Netflix released two comedies in back-to-back weeks recently, Master of None and W/ Bob & David. Coincidentally, I just finished the first season of Bojack Horseman and not too long ago finally was able to finish Wet Hot American Summer television show. So since I have trouble reviewing comedies, I'd thought I'd combine all four of these comedies into one post.
Master of None
Aziz Ansari's Master of None is brilliant. This is the lone comedy that has a near one-hundred percent chance of making my top ten at the end of the year. (To be fair, possibly unjustifiably angry readers, I have quite a bit of 2015 comedy still to watch.) It feels natural in a way that most comedies don't. It tackles issues that most comedies don't. It's also funnier than most comedies.
Each of his ten episodes are singularly focused on one thing whether that's parents, the idea of having kids, or getting into a relationship with somebody who is married (or in a committed relationship.) And yet it somehow never feels forced and maintains its naturalistic setting.
Aziz Ansari is playing a character who I'm fairly certain is essentially Aziz Ansari in real life. The other major character in this season is played by former and seldom-used Saturday Night Live cast member Noel Wells. The two of them together make a believable couple. Ansari casts a few friends who he talks about his problems with throughout the show, the standout of which is Eric Wareheim, a big hulking giant. A notable recurring guest star is H. Jon Benjamin (Bob's Burger's, Archers), a welcome person for Ansari to spill his relationship troubles.
It's also very well-directed. It adds to the naturalism and they take full advantage of the high definition. It makes New York seem to pop off in the screen as if you could simply walk your way into New York through your computer. (Don't do that, stupid people). I absolutely recommend this show to everyone who can watch it.
Grade - A
W/ Bob and David
I didn't watch Mr. Show with Bob and David so I was unaware of their type of comedy. This is a sketch comedy where all of the sketches are related in some way. So that's an interesting twist on your usual sketch comedy show. This show definitely made me intrigued to go back and watch Mr. Show with Bob and David. Unfortunately, I don't want to go back and watch it because W/ Bob and David was amazing.
W/ Bob and David largely failed for me. I'm assuming they have basically the same format in the original show, which is a weird live audience monologue followed by weird sketches that connect in some way. My main problem with this show is that I didn't find it that funny. The only consistently funny part for me was John Ennis. He's part of why I want to watch the original. But it's also because it's really easy imagine me loving this show if the performers involved are just a little better at writing and a little better at performing.
It just felt very amateurish to me. I think that's part of the joke, but that doesn't mean it feels any less amateurish. One jarring scene for me was when Bob Odenkirk plays all of the characters on "What if Seinfeld cast played Star Wars characters?" The joke was that it was a stupid skit that David hates. But at the end of the episode, he's getting huge laughs from a presumably "fake" audience because nothing he was doing was funny. I think it was supposed to be funny because of how bad it was. And... that's usually not a great source of comedy. Basically that entire scene made me suspect the live audience was nothing more than a laugh track sitcom disguised as a live audience because they seemed to be laughing on cue more than at jokes. (I feel like a lot of my complaints could be responded to with "That's the joke" but it's not a funny joke!)
Grade - C+
Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp
What also made me interested in the idea of revisiting the old show was that a lot of the humor in W/ Bob and David seems similar to Wet Hot American Summer. Since the show precede the movie and since original ideas almost always look better even after you've seen the copiers, I think my impression of the original would be improved.
That's a long-winded way of saying that I think the television series Wet Hot American Summer did the type of humor W/ Bob and David tried doing much better. (It's not a perfect comparison since one is a sketch comedy) Part of that undoubtedly is the actors involved. As much as I love Bob Odenkirk (I'm mostly indifferent on David Cross), Paul Rudd and company are just so much better on delivering the weird than those two. This is a cast so good it'd be worth watching no matter how bad it was. It just simply seems impossible for the caliber of this cast to be anything other than above average.
Watching the series, it seems written with that in mind. Like I don't want to disparage Michael Showalter or David Wain, but I can't imagine this was that funny purely on paper. Just look at every scene with Paul Rudd in it. Try and tell me that's funny with anybody but Paul Rudd doing it. Or every scene with Josh Charles being as close to a perfect parody of a frat boy as possible. Or Elizabeth Banks being a self-important reporter. Or Ken Marino macho posturing in a way where he is clearly doing it because he's insecure (how does he do that so well?) And yes the writers realize it so I'm not saying it's bad writing. It's just writing for the medium. Anyway, watch this for the performances.
Grade - B+
Bojack Horseman Season 1
Last year, when Bojack Horseman started, my roommates had it on. I watched a couple of the early episodes, out of context, and wasn't impressed. I returned to it about two weeks ago and the first episodes still didn't impress me, but I soldiered on and kept watching because I heard it would get better. And it did.
It also started to be clear what the show was about more than anything. The main appeal of this show is its portrayal of a man in a deep spiral of depression. He has fucked up in his life and he isn't happy about it. He doesn't think the spiral will end. The fact that this is happening while a pretty funny television show is happening is an added bonus. A large amount of credit goes to Will Arnett for making him a multidimensional character, who is talented, a goofball, an asshole, and depressed. (It's not all that different from his character on Arrested Development, Gob actually.)
The show is particularly adept at small little moments of animal humor and its recurring Hollywoo subplot. Also, I have to commend the show for making a gag out of Princess Carolyn dating three boys in a trench coat AND have it go on for three episodes AND somehow making it funnier and funnier the longer it goes on. The Todd storylines mostly fell flat to me - not necessarily because of Aaron Paul - but because they were extremely broad. Anyway, I'll be watching season two for sure.
Grade - B
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