TV reviews

Seems So Wrong But Feels So Right: Jeselnik’s Offensive is Dark and Hilarious

The Jeselnik Offensive: Tuesdays at 10:30 on Comedy Central.

As a TV critic, I normally feel like it’s my job to favor quality, intelligent television over the supposed crass dregs that “drag down” the legitimacy of the medium.

That being said, I laughed at The Jeselnik Offensive way too much to hate it.

The Jeselnik Offensive, starring comedian Anthony Jeselnik, is a subversion of the late night talk show format and built around the concept of trying to offend yours (and everyone else’s sensibilities) as much as possible. It opens with a monologue where Jeselnik shoots off a number of one-liners riffing on the news stories of the day, follows up with a couple of short comedy segments before hitting the real meat of the show, his panel.

The panel is a pretty novel concept, as instead of following the traditional late night format of interviewing one guest usually a celebrity at a time, Jeselnik instead brings on both celebrities (which will usually be name comedians, this week he had on Amy Schumer and Aziz Ansari) simultaneously in order to get their opinions while also trying to get under their skin.

The show shines most when Jeselnik has people to play off of, whether it’s telling jokes about cancer patients to cancer patients, riffing on an oncologist retorting “You’ve got cancer!” after asking her to soberly tells him he has cancer or working with his panel (which usually composes the last two segments of the show).

If there’s an area where the show seems a little weak, it’s in Jeselnik’s delivery, which often feels monotone and a touch robotic, often intruding upon the timing of some of the jokes. This however is a fairly minor quibble as the jokes themselves were often hilarious and sidesplitting (one in which he compared a Tibetan monk in self-immolation favorably to the dress of Food Network star Guy Fieri made me almost spit my drink at the computer).

The Final Verdict: Comedy Central has found the ideal show to pair with Tosh.0 in a frat-boy oriented comedy block. The jokes already are hitting their mark in a way that makes me believe the show has legs beyond the shock jock style humor that the show is sold on. It’s the short of show that I know as a critic I should probably loathe, but I can’t help but loving it, and if dark comedy is your sort of thing (which admittedly, as anyone whose ever dealt with me can attest, is most definitely mine), you could do a lot worse than giving this show a shot.

Next Time: I’m doing a liveblog for the Oscars similar to the one I did for the Grammys this Sunday night. The show airs on ABC this Sunday night starting at 7pm Eastern/6pm Central, so my first post will likely hit around 6:30 Eastern Time.

Cult Creates A Self-Averting Prophecy

by Michael Tyminski

Cult: Tuesdays 9pm Eastern on the CW

It only makes sense that in a television season in which we have an over-the-top new show about a cult (The Following) and an over-the-top new show about a conspiracy (Zero Hour) that the CW would attempt to create a show that is about both a cult and a conspiracy and ignore the part about being over-the-top.

Cult follows disgraced journalist Jeff Dean Sefton (Matthew Davis) and over-inquisitive production assistant Skye Yarrow (Jessica Lucas) as they try to chase down Jeff’s brother Nate whom have been kidnapped by a group of overzealous fans of the CW (don’t worry they won’t let you forget the conceit that a CW show is popular no matter how far fetched that may seem) show Cult whom are committing copycat crimes for those that they’ve seen on the show.

The show within a show (for the purposes of avoiding confusion from here on out will be referred to as Cult’) is a supernatural thriller that involves police detective Kelly Collins (Alona Tal) chasing down the Manson-esque cult figure Billy Grimm (Prison Break’s Robert Knepper), whose followers are responsible for the kidnapping of Kelly’s sister Meadow and her family.

Cult’s main conceit comes from the way these two worlds interact, especially when viewed through the lens of it’s reclusive creator Stephen Rae. When a lecherous network executive (whose only two notes as a character are trying to force the show to have mass appeal and staring at Skye’s butt) tries to contact Mr. Rae, it has seemingly dire consequences. Meanwhile, much of the show’s symbolism crosses between the shows two universes whether its the older Orange sedan used for kidnappings, the two color 3-D glasses that Nate hands Jeff, the cult symbols that populate characters in both universes, or the rampant cosplay that exists in the Cult’ community.
While all of this intricate groundwork has room to spark potential interest, the show fails because it fails to resonate emotionally on any level. It’s hard to buy Cult’ inspiring any killers because it gives off the vibe of a show that’s not too far removed from former WB mainstays Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Charmed. Similarly the show’s twists seem more confusing than shocking (including two key twists at the end that I will not divulge in order to prevent spoiling the show should you wish to watch it). Finally, there is nothing less emotionally inspiring for Cult‘s mystery solving mantra of “watch TV, save the world.”

Similarly, in those rare moments where the show does try to give off some emotional resonance, it’s plagued by wooden acting, particularly on the part of Matthew Davis, whose sole expression throughout the entire 44 minutes is one of puzzlement devoid of any real empathy (even when he sees what he thinks is a pool of his brother’s blood). Knepper does a solid job as big bad Grimm, but Grimm is not written to be as compelling as Joe Carroll nor seems as threatening as White Vincent, the two villains of the two other shows that tackle similar subject matter.

The Final Verdict: It’s never a good sign when a fake show pulls someone in better than the real show surrounding it. Cult’ is a wacky goofy supernatural mystery that looks like the sort of thing that would fit perfectly on SyFy. Unfortunately, the show surrounding it, Cult, is devoid of real tension, a coherent story line or even a reason to care (with one protagonist who is pretty unlikable and another who isn’t well developed). As a result, we never really have to worry about fans going crazy and performing copycat crimes with this show, because I can’t really see people putting the mental investment required to figure out a show that doesn’t look to payoff the emotional investment required to watch it. Save yourself the hour and watch The Following or a rerun of The X-Files if you’re looking for a supernatural thrill, because there’s none to be found here.

Zero Hour Is So Bad It’s Almost Good

by Michael Tyminski

Zero Hour: 8 P.M. Thursdays, ABC

Normally when I’m reviewing a new show, if I find that the show is uneven, or even if I’m displeased with it, I can find a reason that a show could grow into a solid sustainable B-tier show. This is one of those rare occasions where I wonder how exactly this pilot made it to television (especially since the show that it replaced, Last Resort seemed pretty decent).

Zero Hour follows a magazine editor named Hank Galliston (as played by Anthony Edwards of ER Fame) whose wife is kidnapped by international terrorist “White Vincent”. Laila was kidnapped because she bought a clock with an ancient treasure map hidden inside, but inexplicably when she’s kidnapped she has already left the clock in a different location. Everything changes when an FBI agent who lost a close family member due to the actions of White Vincent shows up and starts pestering Hank, leading Hank to believe that he is wrapped up in something way beyond the kidnapping of his wife.

The show is full of confusing incongruities. The introductory sequence sets us in 1938, and sets us up by not exposing anything about either the treasure or any of the characters in the story, only that clocks exist, they’re the closest thing to god, the Nazis created a devil baby, that there’s something buried in Germany that could bring about the apocalypse. 40 minutes later, we finally learn that the 12 new men were meant to be the apostles and stop the end of the world after two young journalists inexplicably acquire the funds to go to Germany to talk to the maker of these clocks.

The acting as a whole is hammy and overdone. Whether it’s the priest whose advocating baiting out a terrorist by giving him what he wants, Anthony Edwards desperately trying to convince you that his wife is not young enough to be his daughter, or the FBI agents’ rush talking, almost everything in the show seems well past the point of belief. They use heavy accents in monologues but a scene in Germany is full of characters who speak in perfect American and British accents. Even star Anthony Edwards is not immune to this, as he plays Hank as hyper-rational, even in the face of the events that have just occurred.

The writing seems excessively convoluted and contrived. Hank is written to be as smart as if not smarter than the FBI. The terrorist “White Vincent” is written to be omniscient since we are meant to believe that a sole actor can divert Hank across Brooklyn, while tracking down a diamond smaller than an earring hidden covertly in an Altoids Case while remaining two steps ahead of the federal government who is crawling all over Brooklyn looking for him. Similarly, we are led to believe that Laila is kidnapped from a clock shop, when she dropped the clock off at her house? Why follow Laila to a second spot when he could have just broken into the house and taken the clock after she left?

Zero Hour seems to want to take a lot from the The Da Vinci Code, but unlike the movie, at no point do you feel like the dots are connected as you lead to a big reveal. Instead Zero Hour expects to take wild leaps of faith in order to appreciate it’s mythos of clocks, crazy terrorists, devil babies, young journalists with never ending pocketbooks (spoiler: the day I can get $5,000 out of the Manhattan Digest budget to fly to Germany to chase down someone who seems old enough to be dead and browbeat him for information, I totally will), FBI agents who don’t look 40 taking 40 year old incidents personally, and omniscient terrorists who can do more to avoid triangulation with Skype than most hackers, and the possibility that Hank is a reincarnated version of himself from Nazi-era Germany.

The Final Verdict: Any show like this requires some degree of suspension of disbelief, and when a show manages to shake my ability to suspend disbelief not even 90 seconds into a show, that’s a bad sign. What then occurs over the next 40 minutes involves the most ridiculous and ludicrous set of plot twists that one can find. It might be worth a watch if you want to see how a B-movie conspiracy film makes it to TV, but otherwise you’re probably better off watching Community or Parks and Recreation in that 8 p.m. Thursday time slot. I can’t see this one going much longer than 13 episodes, if only because nothing here makes sense and it doesn’t bottom out enough to make it watchable if only for the train wreck factor.

Girls: Why the second season is kicking ass!

by Peter Foy

Girls season 2 — Credit: http://www.themillions.com/

It seems like every year a show premieres on American televsion that the critical consensus will label as the “Most talked about new show of the year,” or “best freshman season of the year”. This is Girls season 2, a show currently on HBO. In 2012, however, Girls received both of those designations to such a degree, it almost feels like there were no other new shows that came out last year (correct me if I’m wrong). Receiving highly positive reviews, solid ratings, and an almost instantly devoted fan base, Girls arguably was the first show since Mad Men to come off as both niche and accessible right from the start. Despite it’s acclaim, however, the show didn’t escape some rather nasty criticism either. The more polarized responses to the show tended to feel that the characters on the show were unlikable, and poorly constructed. Also, there were some issues on the series four main character all being Caucasian girls, with ethnic groups only being rarely used. For the most part I found these criticisms a little confounding (Sure there was one use of a black actor portraying a homeless guy. big fucking whoop!), but I couldn’t help but feel that a few segments of the show were struggling a bit to find it’s voice. Now, however, as the show is currently four episodes into its second season it already seems primed to silence these detractors.

For the unknowing, Girls is the creation of 26-year old rising indie star Lena Dunham, who acts, writes and directs the series. After achieving some festival success with her debut film Tiny Furniture, Dunham received attention from Judd Apatow, who was looking to produce a new pilot for HBO. Thus Girls was born, a show that acts both as a semi-autobiographical respot for Dunham, as well as generational statement/satire for contemporary 20-somethings. Stepping into her fiction-suit as Hannah, Dunham has addressed issues that come up daily for post-college kids, such as financial issues, sexuality, and the ever looming sense that one’s generation has a unanimous lack of responsibility.

Almost right off the bat, Girls was likened to Sex and the City, as both shows focus on a quartet of sexually adventurous females living in New York City. Granted, I’ve never really watched a full episode of that previous HBO series, but I feel that people were a little too quick to make that comparison. Girls is far too quirky to have a strong resemblance to Sex and the City, nor is it as polished. Girls certainly gives off an indie film vibe, in everything from it’s use of lighting, set design, and props that are literally bought from relatively cheap flea markets located in Brooklyn.

There’s undeniably a charm to how amateurish this young show is in some regards, but the sophomore season (Girls season 2) is definitely showing some vital signs of maturation. In interviews Lena Dunham said that the issues involving the show’s lack of ethnic groups would be addressed this season, and she certainly kept to her word. In the season premiere we find that Hannah is currently dating a black guy (played by Community star Donald Glover), which could of come off as a gimmicky effort to silence naysayers, but instead Dunham writes the character in a really unexpected way. Avoiding any stereotypes, we find out that this new character is actually a republican, which causes an uneasy tension with Hannah’s liberal policies. It climaxes with a brilliant argument between the two characters.

That’s what is really great about this new season of Girls (Girls season 2). Dunham is aware of the show’s complaints and it’s status as being “hipster-esque”, but she’s combating them while at the same time being a bit self-referential in a mocking way.

I’ll reserve my final judgement on Girls sophomore season till it’s completed, but right now it’s safe to say that the series is going to silence many of it’s detractors this season.

Monday Mornings is a mediocre way to spend a Monday night

by Michael Tyminski

Monday Mornings: Airing Mondays at 10 p.m. Eastern on TNT

David E. Kelley made his return to television last night with the debut of his new show Monday Mornings. The former creator of such hits as Picket Fences, Boston Legal, the Practice, and Chicago Hope teamed up with former CNN medical adviser Dr. Sanjay Gupta in this new medical drama.

Monday Mornings tells the story of a group of doctors working at prestigious Chelsea Hospital who deal with both the crush of incoming patients as well as the hospitals extra-intense mortality and morbidity councils (which often occur on Monday mornings, hence the title of the show). These conferences are a key wrinkle to the show, as the interrogations often bounce the proceedings from a straightforward 90’s style medical drama (that’s right, no irascible pill popping doctors or soapy voice-over intros here) into courtroom show territory.

The show features an all-star cast including Alfred Molina (who will admittedly forever be Dr. Octopus to me) as Dr. Harding Hooten, a punishing chief of surgery who makes Percival Cox look non-abrasive by comparison, and Ving Rhames as Dr. Jorge Villanueva, a trauma chief with a knack for instant diagnoses and an uncanny ability to dispense advice. These characters in turn, are surrounded by a number of high level doctors, whether its hot shot neurosurgeons Ty Wilson and Tina Ridgeway (Jamie Bamber and Jennifer Finnigan), Dr. Sung Park (Keong Sim) a Korean neurosurgeon whose English is rusty exposing a brusque attitude, antisocial Buck Tierney (Bill Irwin), and the fast speaking workaholic Sydney Napur (Saryu Rao).

Like most hospital dramas, the pilot revolves around a number of patient cases, including an 11 year old who is diagnosed with a large brain tumor, a young woman who attempted to commit suicide by leaving her car on a train track has a ticking time bomb inside her brain, a woman whom is experiencing uncontrollable tremors, and a woman who has been through Chelsea Hospital five times in the past three months with various symptoms but no real long-term answers. Additionally, strains are shown in Sydney’s and Tina’s love life, however these strains manifest themselves in different ways and are a relatively minor subplot.

There are a lot of things that this show does well. The acting in this show is generally pretty strong, with Alfred Molina, Ving Rhames, and especially Keong Sim (who does a bang up job portraying Sung Pak’s brusqueness). Similarly, the show excels in its surgery scenes, where stunning visuals help to create a tangible feel of tension throughout the show (Ty Wilson’s hands being completely covered in blood after a botched surgery was particularly resonant). Finally, the pilot does an excellent job of easing the viewer into the show, giving quick glimpses into most of the principle characters and the flow of the show before ratcheting up the tension about 20 minutes in.

The one thing I did not like was the way that sections of the dialogue felt particularly contrived. This was particularly evident whenever the show tried to inject a little comedy into the proceedings, as the show often would jam snarky one-liners into situations that don’t warrant them (the reference to a side character being referred to as “007” because he had a license to kill fell particularly flat to me). This is a shame because the show is so excellent at producing tension that the one-liners often kill the flow of the scene. The editing feels awkward at points, making a major emotional reveal (Dr. Napur’s boyfriend rescinding his proposal) come off wooden, with a surprisingly hard cut in the middle of Ridgeway’s reaction.

The show could also use some a little additional characterization since after the pilot the shorthand description of both female leads is “they’re married to their job, and it’s ruining their home life” (I admittedly should have seen this coming when TNT’s own website for the show only described each character with a sentence or two). Additionally, while the stars deliver, many of the side characters tend to come off very wooden, with often either a rushed delivery of lines, awkward capitulation to authority, or hammy overreaction.

The Final Verdict: Monday Mornings marks a return to form for David Kelley. It follows many of the aspects of an ER-style medical drama, but also can slide into a courtroom style drama when the focus shifts to room 311. It’s star studded cast generally delivers, especially Ving Rhames and Keong Sim, but it seems difficult for anyone to excel because the writing and editing generally feels lacking. It’s mediocre, but it has the benefit of being in a Monday 10 p.m. time slot that is not exactly the deepest in television.

30 Rock Goes Out With a Bang after 7 Seasons

by Michael Tyminski

Last night marked the series finale of 30 Rock after seven long seasons, and the show ended as it lived: full of rapid-fire humor, Tracy Jordan’s antics, Jack Donaghy’s classic manipulative tricks, and Liz Lemon being as neurotic and frantic as possible.

The first half of this double header finale revolved around Jack Donaghy’s quest for happiness and Liz adjusting to being a stay at home mom. Neither goes particularly well as Liz immediately starts a fight on a moms only message board (with an anonymous poster that happens to be her husband nonetheless), while Jack goes off to formulaically fill out a pie chart with various things that are “supposed” to make him happy (such as faith, hiring a guy off the street to co-anchor for today, and a threesome with Nancy Donovan and Elisa. Despite filling in his happiness pie chart entirely, after reaching a number of goals (including an angry screed by Nancy Pelosi), Jack feels more disappointed than ever and leaves the job that he worked his entire life to get. Conversely, Liz and Criss come to realization that Liz would make the better breadwinner of the couple and Liz goes off to find a new writing gig. This ultimately leads to Liz and Jack getting into the most tumultuous argument in the seven year run of the show after Liz feels betrayed by the fact that Jack made her “want more” (in terms of dreams, expectations, and generally not settling).

Tracy and Jenna on the other hand, formed the backbone of the show’s two B-plots. Jenna attempts to adjust to the show’s cancellation by throwing Jenna-style tantrums but cannot cope with the fact that absolutely no one is listening to her. As a result she tries TV (only to be forced to play roles like corpses) and movies (only to find everyone in Los Angeles is younger and prettier than her). Tracy meanwhile is upset that Kenneth is not around to do him a favor as he used to in his positions of both page (and janitor), leading to a heartwarming moment where he “releases” Kenneth from his entourage.

The second half of the show revolves around a major plot development that occurs in the first half with Liz having to put up one final show of TGS in order to fulfill a contract obligation to Tracy Jordan. However, a monkey is thrown in a wrench when Tracy runs away in order to ensure the show never happens, unknowing of a hefty penalty in his contract that would be owed to him if the show does not reach the 150 episode milestone. As a result, Liz has to chase him down in order to shoot the final episode. Liz ultimately finds Tracy in a strip club, where Tracy is running from the show in order to avoid having to say goodbye.

Meanwhile Jack is trying to patch up with Liz after the tumultuous argument that occurred at the end of the first part of the show. This ultimately leads to Jack hitting rock bottom and various cast members wondering if Jack was looking to off himself. However, this turns into Jack’s final manipulative game, as Liz finds him boarding a boat to find his true bliss, only for it to turn into the shortest boat trip of anyone’s life after deciding to push a “see-through dishwasher”.

The show’s final C-plot involves Frank and Toofer trying to get Lutz to move off of Blimpie’s when he got to choose the writers’ final lunch. Nothing however will work to make Lutz not pick Blimpie’s as he chosen it for revenge after all of the hell the other writers have given him over the past seven years (until Liz, who is tyrannical about food throws Lutz in her office tells Cerie to order sushi and dessert). However, Lutz takes the ultimate of measures to ensure that the writers’ will eat Blimpie’s, come hell or high water.

The finale as a whole impressed, often juggling four plot lines through both halves of the show, with neither section feeling particularly crowded, and giving every cast member a proper send off, be it Jonathan finally screaming at Liz how Jack was all his, Pete’s attempt at faking his death, and Tracy’s father finally returning from buying that pack of cigarettes. This comes as no surprise, however, as 30 Rock has done an excellent job this entire season of wrapping up lingering plot arcs, whether it’s Kenneth’s final rise to the presidency of NBC (a long term callback to a remark Jack mentioned in which he stated that “Kenneth will be running this company in five years”), Jack’s final realization that despite her salty interior, his mother was really caring for him the entire time, or Liz’s adoption arc that mysteriously fell off the face of the earth somewhere in the middle of season three.

The (in this case, absolute) final verdict: 30 Rock went out with the sort of ending that a show of it’s caliber deserved. Despite the massive changes that many of the major characters had over the course of the show, it took lengths to prove that it’s central characters (Jack, Liz, Kenneth, Tracy, and Jenna) were still at their core the people that they were at the start of the show. As has been the case all season, the show managed to neatly tie up a number of unresolved loose plot lines, whether it’s Jack’s unresolved love life or the Liz Lemon adoption arc that disappeared from consciousness over the past couple of seasons. A terrific sendoff (and the first of many this season for NBC’s Thursday night lineup) for a show that was fearlessly frenetic and funny.

The Americans Thrives with Thrills and Subtlety

by Michael Tyminski

The Americans 10:00pm Eastern Time, FX

It takes a lot these days to truly blow me away from a pilot. I’m typically the sort of person who believes that the first episode displays what a given show can become, but often is not executed to a degree where that promise is actualized. However, the first episode of The Americans last night managed to completely blow me away.

The show loosely follows both the un-american activities and family life of two sleeper agents in America: Elizabeth (Kerri Russell) and Philip Jennings (Matthew Rhys). Their “jobs” are a sham, their marriage was dictated by their Soviet overlords, and they exist to handle missions for the KGB while living comfortably in suburban Virginia. However, they must balance this while entirely withholding the truth from their neighbors, including a recently relocated FBI agent named Stan Beemer (played by Noah Emmerich) and even their own children.

What I truly enjoy about this show is that it reminds me a lot of Mad Men in that it’s a fairly subtle period piece that truly enjoys exploring the notion of identity. This tension is particularly palpable in the scenes where Philip and Elizabeth are discussing what to do with General Timoshev, a Russian defector whom they kidnapped from his apartment in Washington. Elizabeth remains steadfast in her resolve to serve the motherland, but also would like to off him because of some improprieties he took with her back in training, while Peter seriously considers his offer of defecting under the guise that they have been living this “American” life for half of their lives and that with young children they should consider taking the money and living a more stable life.

Another small positive for the Americans was the amount of detail they put into making the show look and feel like the early 1980’s, whether it be the cheesy wigs used for spycraft (that gave me flashbacks to the music video for “Sabotage”), the use of music (the show makes incredible use of both Fleetwood Mac’s “Tusk” and Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight”), down to even the automobiles (my dad owned a boxy ’77 Cutless Supreme when I was a kid that looked not too far off from the sedan that proves to play a fairly central role in the plot).

The show, while positioned as a serious drama also likes to inject little funny moments into the show to break the tension, be it a seemingly pasted on scene (last night’s showing was an extended version of the pilot) where Philip just starts randomly dancing in the mall, while taking his daughter shopping, or the way that the FBI claims that President Reagan is trying to break them down with 7am meetings.

Where there was action in the pilot (most notably the first ten minutes, where Philip, Elizabeth, and one of their comrades kidnap General Timoshev) the action was tight, well executed and tense, especially once you come to the realization (and it took me a couple of minutes to get to this point) that these are not immigration officers checking on a random Russian, but rather the wholesale kidnapping of a Russian ex-pat.

One aspect that initially grated on me until it clicked, was that most of the action was shot in the dark (to the point where it was almost difficult to see). However, once I came to the (delayed) realization that the entirety of the spy aspects of the show occurred at night and most of the family drama during the day, it made it slightly easier for me to take. The other minor issue I had with the pilot was that it felt bloated at points (as much as I loved the scene where Philip maims the sleazebag who was making moves on his thirteen year old daughter, it felt pasted on and I can’t imagine that the scene made the 44-minute cut)

The Final Verdict: The Americans is a gripping thrill-ride of a show that grabs on to your attention and never lets go. While this version of the pilot felt a little bloated at points (it ran 90 minutes instead of the usual 60), it had the vibe of both a blockbuster action thriller and a subtle period piece all rolled up into one. This show is easily finding it’s way into my regular viewing, and it should really make it’s way into yours. Give it a shot, you won’t be disappointed.

The Best Stuff You Aren’t Watching: Portlandia

by Michael Tyminski

Portlandia: Fridays at 10p.m. Eastern on IFC

Mike normally reviews new (or recently returned) TV in an attempt to answer the question: Would I watch this again or would I recommend a friend picking up this series? However, once every week or so, the brain trust at Manhattan Digest gives him a little more free reign which he in turn uses to highlight the stuff you should check out (but probably haven’t yet).

I realize right off the bat that I am asking a lot, immediately recommending a show that comes on at 10p.m. on a Friday night, a time when most people are out and about kicking off their weekend, be it with friends, at a bar, or a party. That being said, if for some reason if you are stuck in on a Friday night (it is the middle of winter after all) or have a half hour to kill and a Netflix account or On Demand service I strongly recommend giving Portlandia a spin.

Portlandia is a sketch show that is the brainchild of Fred Armisen (Saturday Night Live) and Carrie Brownstein (of the bands Sleater-Kinney and Wild Ones). The show revolves around the hip, the hippies, and the hipsters that live in the greater Portland area. The show is currently airing it’s third season, with the first two seasons available on DVD (or on Netflix if that’s your sort of thing).

While there is a glut of sketch comedy regularly on TV between SNL, shows on Comedy Central and Adult Swim and the library of classic sketch comedy (be it Kids in the Hall, SCTV or Monty Python) that can be accessed through a variety of different means (be it DVD, YouTube, etc.), Portlandia stands out from the pack because it feels less forced, hackneyed, or reliant on pop culture than many of those similar shows.

The show’s humor comes from a number of sources. First and foremost, the show does a superb job of sending up pretentiousness, whether it’s yuppie parents who feel that their child’s life trajectory is based on getting into a choice preschool, the feminist bookstore owners whom are comically inept in running a retail establishment to the extent that they prefer donations over selling books, or people who create “art” by putting birds on various objects. Similarly, anyone whose ever had to deal with any alt-culture subgroup, be it your garden variety hipster, street punk or someone whose life choices are based off of some sense of moral superiority as opposed to actual intellectual honesty will see those contradictions ring true in many of the show’s characters.

The show’s second main form of humor comes from zany surrealism. This is often seen in a lot of the segments involving the Mayor of Portland (Kyle McLaughlin), who often dispatches Fred and Carrie (playing themselves) on various civic missions for the good of the city, whether it’s ensuring the Olympics never come to Portland, creating the city’s first major league team, or redesigning the police uniforms to give them a softer and less authoritative feel. Similarly, Portlandia has turned the wait for Sunday brunch into a post-apocalyptic wasteland where cutting the line is treated with extreme (and toasted) prejudice.

While there is no serialization inherent in the show, the show truly succeeds in creating a universe that seems as full and vibrant as a show like The Simpsons (which is known for its’ fairly large recurring cast), which is no small feat considering that the bulk of the characters are played by the duo of Brownstein and Armisen. This is critical as it means you can pick up the show at any point (as opposed to a show that runs on in-jokes and callbacks like say Frisky Dingo, or a show with a heavy serial element like Community). That being said, my recommended start point is still the pilot as it opens with one of the shows strongest sketches (The Dream of the 90’s) and really sets the tone of what you can expect throughout the rest of the series.

Legit is dark, funny, honest and excellent

by Michael Tyminski

Legit: Thursdays at 10:30 Eastern on FX

Over the last few years, one of FX’s strongest suits has been the lowbrow comedy about flawed people, whether it be the remorseless gang of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, the maladjusted spies at ISIS in Archer, or the failed lawyer who gets high with a dog in Wilfred. Their new series Legit is a perfect fit in this mold.

Legit follows Jim Jefferies (in his stand-up persona), a stand-up comedian who is known for immaturity and for generally being an all around jerk as he tries to become more “legit” in the eyes of his mother. He is aided in his task by his best friend Steve (Dan Bakkedahl –the name may be unfamiliar, but he has had guest runs on shows ranging from Community to Veep to 30 Rock) whom has a considerably straighter moral compass than Jim and recommends that Jim do good things for people as a way to become “legit”.

When Jeffries’ gets a call from Steve’s younger brother Billy (who has muscular dystrophy and is confined to a wheelchair), the show’s plot wheels begin to turn in motion. Billy’s major concern in life at the start of the show is that he has yet to have sex and begs Jeff to take him to a hooker. This leads to a debauchery laden road trip that sets the overall tone for the series (and leads to the events of the next episode).

The second episode, “Dreams” picks up where the first one left off, with Jim and Steve off to break Billy out of his rest home but being saddled with his roommate, a developmentally disabled dwarf named Rodney (who drives a hard bargain and is really good at Wii Bowling) for a night of hard partying that leads to, Billy’s eviction and the return of Steve’s overbearing mother (and the clear fore-runner for Jim’s sitcom nemesis) Janice (played by Mindy Sterling) who insists on being the caretaker for Billy now that he can no longer be in the rest home.

The show as a whole is fearlessly raunchy, with two large benders in the first two episodes (in the form of the road trip in the pilot and a party off-screen in episode two), and features a very take-no-prisoners approach to its’ humor (if you’re not comfortable about a man in a wheelchair tripping out and being surprised at the notion that “he can’t feel his legs” this show is not going to be for you and you probably should disregard this review).

Where this show truly succeeds is in those heartwarming moments where Jim suddenly becomes a little less self-centered, be it when he hands a homeless man a five for listening to him ramble on about how dreams and goals make him miserable, trying to talk Billy out of killing himself after being forced to move in with his mother, or his genuine joy when Rodney gets a perfect game on Wii Bowling (even if the latter occurred while Steve was bugging out about returning Billy and Rodney to the rest home).

The Final Verdict: Legit clicks with me. It’s honest, it’s funny, it’s a little dark at times, but it fits perfectly into FX’s 10:00 PM Thursday comedy hour that has been home to some of the funniest comedy on television (and Unsupervised) over the past three years. It’s particularly strong at reaching both the most cringe-worthy of lows, and yet still succeeds in creating heartwarming moments. This will likely be part of my regular viewing (it’s lead in Archer has been for me since day one) and I look forward to how this twisted redemption tale plays out.

Kroll Show Brings Lots of Guest Stars to the Table, Little Else

by Michael Tyminski

Kroll Show: 10:30 Eastern Wednesdays, Comedy Central

“Try to watch the Kroll Show in one sitting. It’s impossible.” — A personal friend’s Facebook status.

When I read that statement, I wasn’t entirely sure that any half-hour show could be truly that awful. I was only half wrong. As a result, I took the chance last night to watch a replay of the first episode and watch the second one live.

The sketch show loosely operates under the basic format of the Harold, which is commonly used in long-form improvisation and involved three different scenes being accessed at 3 different points in time. Generally the idea of this format is that it allows for rapid-fire bouncing between multiple isolated scenes with the hope of branching them together towards the end of the production. The show also differs from standard issue sketch fare by relying on a large list of guest appearances (the most visible in the first two episodes being Jenny Slate, Ed Helms, and Andy Milonakis) as opposed to a standard repertory troupe.

The reason I mention the structure in this case is because it really shows a lot of what is wrong with Kroll Show. I feel that the one thing many of the bits lack is a form of escalation. This escalation is critical because the dissipated structure of the show makes many of the sketches feel longer than they actually are, so when they stay on the same one joke through all three beats, it makes the show seem interminable. This lack of escalation was particularly apparent in the Ref Jeff sketch from episode 1 where the entire joke revolved around a referee trying to go out for drinks with players, but the antics never got out of that very basic level.

The other main flaw of this show is it often prioritizes pushing recurring characters over better and well developed jokes. The first two episodes alone gave us a one-note valley girl publicist (Liz G.), a one note club sleazeball that you’d find in your average Jersey Shore/Long Island club (Bobby Bottleservice), the Ref Jeff character mentioned above, the Rich Jerks (which of all the characters on the show were the strongest because there was slightly more to these guys than “we’re rich, and we’re jerks”, and Dr. Armond, Canine Plastic Surgeon (which fell flat because there just isn’t much of a character there period).

The show shines in those rare moments where it moves away from Nick Kroll’s characters as the focus of sketches. In particular, the ChikClub ad at the beginning of episode two was hysterical, as they advertised a chicken sandwich so good that people would sell out their beliefs for it. Similarly, the Sex in the City (for Men) sketch was equally strong, with its juxtaposition of the bubbly salaciousness of Sex and the City for the incredibly mundane conversation pieces of Sex in the City (For Men) while interspersing increasingly ridiculous bumpers in the middle every 10 to 15 seconds.

In general, the second episode seemed stronger than the first, though that may be because the Rich Dicks segment of the show escalated and twisted in a way that didn’t feel particularly trite (Rich guys need drugs, go to Mexico, get kidnapped, almost get killed, but then the head of the drug ring is one of the Rich Dicks’ friends from Manhattan so everyone goes home happy). The sketches also seemed to integrate together a little better (ChikClub found its’ way into all three main segments) I also happen to think that the writing seemed a little more focused (there was nothing that grated as badly as the argument in the PubLIZity sketch which devolved into full blown incoherence). Additionally, I find that the more that Jon Daly (the only consistent series regular besides Kroll) appears on the show, the funnier a sketch becomes, as he brings his trademark intensity and boorishness to every scene.

The Final Verdict: It’s not nearly as bad as my friend implied in the Facebook post at the top of the article, but it’s definitely not something I would go out of my way to watch unless it just happened to be on in the background while I was preoccupied with other tasks. The foundations for something greater are there, but the overemphasis on recurring characters was the sort of thing that also has turned me off to Saturday Night Live at points and that factor feels 100 times worse on Kroll Show. The end result is something middling and inconsistent, and if the show felt less like elongated versions of stand-up impersonations and more like the tight rapid-fire sketch show it aims to be it could be the perfect post-Workaholics anchor for Comedy Central.

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