Mulligan (Netflix)-A post-apocalyptic comedy that stands out for its levity. A close comparison would be Will Forte’s dark comedy “Last Man on Earth” in which a small band of characters survived a pandemic in a sea of nothingness; while the comedy centered around the pathos of sexual frustration. guilt, and the rotating door of ostracizing. In contrast, the post-apocalyptic landscape of Mulligan is a semi-populated city (Washington DC) that survived the attack of aliens, thanks to our titular hero. Mulligan is a dim-witted hunk in the style of Pete Davidson (though surprisingly played by Nat faxon) who compromised the aliens’ defenses threw his only skill: Throwing a baseball through a Death-Star like-design-flaw. The sole surviving senator decides that’s enough to qualify him as president and he’s joined by Mrs. Nevada (Chrissy Tiegen) who serves as his first lady (though their relation goes unconsummated so far); a senator that embodies Southern cliché to humorous rapture (Dana Carvey), a pair of star-crossed academics (Tina Fey and Sam Richardson) with a great Sam-and-Dianne vibe; and an alien leftover from the invasion (Phil LaMarr) who is often the sanest person in the room. There is also an ample amount of room for cameos (Questlove and Weird Al play themselves), world building (the previous president is confirmed to be alive at one point) and entertaining recurring guest stars that could build the world out. On the whole, this is a show has a few broad strokes (if the Korean billionaire isn’t supposed to be a proxy for Kim-Jung Un he’s awfully stereotypical; ditto the beauty queen) but it mines the character interactions well.
Good Omens (Amazon)-Neil Gaiman’s seminal novel of biblical humor pits the four Horsemen of the apocalypse, the antichrist, a rogue angel Azaraphel (Michael Sheen), his demon partner-in-crime Crowley (David Tenant) and a number of other colorful characters in a tale that’s as epic as it is whimsical. But that was the first season. This season centers around a mystery: The angel Gabriel (Jon Hamm) shows up at a Azaraphel’s book shop with an interesting case of amnesia. Considering Gabriel’s playing for Team Heaven and Crowley’s playing for the other side and it’s an eternal battle with high stakes, Crowley’s terrified at the site of his old nemesis. He wants to off him, but then we wouldn’t have a reason for Azaraphel and Crowley to go on adventures together and this uneasy alliance is the heart of the show, so Azaraphel convinces forked-tongue pal to perform a minor miracle and hide him from the powers that be. Trying to keep the secret from their overlords and the ensuing aftermath is the bulk of the plot. Through four of six episodes so far, the majority of the screen time has been spent on pseudo-origin stories on the Azaraphel/Crowley friendship and other wayward angles. I want to root for this show and the whimsy and world-building is always charming, but if they have to have this much filler, perhaps they should have started from the drawing board with this one. I’ll stick it out to the end.
Captain Fall (Netflix)-Although it’s flying under the radar, I’m not sure if any animated black comedy has come along that’s this black—or at least this murdery. Maybe Archer? Captain John Fall is the black sheep of his family and that’s an understatement. His parents don’t want him to appear at family parties because he’s such an embarrassment, and his brother is an inappropriate mooch of epic proportions. It doesn’t help that John is at the bottom of his class at the naval academy. However, failing upwards is as good of a way to succeed as any. An international cartel is seeking the dumbest possible captain to serve as a patsy for all the war crimes they wish to commit on international waters, so after the unfortunate murder of everyone at the employment referral agency, John lands himself a prestige position where the crew go to elaborate lengths to keep him and the passengers in the dark to all the atrocities they commit the following atrocities: Trafficking brides for an Arab billionaire, abducting humans for a human zoo, killing endangered animals for Viagara, facilitating arms deals, and sponsoring child soldiers. Pretty horrific, huh? What’s more, the crew alternatively seduces, befriends, and feeds the captain a continuous stream of false information to keep him under the illusion that he’s riding high. The ride is entertaining enough that we’re excited for the anticipation of what happens when this all comes crashing down.
Righteous Gemstones (HBO)-Having just watched and fallen in love with Danny McBride’s “Vice Principals”, there’s not as much of a tightness to the narrative here. One can miss almost any episode and not feel particularly lost. This is becoming a bit of a weakness in the third season. Even the religious satire – the key factor separating RG from McBride’s other two shows – isn’t particularly strong when the family’s descent from moral grace isn’t particularly defined. On the upside, Edi Patterson and Tim Baltz are given much more to do as a couple whose marriage is tested by an extra-marital affair. On the minus, there’s significantly less Baby Billy (Walton Goggins) and he has the most potential for an interesting storyline and the tongue-twister-based best running joke (Baby Billy's Bible Bonkers) I've enjoyed in a while. When you put each character’s arc on this show through a fine-toothed comb, there often isn’t anything that interesting going on with many of them. It’s not a knock on the character work of John Goodman, Adam Devine, or Danny McBride, but standing still will only get you so far.
What We Do in the Shadows (FX)-At times, “What We Do in the Shadows” is among the funniest things on TV, but oftentimes ambitious shows can go in directions that don’t take everyone along. One of the show’s serialized arcs over the third and fourth seasons saw Nandoor the Relentless get increasingly depressed and lonely. This infected the show with an unfortunate Debbie Downer vibe for me, but I get the sense that the feedback from many of the fans was successful. Besides, the last season offered the vampires engaging in a full-on commercial venture and the uncanny valley of Colin Robinson (an uncanny valley of a character) growing from toddler to unruly teenager before our very eyes. And Shawney! OK, I concede…there’s generally too much going on right with this show to tune out. But when the show starts off on the right foot, like Season 5, it’s a beautiful site to behold. By this, I mean forward movement: Guillermo is finally a vampire, Colin Robinson has discovered his own tribe, he and Evie are trying to bore the world (or rather, Staten Island, on an epic level).
Miracle Workers (HBO)-Simon Rich, the SNL writer, who penned “Man Seeking Woman”, has a way of writing absurdist historical fiction (and adjacent tropes) that has served him extremely well in this anthology series. In the original season (set in a Kafkaesque version of Heaven), The Middle Ages and Oregon Trail, Rich’s characters possessed a charming sense of anachronism as they went about their limited existences: Characters were either too loaded with blind optimism or too self-aware about bleak circumstances. While this is an anthology series with the same actors switching off roles each season, the general configuration through the first three seasons has been: 1) Steve Buscemi as the dumb optimist (despite being God himself at one point) 2) Geraldine Viswanathan as the cautious pragmatism, 3) Daniel Radcliffe being the most dynamic character that drives the plot 4) Various other actors (Lolly Adefope, Quinta Brunson, John Bass, Karan Soni, Peter Serafinowicz) fill out the cast as needed. In this version, things are askew as Geraldine Viswanathan is a warlord in an apocalyptic landscape, and Buscemi mostly plays a filler role as Daniel Radcliffe’s employer. The formula is off.
Mrs Davis (Peacock)-A nun goes to war against a practically omnipotent AI system with the help of an ex-boyfriend and Jesus in human form (a dude named Jay). This is an interesting world to kick around in. It’s also a plus if you’re a luddite myself and wish to vicariously live through a heroine kicking ass against thoughtless technological advancement. But it’s extremely dense and confusing. I’m sticking with it but, fair warning, this requires a lot of checking on the wikis for clarification.
