Advertisement

Why 'Review' Needs to Be On Your Radar

Imagine an alternate reality in which Michael Scott, the well-intentioned but endlessly bumbling boss in The Office, really did catch a big break from Hollywood. But instead of starring as Michael Scarn in a Diehard-esque action film, Scott is made the focus of a reality television show that takes its cues from viewers, who have no regard for his life. It sounds insane, and incredibly, it actually exists: Comedy Central’s Review, which stars Andy Daly as a Scott-like TV host, begins its second season on Wednesday night.

Review was one of last summer’s best new shows, and also one of the most unique: While it’s a reality TV parody, satire is not its aim. Daly plays Forrest MacNeil, an optimistic host who reviews life itself by diving headfirst into the challenges presented by “viewers” at home, which range from having an orgy to attending prom. He’s too enthusiastic, doing absolutely whatever it takes to complete his task, blowing past all boundaries of appropriate decorum. His lack of social awareness only digs him into deeper holes, creating the sort of insane scenes that would seem absurd and unearned anywhere else.

Like Michael Scott, Forrest tries his best and is ultimately well intentioned, no matter how stupid he acts and how many people he hurts. We’re able to empathize with the moron, but not so much that we don’t take glee in his many failures. It’s the best of both worlds, like having a friend who doesn’t mind if you laugh when he trips or gets punched in the face or suffers a crippling illness.

But what really makes Review work is the fact that, unlike most of the recent Comedy Central shows — Inside Amy Schumer, Broad City, Key & Peele — is that Review is serialized, thus upping the ante (and batshit craziness) for every episode. Forrest begins the show as a happily married father, but his hosting duties require him to go through a divorce — and when the split sticks, it leads to a continuing calamity of personal disasters.

By the season’s fifth episode (there are eight), Forrest has lost custody of his children, gone through cocaine addiction, made a sex tape, and screamed the n-word in his black neighbor Gene’s face… who he has to now try to convert into his best friend thanks to a challenge from a viewer. He dives into it headfirst, inviting himself over to Gene’s house and following him constantly. It turns into a competition with Gene’s real best friend, Carlos, who then begins going after Forrest’s ex-wife, Suzanne (Jessica St. Clair).

This is just the set-up for what is one of the funniest sequences of the show’s first season.

Forrest gets challenged to review the experience of space travel, and even that he can turn into a desperate attempt to get Suzanne back. He signs up for one of those consumer break-the-earth’s-atmosphere flights — think Elon Musk’s Space-X — and invites his former father-in-law along, which means that we get to see Fred Willard blast off in a rocket and curse fictional Soviet Cosmonauts. Two key clips to give you the idea:

And shortly thereafter:

I won’t spoil what happens next, but between a self-effacing guest appearance from a Lance Bass slathered in brand endorsements and a tragic seatbelt mistake, there hasn’t been a funnier climactic scene in a long, long time.

Not every episode can reach these heights, but with an ongoing story and no apprehension whatsoever in abusing its main character beyond the limits of humanity, there’s no reason that Review won’t continue to be worthy of five stars.

The second season of Review premieres Thursday, July 30 at 10 p.m. on Comedy Central.