THE COMEDIANS Not Enough Funny For Second Chance
Billy Crystal´s comeback to the small screen got trimmed as the showrunner Ben Wexler broke the news on his Twitter. FX has cancelled the show after just 13 episodes amidst nosediving ratings. The Comedians boasted a solid writing team with Larry Charles of Cohen´s trilogy Borat, Bruno and The Dictator along with TV gems Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm, Ben Wexler of Community and Arrested Development, Burn Notice´s Matt Nix, and Billy Crystal himself.
Billy Crystal and Josh Gad took on their fictional selves in a meta-comedy, the type that has evolved into an autonomous subgenre lately. A lot of ego clashing in an on and off relationship between Crystal and Gad´s onscreen personas, and the story about eternal Calvary to keep a sketch show above the water against all odds, an uncanny thematisation of the show´s real ordeal next to the biz´s satire.
Although the first season was off to a slow start, it gradually paced up and might have continued the trajectory into next season. However, the meta-comedy genre is not bowing off the screen with Crystal and Gad´s departure, as Showtime ordered fifth season of David Crane & Jeffrey Klarik´s single camera comedy Episodes marking the return to the writers' room and bedroom of husband and wife scriptwriters (wonderfully played by Tamsin Greig and Stephen Mangan) and their daily struggle behind the remake of their UK show on US turf, while putting up with the antics of Matt LeBlanc's fictionalized version of himself. Filming is scheduled next year.
HAPPYISH, Depresish, Existentialish, Cancellish
Showtime incinerated any future prospects of the darkly twisted comedy series Happyish. After the painful moment of Philip Seymour Hoffman´s passing -- the actor had been slated to star -- the creators had to re/shoot the pilot after Alpha Papa Steve Coogan stepped in.
Created and written by Shalom Auslander, author of Foreskin´s Lament: Memoir or Hope: A Tragedy and the proponent of the axiom "God´s a chicken" (found in his book Beware of God), Showtime made a bold decision as Auslander transposed his signature dark, satirical and existential style onto small screens.
Coogan stars as Thom Payne, a cynical and slightly depressed midlife advertising executive trying to find a way out of an existential crisis pursuing happiness, which is a very abstract and elusive concept in Auslander´s vantage point. The show had a fundamental rift in its main character. He doesn´t suffer financial shortage, owns a fancy house in woods, has a healthy son and his wife can stay at home to make art.
Such a premise makes it even trickier to develop empathy for protagonist´s life dissatisfaction and it might have as well been a departing point for many viewers. However, Auslander´s witty observations from the abyss of corporate culture and advertisement, psychoanalysis of widespread epidemics of disillusionment and edgier stunts (delusional characters, adult star James Dean's unorthodox business lesson), while never forgetting to drop a dose of home-brewed existential-tinged depresso spice.
And maybe it was a bit too avant-gardish for small screens. After all, Kudrow´s show The Comeback came back after nine years, being far ahead of its time. Happyish could be exhumed in due time or Auslander may rather relocate to UK shores.
On the other hand, Coogan has plenty of work lined up. Besides starring in the apartheid drama Shepherds and Butchers, he also has a new series of Mid-Morning Matters, where he stars as his popular alter ego Alan Partridge.
Arrested Development - Not For Long
Back to Ben Wexler. He lost a job after The Comedians got axed, however, he gained a new one when Brian Grazer started spilling beans about a new season of Arrested Development. The universe works in mysterious ways.
After Grazer, the show´s producer, revealed that a 17-episode fifth season might slip into production next year, it was only recently that Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos confirmed: “All the negotiations are underway.”
Three seasons at Fox, ditched in 2005 and picked up by Netflix in 2013. Mitchell Hurwitz's comedy series is a timeless classic by now and a tremendous and rewarding investment. The jokes are actually increasing with each re-watching.
Although the reception of Netflix's “semi-original” series received mixed reactions due to every episode being helmed by one member of the Bluth family instead of the whole gang as it used to be in Fox´s time -- reason: scheduling conflicts, since the actor all got very busy careers since the show´s wrap -- it was a miracle the original cast returned for a juicy encore. No less important was the preservation of a high quality standard. The writers, led by the showrunner Hurwitz, delivered flawless material and could explore more tricky/darker places.
A new cut of season 4 was rumored, obviously the one fulfilling viewers' desires to have the show re-edited in the chronological order. However, nobody commented on the matter recently. A fan managed to re-cut the show and dropped it on shady servers even before Ron Howard confessed to recording new narration for the supposed chronological version.
There is never enough Tobias Fünke.