Aggressive silliness

Usually not my thing.  In fact, essentially the opposite of my thing (passive sullenness?).  I am simply incapable of sharing the widespread enjoyment of entertainments like Wes Anderson movies or sitcoms like Schitt’s Creek, unless imbued (as with John Oliver for example, or GLOW for another) with substance and purpose.  But for the past couple of weeks, I’ve been reveling in two goofy tv shows from decades past, escapist entertainments with a certain sauce that makes them delectable to me.  I reviewed both after a generous sampling, but have returned following the full repast, to append further remarks.
 
I expected the frantic DayGlo charm of Pushing Daisies (MC-86, HBO) to wear off, but I was surprised to find myself bingeing all 22 pie-laden episodes, from two seasons (2007-09) truncated by the writers’ strike.  Maybe I miss some things by paying no attention to major network shows, but every once in a while a winner comes into my purview.  This ABC series got a fair amount of appreciation and numerous Emmy nominations in its brief span.  Wikipedia describes it succinctly as a “forensic fairytale,” known for “its unusual visual style, eccentric production design, quirky characters, fast-paced dialogue, and grotesque situations,” often using “wordplay, metaphor, and double entendre.”  Stop for a minute and the show makes no sense at all, but it moves so fast there’s no stopping.  All the characters are finely-etched caricatures and the whole has an in-your-face quality that some might find off-putting, but I found engaging and hilarious.  Among the lead characters Lee Pace as the Pie-Maker was the only familiar face to me (as the Don Draper-ish star of Halt & Catch Fire), but each of the others has had an extensive professional career.  Anna Friel, as the Pie-Maker’s crush called “Chuck,” is British, though you’d never know it, with a theatrical background.  Chi McBride, as the sardonic but good-hearted P.I., has been in dozens of shows that I have never seen.  Likewise with Kristin Chenoweth, as the Pie Hole waitress pining for her boss; her Broadway musical background figures in several episodes.  But that all makes sense, since it requires a lot of training and experience to believably deliver dialogue at the pace (no pun intended) they are required to by the unrelentingly rapid-fire script.  The show’s relatively short run is probably a blessing; they were likely to run out of gas and push their already overextended boundaries.  Not for everybody, to be sure, but worth a sampling for anyone with a taste for verbal and visual wit.
 
On the other hand, it’s hard for me to imagine anybody not liking Freaks and Geeks (MC-88, Hulu).  Upon reviewing, the NBC one-season wonder cemented its position amid the pantheon of my favorite tv shows of all time.  This Paul Feig and Judd Apatow creation is the missing link between Happy Days and Pen15, the point at which this high-school shit got real.  Excruciatingly funny and truthful, delivered by an outstanding cast destined for great things, this show holds up after more than twenty years, which is roughly the time between its making (1999) and its setting (1980).  Some things about the teenage years are perpetual and universal, and this show nails them.  It’s a lesson in something or other, possibly criminal negligence, that this show was canceled after 12 episodes, leaving 6 in the can, only to be released elsewhere later.  But the 18 existing 44-minute episodes are a multi-course feast as is – complete, tasty, and filling (despite the spit-takes).  Don’t miss it.
 
[As of now, I have updated previous post with a review of the much-awaited Nomadland, and will continue to add new important new releases as soon as they become available for streaming.]