleaning); another tells the panelists, after they compliment her sweater, “I’m putting it on eBay when this is over.” In one of the show’s most vivid moments thus far, a woman keeps the prosthetic leg of her late husband in her new house. Then, after being lambasted by the panel of Larry David, Madonna and Ricky Gervais -- the rare instance where the celebs and couple have interacted -- she says, equal parts creepy and hilarious, “I’m gonna have one of Larry’s legs laying around one of these days.” Yikes.

Showcase the couples: So far, the most capable people involved with “The Marriage Ref” appear to be those responsible for finding charismatic couples willing to share their foibles with the world, but who never seem bitter. At root, this is a show about love and perseverance, so when the couples are beamed in via satellite to hear the ref’s opinion, they should be given more airtime to display the steady affection that makes even the strangest problems just bumps in the road.

Fans in the stands: Sporting analogy aside, having audience members sit in bleachers above the celebrity panel is a visual distraction -- they need to be moved.

Separate church and state: Most episodes have featured Natalie Morales, of NBC News, in a sort-of resident bookworm role, inserting facts about marriage when called upon. Who approved this? “The Marriage Ref” is no more a news show than “Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains.” Having Morales play along adds little to the show’s narrative, and is a chink in the credibility of NBC’s news division.

Color commentary: Marv Albert is a bit player on “The Marriage Ref,” but a welcome one. Even though his presence gives the show claim on one more genre -- sports -- and reads as a naked ploy to entice male viewers, it works. Albert may look wobbly, and his hoots may be thinning with age, but the arched eyebrow in his delivery is just the right match for this show that eagerly embraces the absurd. Give him more room to roam.

Improve improv: Quite unexpectedly, “The Marriage Ref” has laid waste to the idea that stars who are funny for a living are also funny in less rehearsed contexts. Poor Tina Fey was completely neutered on the show, and even Larry David had difficulties delivering fresh zingers. Maybe they should be allowed to scribble down notes, or pre-watch the video to have material prepared. Floundering isn’t funny, or for that matter, helpful.

Blame the ref: Tom Papa is the show’s host, and also the titular referee. But apart from revealing which half of the couple has won the fight, he does no actual refereeing, and in at least one case, rendered a verdict at odds with the celebrity panel. He’s merely filling space: If Papa must stick around, get him out of the pink shirts and into black and white pinstripes and a whistle. Or turn him into Don Pardo, somewhere off camera.

Reimagine, simplify, syndicate: The A-list is nice and all, but the version of this show that will go into overdrive is on a basic-cable channel, with a rotating “Hollywood Squares”-style panel such as: Bronson Pinchot, Tabatha Coffey and Bruce Vilanch; Emmitt Smith, Khloe Kardashian and Jim J. Bullock; Puck Rainey, Tommy Lasorda and Janice Dickinson.

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