Borrowing from Showtime’s formula of having one established show (Eastbound and Down, Homeland) paired up with one new show’s premiere (Hello Ladies, Masters of Sex) to face the juggernaut that is AMC’s Breaking Bad and subsequent Talking Bad coverage, HBO also premiered some shows last night: one good comedy, and one truly great one.
Hello Ladies…It’s never entirely fair to judge a comedy based on their first episode (everything from Parks and Recreation to Seinfeld takes a few episodes to get going), but since most things Ricky Gervais is involved with have only about ten episodes, it’s a little more fair. [Gervais’ original Office and Extras had only 12 episodes plus finale specials, and his new shows Life is Short or Derek have only 7.] There’s no telling how long this show will last since Gervais isn’t in front of the camera and it stars someone who may actually want to work: Gervais’ longtime writing partner Stephen Merchant. Merchant looks like a demented cartoon scarecrow and can stretch a lot of laughs out of his gangly frame and slightly delirious looking smile. I liked watching him try to play a lady’s man who frequently gets shot down (it wouldn’t be a Gervais show if there weren’t misery and misanthropy directed at the lead character) and really enjoyed Kevin Weissman as a wheelchair bound playboy. Only time will tell if Merchant and Co. can keep this light premise from getting stale. Grade for pilot: B+
Eastbound and Down…This is a truly great TV comedy. You never know what will happen from season-to-season (each season has used a different location and a mostly new cast) and it feels like we’re actually going on a journey with Danny McBride’s iconic Kenny Powers, the sitcom’s closest thing to an anti-hero. While all the great TV dramas centered around antiheroes may be over (The Shield, The Sopranos, Breaking Bad, etc.), it feels mildly revolutionary to transport that to a hilarious half-hour comedy. Watching Kenny—-who begins the season as a suburban schlub working a dehumanizing crappy job—-slowly let his more self-destructive (and badass) tendencies bubble to the surface adds surprising psychological depth to the show, and Kenny’s treatment by a petty boss who seems to enjoy humiliating him so he can feel powerful is a pretty good portrayal of the subtle ways life in the Southeast can grind you down. Grade for season premiere: A