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Videos: Do Yourself A Favor & Watch The Hilarious First Season Of <em>Review</em>
By
Ben Yakas
Published Apr 27, 2014
Modified Apr 28, 2014
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Apr 27, 2014
Modified Apr 28, 2014
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Comedy Central has been absolutely killing it with their original programming lately, including brilliant sketch comedians Key And Peele, the surreal shenanigans of Broad City, reality show-aping The Kroll Show, and "sneakily feminist" Inside Amy Schumer. Most of those shows have been able to develop an audience along with a heaping of critical praise. But one of the gems of Comedy Central's recent lineup, Review, has been mostly flying under the radar—and now is your chance to get in on one of the most hilarious programs of the year.
Review is a starring vehicle for longtime "oh hey, that guy!" comedian Andy Daly (whom you may recall from Eastbound and Down, MADtv, Semi-Pro, Delocated, or countless comedy podcasts). Daly, a NY native, plays Forrest MacNeil, a critic whose job is to review real life experiences on his program "Review With Forrest MacNeil." He's sent questions on the show-within-a-show asking what a divorce—or an orgy, or road rage, or eating an insane amount of pancakes—is like, and he sincerely (and profoundly) tries to review each experience on a scale of one-half to five stars (there is no such thing as zero stars).
That premise alone could be enough to make a funny show—but Review gets even better, and much darker, as the season goes along, and you begin to see how MacNeil's devotion to his job (extreme criticism) is encroaching upon his "real" life, and that of his family, friends and neighbors. Daly, almost always clad in beige khakis, channels the milquetoast, puppy-like enthusiasm he's known for and twists it ever so slightly until the show becomes a recurring dark night of the soul (albeit, a gut-busting one).
In the third episode, that manifests as an existential crisis which culminates in a glorious, painful, pancake binge; in episode four, it involves meeting a lawyer while dressed as Batman; and in episode seven, it revolves around the phrase "there all is aching," which makes for one of the funniest things I've seen all year.
And Daly is mostly able to play all this without losing his affable demeanor. As The AV Club put it, "Forrest’s story is one of those damnably common vocational irony narratives—he’s reviewing life, but he’s not really living it—but the goofy gung-ho spirit Daly gives the character (and the heights of insanity that spirit takes him to) hurdle over cliché."
In anticipation of the ninth and final episode of the first season this Thursday, Comedy Central has made the first eight episodes of the show available to watch online. We've embedded them all below for your viewing pleasure. In addition, we recommend reading an interview with Forrest (in character) here, and watching an interview with Daly here.
Episode 1: "Stealing; Addiction; Prom"
Episode 2: "Making a Sex Tape; Being a Racist; Hunting"
Episode 3: "Pancakes; Divorce; Pancakes"
Episode 4: "Sleeping with a Celebrity; Being Batman"
Episode 5: "Having a Best Friend; Going to Space"
Episode 6: "Road Rage; Orgy"
Episode 7: "Revenge; Getting Rich; Aching"
Episode 8: "Marry; Run; Party"
Tagged
andy daly
comedy central
review
television
tv
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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