coles_notes's reviews

A short 6 episode 44 minute mini-series created, written, and directed by Ken Finkleman and airing on CBC, fresh off the attempted revival of his previous hit The Newsroom. I liked The Newsroom for what it was, and so going into this expected much a similar style of comedy, which we got in the sense its definitely still Finkleman's dialogue, characters, and set ups, but I would not call this a comedy at its forefront. An air of satire wafts about, but what we have is primarily a mystery drama following the Chateau Rousseau, a luxurious hotel in Montreal, and all the varied staff and tenants within. There really are a lot of characters, from a half dozen recurring guests, that many plus hotel staff, not to mentioned the through line plot of the series involving the hotel owner, her family, and a series of murders occurring within the hotel. Each episode typically also features a new hotel guest with some b-plot, and surprisingly, a musical number, although only one per episode. The musical number always took me off guard, its such a strange occurrence each time it happens, but I guess I must admit none were particularly bad, just weird given the surrounding series. The directing is good, probably its most notable aspect, there's some interesting choices anyway. It definitely feels a bit artsy, experimental. Some of the characters are a bit cardboard and superficial, and some others just outright poorly written, but the plots and dialogue are generally fun and unique, provided you can follow them. Which is really the series ultimate downfall, its just a bit too complicated and stuffed full of interweaving plots and characters; it was hard enough to follow when binging, I can't imagine someone watching week-to-week as it aired. Again none of its really laugh out loud funny, nor is it intended to be, and the drama is a bit sappy for something that's trying to be serious, so I'm not quite sure what tone Finkleman was ultimately trying for. Honestly, I'm not sure about this one, probably wouldn't recommend to most.

Created by the great Glen A. Larson for ABC, we have Automan, the automatic man (Chuck Wagner), a holographic being built by computer whiz and police officer Walter Nebicher (Desi Arnaz Jr.), a super cop for the digital age. Along with his trusty sidekick Cursor, a floating dot of light who can generate a physical hologram anything into the real world, the three take on crime syndicates, mob bosses, and even the odd biker gang as they clean up the streets of California. Automan himself features extremely reflective clothing, with a deep blue neon glow added in post, similarly styled to his multiple vehicles throughout, but primarily a Lamborghini Countach again with the classic neon straight lines overlayed all its edges. Heavily inspired by and riding the hype driven by the previous year's Tron, the show tries hard to capture that aesthetic (and audience), without doing anything particularly new with the police procedural format. They hear about bad guys, find bad guys, defeat bad guys, rinse and repeat. The dialog is not great, stuff we've all heard before and is often questionable, and the plots are nothing but 80s tropes and stereotypes. The CGI was fine for what it was, although for how expensive it probably was in modern day it looked pretty cheap. The creator, Glen A. Larson, known for his many other sci-fi 80s tv classics such as Knight Rider and Battlestar Galactica, this brings a much more generic beat to his plots, and in its single season before a quick cancelation we don't get much character development for any of the leads. There are hints at something interesting as Automan begins to learn about new things that he wasn't prepared for with his training, and hearing how they were talking about an artificial intelligence even then lines up for with some conversations much more common today, although the majority of it is still the similar schlock we're used to from this time period and never really goes anywhere. Finally this brings us to the secondary lead, played by Desi Arnaz Jr, yes the prodigal son of the famous duo, his namesake and the wonderful Lucille Ball. Unfortunately Jr got none of the acting or comedic chops of Lucille, but all of them of Desi, which does not bode well if you've seen their acting. Arnaz Jr just unfortunately can not say a single line or have a single reaction believably, in the slightest, to the point its the most entertaining part of this series, it makes so hammy, in the most unintended ways. Honestly its great, for none of the right reasons, but if you like d-tier 80s stuff to throw on in the background it was a blast and in many ways perfect.

Created by Dillon Mapletoft and Oliver Taylor for Channel 4 we have Everyone Else Burns, following the hyper-religious Lewis family, lead by David (Simon Bird) and his wife Fiona (Kate O'Flynn) as they raise their children into the sect and slowly begin questioning everything they understood about faith. The show generally follows the family and their on-goings as the parents question their marriage, their daughter begins dating outside of the chapter, and their son explores his inner desires. Its a fairly lighthearted comedy throughout, and Bird delivers his usual but well fitting performance. I quite enjoyed Morgana Robinson as the new neighbour, and Al Roberts appears as a parish elder, who I liked on Stath Lets Flats, so was fun to see him here. Some of the show is a bit silly at parts, and it tries to go a bit too far into some drama moments, but generally stays funny. I must say I was impressed with the directing, while nothing too bold, Jamie Jay Johnson gets the odd neat shot in there, and some of the lenses used gives an almost surreal dreamy sequence (almost petzval-like), which fit well with the religious seclusion the show was presenting. The general plots are a bit boring as we just watch the family go about their life, and unfortunately for me, Prime which I was watching this on is missing 2 episodes from the second (and latest) season, leaving things on an even bigger cliffhanger than expected, which I'll try not to knock the show itself for but makes things a bit difficult. Overall, if you like this style of british sitcom and are looking for some religious humour, sure would likely recommend.

Created and written by Ben Elton for the BBC and starring his often partner in writing Rowan Atkinson as the lead, we follow Inspector Fowler of a small British police station and all they get up to in a given week. Built around the classic dilemma of the week, Fowler plays Atkinson's more expected unaware dolt, often unaware to his own innuendos and obliviously making rude remarks about his girlfriend and fellow station mate Sergeant Dawkins. The general plots can be pretty humourous, with at least one chuckle per episode in its short 2 season run, although I will say I got much more from the surrounding cast of characters than I did Atkinson himself surprisingly. At times they get some great physical comedy out of the cast, especially James Dreyfus' constable Kevin Goody and of course Atkinson himself, but I think they could have done more. A fun romp, if you've seen and loved Mr. Bean and Blackadder, then this of course should be on your radar at least, but I don't think its him at his best. Still a good time though.

Based on the manga of the same name by Hajime Komoto, Mashle follows the life of non-magic user Mash, born without powers or any inherent sorcery abilities. Gifted however with the power of extreme physical strength and shunned by all those around him for fear of being killed for not having any magical abilities, and through some loose plot reasons, as a teen he must now enrol in the Easton Magic Academy and achieve status of Divine Visionary, should he ever want to continue living a peaceful life with his adoptive father. A wild premise, is of course all a bit of a tongue in cheek joke, effectively a "what if Saitama went to Hogwarts" as its foundation, yeah its pretty funny, especially within the surrounding anime its satirizing. Obviously as a fan of anime, I thought this one was quite good, the plot is generally dumb, and I would have loved some further depth in the world building, there's a lot thats really not fleshed out even over its 2 season run, and things are a bit (perhaps deliberately) nonsensical. I laughed a few times and certainly smiled every time the theme song started. If you already like this style of anime, yeah would recommend, I'll check out season 3 whenever it comes around.

Created by Genndy Tartakovsky for Adult Swim, we follow the unspeaking, unnamed Spear, an early caveman / neanderthal who befriends a docile tyrannosaurus rex, Fang, during one of this hunts. Moving through the forests, plains, and cities of an ancient Earth, the series shines in its art style, is of course very Tartakovsky, and with little to no dialogue, the minimalist, bold characters and settings immediately take a forefront to much of the narrative. This was both a positive and a negative, as some of the scenes are truly gorgeous, and of course the more violent themes that Adult Swim allows let Tartakovsky go a little nuts with some of the larger scale battles, which were often quite cool. However, this is where things also falter a bit for me, while I obviously expected a show about a man and a dinosaur being friends would be a bit anachronistic, I didn't expect the world building to go as unrealistic and the set ups to become quite as silly as they did. Things also lean a bit supernatural at parts, which I didn't necessarily mind, but certainly didn't expect and it didn't really vibe with the previous tone of the show, especially season one. I did like the first season significantly more than the second, however the second was still fairly good. With a maybe season 3 on the way, if you're a fan of his previous work, or like somewhat violent artsy animated series this one should be up on the list.

Created by Rowan Atkinson for the BBC after his infamous tenure as Mr. Bean, we follow Edmund Blackadder (Atkinson) throughout four periods of history for a series each, as they get up to nonsense, peril, and calamities. Much like Mr. Bean with plenty of phenomenal physical comedy, but much unlike it in being fully voiced, the writing is so clever, and the wit so quick. Joined by Atkinson throughout the series' incarnations is Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Tony Robinson, and Tim McInnerny, so quite the star studded cast. Brian Blessed even makes an appearance in the first medieval series, which was a treat. Robinson, who I had not known previous to this, quickly became a personal favourite, his Baldrick throughout the ages was the funniest character in each. The second series moves from the middle ages into the mid 16th century, with seasons 3 and 4 moving farther into the French revolution and WWI respectively. I honestly feel as if my knowledge of history was higher this show would only get better for it, I believe I missed a lot of nuance and subtly in some bits, but even then I had a great time throughout. I quite like this style of humour so it was right up my alley to begin with. I've you've seen and loved Mr. Bean but never made it to this please give it a watch, absolutely great.

First airing and adapted for television in 1949 and based on its earlier radio broadcast starting in 1929, we have The Goldbergs. Often sited as one of the first sitcoms for both radio and television, it certainly helped define the format as watchers and listeners tuned in each week to hear the latest happenings of the Goldberg family, particularly the matriarch Molly. Created, written, and directed entirely by the star herself, Gertrude Berg, the series was certainly the first series with a female showrunner, and was also the first to depict home life of a Jewish family. Only hearing of the series after reading (listening) to Jennifer Keishin Armstrong's book When Women Invented Television, which I would highly recommend for more on this series, Berg herself, and a few other early women greats in the business, I immediately sought out where I could stream it and was lucky to find many of the extant episodes available on RokuTV. Unfortunately much of the series has been lost to time, but a considerable amount still exists. I must stay to a modern audience the pace is quite slow, and the constant advertisements for Rybutol, a vitamin supplement, were both funny and a fun reminder about how little advertising has changed in over 75 years. Episodes typically follow one or two new family dilemmas, from meeting the new neighbours to one of the kid's new relationships. With no laugh tracks, at the insistence of Berg, the series remains quite lighthearted, for me more a source of chuckles than laughs, but still quite good. Known for her leaning out their apartment window and delivering monologues, ad reads, and chatting with the neighbours, her famous "yoo-hoo" greeting would have been meet by thousands each week tuning into the latest 30 minute episode. To note, there is a more modern series of the same name and similar premise, but interestingly they are completely unrelated, the modern supposedly written without knowledge of the original. All said, unless you're already a fan of slower, black and white, 1950's television I don't know that I'd necessarily recommend, but if that does happen to be you certainly go for it, its a cornerstone of what's made tv today and was fun to have on in the background.

From the producers of Freaks & Geeks sans Judd Apatow and produced for ABC, we follow high school friends Dino, Ben, and Jonathan as they make their way through family troubles, girls, and much of the high school drama you'd come to expect from this type of show. Definitely written from the male perspective, each of the boys has a girl counterpart as their love interests, one of which played by a young Kelly Osbourne, which was interesting at the least. That said the series never explains her transatlantic accent, which always threw me off guard. Peter Dinklage also shows up as the school psychiatrist, which was neat. Another set of parents are going through a divorce, and one boy has to deal with a young manipulative / abusive teacher who begins a relationship with him, and of course all kinds of drama ensues from there. They don't treat things the most tactfully, and the show features many fourth wall breaks as time stops and one of them turns to camera to explain their inner thoughts, which felt very early 2000s. Overall, a show cancelled after a single season, we never see the story lines fully play out, however most of them wrap up somewhat satisfactorily. I think there's plenty of better high school dramas out there, but if you've seen all the others, sure check this one out.

Most recently presented by Rob Brydon for the majority of its seasons and created by Peter Holmes for the BBC, we feature two team captains and comedians Lee Mack and David Mitchell, who take on two additional celebrity guests each, where the teams take turn reading off preprepared cards of statements, playing them off as either a truth or a lie. The other team must then guess which it indeed is, either a truth that actually happened to that person, or a lie, completely made up. A fairly simple premise, the two captains are both in their perfect element, David Mitchell with his depths of historical and factual knowledge, and general curmudgeonly attitude he plays up and is known for, and Lee Mack whose cleverness, wit, and ability to annoy David is perfect. Of course how good things are episode to episode certainly depends on the guests and those stories / lies prepared, however overall I've seen enough seasons to say its impressively consistent. If you're just looking for some easy watching thats a laugh, I would recommend, going now for over 17 seasons, yeah, is a good show.

Created and written by David Cross, we follow the titular Todd Margaret (Cross), a buffoon of a man making his way through a sudden promotion and overseas journey to England, where he must sell a new energy drink, Thundermuscle. A classic dominos of calamity, we follow Todd as he makes increasingly bad decisions, with lots of references to previous actions, all leading to a climactic end which is foreshadowed in the opening of each episode. Sharon Horgan shows up as an unattainable love interest which was fun, Spike Jonze even appears for a bit as a coworker, and Will Arnett joining as Todd's similarly unqualified boss, where he plays a character not too dissimilar to his earlier role in Arrested Development. Cross's Todd is also much the same, with the majority of the early humour coming from misunderstanding British things, or him being oblivious to his own innuendos. Honestly, there are some more blue, darker, or perhaps controversial points in the series which I didn't love, theres some topics that seem to repeat from both Arrested Development Tobias and sketches from Bob & David, its' definitely a bit antiquated in that aspect but also feels very David Cross. Cancelled (so it seemed) after the first two seasons, the series reaches its inevitable conclusion fairly well, so many were surprised when a follow up season 3 was eventually announced 4 years later. Minor spoilers for plot, but season 3 plays off the previous two seasons as a prophetic dream had by an alternate reality protagonist, still Todd Margaret, as he becomes the catalyst for an apocalyptic event foretold in his dreams. The season is then a series of callbacks and references to the previous two seasons events, as they all again seem to come true, though in different ways. In perhaps the final poor decision made, only seasons 1 and 2 were available on RokuTV, for the 3rd season I had to look elsewhere, which really is a shame as I think its the best one. Although self referencial humour is really my thing, so makes sense I would like it. As for the rest, it was fine for what it was, I understand how this has a small cult following, but overall I don't really see it. Its plot was too loosely scripted to get merit for something cleverly crafted in the end, at one points the numerous plotholes throughout the show was one of the after credits gags. I liked it, and for fans of any of these comedians or this type of darker humour, would certainly recommend.

Created by Christy Karacas, Ben Gruber, and Stephen Warbrick, we have a shorter 15 minute episode late night adult series, with emphasis on the adult. Following an elaborate and insane super jail, a maximum security prison with an unlimited number of inmates, we loosely follow The Warden, his jailbot, and employees, as they try to keep the inmates contained and adapt to the whims of their not quite right in the head warden. With lots of emphasis on violence, this is one of the more brutal and gory animated series I've watched as of late, leaning close to the Happy Tree Friends levels of blood and violence, I gather its a large draw of the series, if not one of its primary purposes. Not a huge fan of gore, I quickly became quite numb to people loosing heads and spilling guts, and learned to appreciate the animation in a way I did not expect, for how crude it is, its often done quite well. Of course a show thats intent is to offend, there are plenty of raunchy bits Adult Swim is known for. Unfortunately StackTV where I watched it only had seasons 1, 2, and 4 available to me, and while I don't think I lost too much plot, there did seem to be some character arcs I missed with the continuity gap, which was a shame. Honestly I'm not sure I really liked this, but I kept finding myself compelled to finished at least one more episode, but perhaps that speaks to my own lack of sensibilities than it does much about the show. All said, I'm still a bit excited to check out Karacas other series for adult swim BallMasterZ, which seems similarly stylized. Overall, if you're a fan of animated hyperviolence than this show will certainly be up your alley, just warning its very nsfw, very not for children. Probably wouldn't generally recommend.

Created by Robert Borden off the earlier film of the same name, we follow loosely the identical plot but stretched into a full series, where American Todd Dempsy (Ben Rappaport) must travel to Mumbai, India, where he becomes the new manager for an outsourced call centre, selling American novelties and gag items. Filmed entirely in California with what appears to be a group of all white writers, for a show which takes place in India and follows a largely Indian descent cast, I'm not sure how I feel about that, and frankly the show leaned way too heavily on tropes of both the generic sitcom format and mildly offensive stereotypes for it to be anything of unique interest. Todd as a characters is a bit unlikeable, in the mid-2000s jock, standoffish sitcom lead way, as he's thrown into a love triangle while simultaneously trying to learn to live with his new job and home. Often episodic plots involve some new shipment of gag items from America, and how all the employees don't get or are shocked at the contents, again its not particularly offensive or anything, more so just lazy and boring. I flipped it on after realizing Rizwan Manji played one of the leads, who I quite liked, as did Sacha Dhawan which was fun, and Rebecca Hazelwood appears as one of the love interests. Overall, a show cancelled after a single season, it tracks, I think there was definitely a lot of potential here narratively to do something interesting, but instead they went the fairly tame, generic route. Wouldn't really recommend, there's plenty of other office place sitcoms to watch first.

Created by Mark Bussell and Justin Sbresni, we follow the titular family of the Robinsons, namely Ed, played by Martin Freeman, as he navigates his new path after he gets fired from his long running job as a re-insurance agent. Of course very dry in its humour in the classic BBC way, I honestly didn't love this, at least not near as much as I thought I would, and being cancelled after a single season seems some thought the same. We get Hugh Bonneville as his brother George, and Olivia Colman and Amanda Abbington both show up as love interests, which was fun. I didn't really love any of the characters, and again just found the humour so dry and plainly observational that it left a lot to be desired. Wouldn't probably recommend, there's much better British comedy out there.

Created by Kelsey Espensen for CBC, we have a fairly standard reality competition series bringing 10 contestants across 8 episodes, with one eliminated in each, to eventually crown a winner as Best in Miniature and taking home a $10,000 grand prize. As a miniature competition, the artists must first build their own mini house, and then each subsequent episode we see them flesh out a room within, and often telling a story along with their diorama. Hosted by Aba Amuquandoh and judged by Micheal Lambie and Emma Waddell, the hosting was suitable enough, and the judging was pretty good, although I found myself more increasingly disagreeing with their takes as the series went on, and they got more and more critical each season. High emphasis in the later season on "telling a story"; we shift less from who is the best at making realistic miniatures and more into who can craft a narrative around their house, which is neat but a different concept than what I had originally grown to love across the first season. That said, watching all these talented people create was always so inspiring, its honestly amazing some of the things they can do. If you like crafting or these types of series generally, would recommend, was a pretty good one.

Produced by Tokyo Broadcasting System, we have a skateboarding competition series bringing skaters from all over the globe to take on a set of very unique challenges, generally consisting of speed challenges mixed with rails, jumps, and pipes. The skaters all compete for a prize of 1,000,000 yen, but most of the competition stays very friendly and supportive in great ways. A fan of skateboarding, I loved the crazy sets built for these challenges, only the Japanese can combine a show like Wipeout or Takeshi's Castle with skateboarding, and do it in all the best ways. Only 6 episodes, all of which are now available on YouTube, if you like skateboarding I would highly recommend, was very fun.

Created by Joseph Bennett (Scavengers Reign) and Steve Hely (30 Rock, Veep), we have an adult animated comedy following Marshall Cuso, a fungus loving genius who has discovered a new mystery mushroom which appears to heal any illness, including death. Joined by a fun cast of characters, Marshall must come up against old friends turned foes, an old crush, and the looming tyranny of the government and big pharma. The animation is fantastic, more exaggerated but iconic in its styling, much like Scavengers Reign before it, but again just like that series its the people and their interactions that build such a unique and grounded universe in which the story takes place. On the edge of my seat every episode, the pace is great, and I'm so hyped for season two, I really hope we see it. Also joining is a strong list of voice actors, including Mike Judge and Martha Kelly, which was very fun. Honestly was probably the one of the best animated series I've seen in the past few years, I might even like it more than Scavengers Reign. If you like these styles of adult series would highly recommend.

Created by Grainger David with Blumhouse Television for Prime, we have a fairly boilerplate man resurrected from the dead to become a demon hunter for the devil narrative, a crazy thing to consider typical, but here we are. Starring Kevin Bacon as the lead and with Bacon being the big draw to starting the series, the production value is quite high, with the set pieces and CGI throughout being fairly impressive for what it is. Not a huge fan of gore myself, there are definitely some neat kills and action sequences in this, but unfortunately the writing and pacing just feels all over the place. Lots of dry exposition that does a good job explaining plot points we need to know, but a really bad job at blending into the universe, at times whole scenes just feel pure justification for what's about to come. The acting is fairly good throughout, with Bacon himself doing a fine job carrying much of the series, but many side characters again feel a bit cardboard. I often couldn't tell what tone this was seeking out, it sometimes feels a parody, but equally often seems to take itself very seriously. Overall just a show that thinks its way cooler than it was, and it constantly tried to remind us how cool it was. Again if this seems your kinda thing, I'd recommend the long list of series previous that have covered the genre (Buffy, Ash v Evil Dead, Constantine, Preacher, or even the many anime of the same), but if you really like Kevin Bacon and are looking for a quick macho kick butt action series, sure this one fits the bill. At only 8 episodes was short and sweet, though I'm not sure if I'm invested enough to stick around for season 2 whenever that comes around. Would hesitantly recommend.

Created by Stacey Aglok MacDonald and Alethea Arnaquq-Baril, we follow Siaja (Anna Lambe), a young Inuk mother in the far north Arctic where she must navigate her jerk husband, the new town heartthrob, her troubled mother, all while raising her daughter, finding a new job, and discovering how to find her own way in the world. Airing through ATPN, the CBC, and Netflix, the series narrative features many fairly typical daytime soap dynamics as its underpinnings, but the series has been a pleasure so far in its representation and honesty, its certainly a view of Canada we don't see far enough. Some of the early writing and acting is a bit stiff, but as the series takes off things are really a treat. The wardrobe in this is fantastic, and seeing everything filmed on location in Nunavut was both a must and a treat. Lambe as the lead does well, and as the drama progresses you definitely gain investment in the characters and town, despite some of its dramawkwardness. There's some love triangle bits that feel played out and too familiar, but any times the show showed its own voice and teachings through the cracks it really shined. Also, whoever handled music on this deserves a raise, was oh so good. Only 8 short episodes for its premiere season I really do hope we see more, I'll certainly watch it.

Created by Dan and Eugene Levy for CBC and starring both, we follow the formerly wealthy Rose family, as they lose their fortune and must move to the only place that will take them Schitt's Creek. Stuck in a motel, the four must re-evaluate their lives, their goals, and ultimately the type of people they surround themselves with. With Eugene as the father and Dan as the son there's of course plenty of natural chemistry on screen, but I really must give props to their mother Moira played by Catherine O'Hara and daughter Alexis played by Annie Murphy, they both really stole the show with their performances. Eugene and O'Hara of course also are a duo that goes back decades in comedy, it really was the perfect fit. The show remains fairly quaint over its run, following the family as they integrate with the town, with much of the early comedy based around their (perceived) status differences with the townspeople, and latter in its run turns into a fully wholesome comedy. Again, for something a pleasure to flip on and forget the worlds' problems its truly a great show and I would highly recommend.

Created by Genndy Tartakovsky for Cartoon Network after his previous hit Dexter's Laboratory, we follow the titular Jack (voiced by Phil LaMarr), and ancient hero flung far into the future after the evil Aku (voiced by the always magnificent Mako for s1 - 4) has dominated the world. Filled with robots and kung fu action, the show begins as fairly narrative free, other than the pilot explanation of how Jack ended up trapped in the future with his lone goal of getting back to the past. Each episode Jack explores some new culture or place which has somehow been long impacted or ruled by Aku and his minions, and Jack must find some way to defeat the robots, save the town, rescue the princess. The plots of episode-to-episode are really not where this show shines, but instead in its subtle charm, the humour and wit of its characters and their interactions, and of course the gorgeous animation which Tartakovsky is now known for. Something that, while beautiful in its own right, reaches far beyond the animated works he'd done previously. As stated often fighting against robots, as the early season's kid-oriented viewership couldn't watch any "real" violence; we get some green goo splatter and gut wrenching action that the likes of Tarantino would appreciate, all stylized in such a bold, visual aesthetic that didn't really exist in other cartoons at the time. Being softly cancelled after a fourth season on Cartoon Network, the series never reached a grand conclusion until over a decade later when in 2017 a 5th finale season was picked up again by the CN block Adult Swim. I had never caught this revival when it originally aired, but am happy to finally catch up now. S5 being on Adult Swim there are of course more adult-ish themes that are explored, along with some extra leeway on the violence, but I'm happy to say it never wandered too far from its original and feels a fitting conclusion of the series. If you're already someone who would flip on an action cartoon and somehow haven't yet checked this out would highly recommend.

Created by Armando lannucci for HBO and starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus as the lead, we follow Selina Meyer, Vice President of the United States and her office through her many trials and tribulations, foils and foibles. She's followed by a familiar troupe of staffers, including Tony Hale as her bagman Gary Walsh, and Gary Cole as number cruncher Kent Davison, who is always fun to see. Sam Richardson was also in the latter bit of this which I had forgotten and he has his same charm as always. Of course Louis-Dreyfus as veep shines, I don't think the show could have stayed so steady without her. The writing is fantastic, with loads of subtle jokes and plenty of callbacks, and while unfortunately reflecting many of the realities of US politics (especially today), it never forgets its first and foremost a comedy so stays away from any heavy drama. I'd personally say the show starts great and ends great, it never really reaches beyond its initial concept, but thats perfectly okay and as a laugh at incompetence kinda show I loved it. Towards the latter half of the series there are some references to Trump and that movement as it began, which was interesting, if not a little saddening as they didn't have any idea what we'd all be getting into, there's almost something naively comforting about that time not so long ago when this level of ineptness in the white house seemed extreme and satire. A decent length at 7 seasons, I enjoyed that it stuck to mostly shorter 30 minute episodes, so things never felt slow. If you like political comedies and haven't checked this one out yet I'd certainly recommend, was great.

Created, written, directed, and directly from only the mind of Julio Torres we have a surreal trip into the tale of a lost oyster earring and all the nonsense experienced along the way. Only 6 episodes, its a short series that never really presents a large overarching narrative, but instead introduces us to new vignettes of side characters as they intertwine with Torres' (who plays himself in a seudo-autobiographical character) search for the lost earring, and ultimately dealing with his larger life problems. The whole thing is of course very metaphorical, although can be just often direct, an exaggerated re-telling from the synesthesiac mind of Torres. I quite enjoyed much of the set production, there's some very cool backdrops with projectors, and of course the set pieces and costuming itself, with its almost Pee-wee Herman pop art aesthetic. I was a big fan of Torres' previous work Los Espookys, which landed more for me personally, but was nice seeing many familiar faces return for this piece. For those already fans of Torres I would highly recommend, and for those that like somehow relatable surreal existential laughs, would recommend.

A series I had watched much of previously however never finished, I aimed to complete the full 12 season epic, and while long, I must say I'm glad I did. Produced by Larry David and Jeff Garlin, and starring both, and also written and directed by Robert B. Weide, we follow an exaggerated slice of life following Larry David as his personality and friends constantly get him into trouble. Originally pitched as a one-off special and became on of the classic sitcoms of all time, I of course loved it. A big fan of Seinfeld the show, but not the biggest fan of the person, this series only solidified my belief that Jerry had the least comedy chops on his own show. The writing in curb is so fresh, and even going back to its original early 2000s run the jokes all still hold, especially given its partially improved nature. It's easy to try to compare Curb to Seinfeld or the later mockumentary style works it inspired, but there really is nothing else like it, Larry David is in a league of his own. His comedy definitely isn't for everyone, but if you like it this show is a treat. I look forward to revisiting it many more times. Would highly recommend.