I would give this a solid "4" of 10.
Strong points:
1. Hannibal Buress: He is a natural talent, yet he's background. Even while not having a lot of lines, I credit even just his presence for a lot of what actual flow there was to the show. Even the bits where he was off center, interrupting, etc, had a very natural comedic flow to them. For my money, going in I think he's without a doubt the show's strongest asset.
2. Guests: Sort of continuing on the "celebrity impersonator" type line that T&E and Brule worked so well, the guest spots on the show are another strong point. They flow well, they're genuinely funny and not forced like some of the show seems/feels to me. And even some non-impersonators apparently (Dolph!), like Space Ghost before it, they did an excellent job of cutting those interviews for optimal comedic effect, while still fitting the to the show's "seat of your pants" momentum.
Weak Points:
1. Jussst when I'm getting kinda tired of Loiter Squad, Eric Andre Show is here to do EXACTLY the same thing. I'm not sure why Adult Swim tends to do this, but they often will develop similar shows on the same slate. They didn't always do that, but seems kind of a theme the last few years. I remember we had a batch of Super Hero type shows all in development at the same time (most of which didn't make it to air). The new batch of pilots seems to have almost all "Family" comedies (comedies about families). And then we have right now, Brule, Loiter Squad and Eric Andre, all somewhat similar, all having debut episodes overlapping or in the general vacinity of one another.
So - the stunts I'm just - like now with Loiter Squad and Eric Andre both, the stunts are like a waiting game for me. I'm only present to see what's next. I mean, I get it. Somebody pops out of a trash can and the victim is A: mad or B: tries not to react. Somebody plops down next to the victim and touches their hand and the victim is A: mad or B: tries not to react. Guy does thing X and victim is A: mad or B: tries not to react.
Sooo - what's next? How much time we gotta spend on these stunts? How many shows do we need devoted to this stuff?
Wondershowzen is the only show that really had it down to an art. Well and Triumph, but that's not really a show, more like a bit within a show.
I guess, we've seen it done well so now we can see it half-assed by people who think it's edgy even though it's pretty much a predicatable exercise and pretty much the same thing every time no matter what the stunt is?
2. Eric Andre: He seems to have some great ideas, but he's just not an actor. The spontaneous stuff all played for me like "take one" "take two" etc. Just sort of wooden exercises in playing out what's on the page, or some kernel of an idea. The random destructive clips were a great idea, but they didn't play for me like they had any life of their own. They played out like a checklist of stuff that Eric had to do because it was written down or something like that.
He seems to be executing a series of ideas rather than breathing actual life into his own stuff.
I think the show could be great, we'll see what Andre's learning curve is, or if people latch onto it, maybe Loiter Squad and Brule will help it, maybe they'll hurt it, dunno.
Speaking personally, the one thing they could probably do to most improve the show is for Eric Andre himself to consider that notion of playing out a list of ideas vs breathing actual life into those ideas. Because I think that's the show's biggest shortcoming at the moment. He doesn't seem as natural or comfortable in the role of performer/executor as he does in the role of architect. And yes, the show is supposed to play a little deadpan obviously. But that's not the vibe I'm talking about. More like - when he's jumping through a wall, I don't see a crazy man jumping through a wall, I see a guy trying to jump through a wall because that's what the scene requires.
There's a big difference, albeit subtle between the two things. I don't think Eric Andre quite has that down yet. And I'm not saying he's not trying either, or half assing it or something. Just that this is what I'm seeing when I watch him in this show.
I'm not sure what, if any, effect that will have on the general audience. We'll see.
The parts I like, I really really like. So I'm hoping the show can rise more to that level more consistently as it progresses.
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