O'BSERVATIONS - "MULANEY"

'Seinfeld' made its debut twenty-five years ago.  

I'll give you a minute to absorb that.

Recovered, have we?

When 'Seinfeld' started out, it took a little while for it to find its sea legs.  But I think once the show recast the role of Frank Costanza, swapping out John Randolph for Jerry Stiller, it was firing on all cylinders.  

'Mulaney' has the basic blueprint of 'Seinfeld' - a stand-up comedian basically playing "himself" and he hangs out with three friends.  Jane is the new version of Elaine (and even played by a former 'SNL' player), while the other two are variations on Kramer and George: Instead of living next door like Kramer, Motif is John Mulaney's room-mate.  And instead of being his childhood buddy like George, Andre the human Furby is his weed dealer.

 

Normally, I'd say that 'Mulaney' should be given the same opportunity to grow and find itself.  But it should be starting at the same level as 'Seinfeld' did when that series ended.  Didn't they learn anything from that series in the sixteen years since it went off the air?  They had nine seasons of comedy gold to study as their blueprint!

I have a Facebook friend named Joe Bua who had this to say about the pilot:

John Mulaney is going to have to become a much better actor if his show is going to work. I watched it twice. If these scenes with Martin Short are to work he's gotta bring his game up. Fingers crossed, I like his standup a lot and there are some great jokes in the pilot. Seaton Smith and Nasim Pedrad can carry him through their scenes but he's gotta hold more of your attention in those scenes with Short than he did in this episode.

And I have to agree.  

But at least 'Mulaney' contributed to the expansion of Toobworld with the TV show for which John Mulaney writes.  

'Celebrity You Guessed It' (I'm assuming there's a regular version of the show as well.) is hosted by Lou Cannon (played by Short), who is insanely popular with the ladies who watch daytime TV.  And we got to see a film clip of Dean Cain's televersion as part of that show.  Cain's participation in that quick bit added to his League of Themselves tally which also includes 'Living Single' and 'Don't Trust The Bitch In Apartment 23'.  This makes him eligible for eventual induction into the TV Crossover Hall of Fame.

Since Sundays are part of my "weekend", I'll probably continue to check this out.  But that's only while the CBS schedule is screwed up by football.  Right now I'm watching 'Madam Secretary' and 'The Good Wife' live because I can't trust recording it due to impossibility of the NFL games to end on time.  So I'm recording 'Masterpiece Mystery!' and 'Mulaney' to watch later.

It's not much of a recommendation but it's the best I can do at this time.  Hopefully the writing (and Mulaney's acting) will get sharper....

BCnU!