Delocated: A Series Retrospective

Jon Glaser

In the grand scheme of things, I kind of think that Jon Glaser is a funny character actor. Having appeared recently on shows like Parks and Recreation and Girls, I found his slimy sleazeball characters to be dripping with comedic genius. However, the one show that I never got around to watching was probably the one that helped launch his career: Delocated, in which he plays Jon, a man in the Witness Protection Program who just so happens to have a reality show all about him. Add in a ski mask and a voice modulator and you get the gist of the comedy. Sounds genius, right? Well, there's some problems that I had with the show's admittedly brief existence.

I will make a confession upfront. I tend to have an issue with any show associated with Adult Swim. True, there are a few that really strike a chord with me, say Children's Hosptial or NTSF: SD: SUV::. Even then, these shows are among a line-up of shows that rile in juvenile jokes, quick gags and somehow feel inessential even in a 15 minute time frame. Even Children's Hospital is a decent example of a show that somehow managed to be very good, but eventually ran out of ideas, turning out desperate episodes here and there. My problem with Adult Swim shows is not that they can't be good, but their premises tend to be so thin that eventually they run out of ideas.

Which brings me to Delocated. Add onto the fact that I find Glaser to be a funny guy, you have Eugene Mirman as the main villain. Talk about a solid line-up. As a Bob's Burgers fan, I do enjoy myself some Mirman, and to see him get a role as a Russian mobster who is also trying to be a comedian seemed like a great counterpoint to Glaser's role of a wild, insensitive man trying to take care of his family while also trying not to get killed by the Russians. In fact, Paul Rudd has a great cameo in the pilot episode in which he becomes first of a series of mistaken deaths, a running gag that I essentially enjoyed.

In fact, if you were to ask me upon completing the first season of Delocated, in which each episode was only 15 minutes, I would have said that there was no reason not to expand it to a full half hour show. It isn't necessarily that it got worse, but it didn't get better. It spent most of the time trying to get more outrageous and therefore feeling at times more desperate. True, there are some plots that I felt were deserving of that extra 15 minutes, but essentially, I felt like the show peaked early.

In the episode "Ska Mitzvah," Jon and his family decide to give his son David (Jacob Kogan) a bar mitzvah. Since he is really into ska, Jon hires a ska band to play. However, as the tension between father and son was prevalent before this, it only made for a really funny, yet awkward experience that peaked in one of the best moment of the series in which Jon gets rudely interrupted after dancing and becoming the center of attention:

It is an unfortunate sign that I felt like the show never topped. They created Jon as this ignorant father, and the dynamic worked. Even the crazy plots involving David's insistence on a sex change or when Jon's new girlfriend decided to become Yiddish to please him, this was an absurd universe. Even Jon opening the Bone Zone and taking a vow of silence seemed like great ideas. However, theoretically, I felt like these could have worked better in the show's shorter format.

This may largely be due to Yvgeny (Mirman) and his brother Sergei (Steve Cirbus), whose chemistry was more conflicted to stereotypes. Yvgeny is essentially a hack comedian who only makes jokes that involve a way to reference vodka. He is also trying to consistently earn Sergei's attention as he hangs out and plays games with Todd Barry. While it was ingenious at first that Yvgeny would have a competing reality show, the Russian stereotypes became a little too much for the show, almost to the point that it felt like they beefed up Todd Barry's role just to not make it seem like such a big deal.

Even then, I feel like the reality show aspect of things weren't constructed well enough to seem consistent. The show evolved into its own monster with Jon and his varying bodyguards and friends helping him out. The only real substance to it being in this genre was that Jon was consistently in discussion with the executives (Jerry Minor and Janeane Garofalllo) for varying projects. Now this form of breaking the third wall seems like ingenious plot making.

However, Jon was also a problematic character at times. He was very self involved and didn't care about his family. At 15 minutes, this wasn't an issue. At 30 minutes, this had more time to become fleshed out and the more that the family was seen together, the more it kind of fell apart. The show's ridiculous element didn't work because it started losing the grounding that was necessary. Instead, it turned into a pop culture referencing program. Almost each episode in the third season ended parodying some famous film or TV show, whether it was the Deer Hunter or the Sopranos. Admittedly, it was hit or miss, but it was a nice touch of a show that unfortunately became too self aware of itself.

Eugene Mirman

The show overall has plenty of entertaining moments, though it became an endurance test to make it to those. Sure, maybe it is a result of marathoning them, but certain plots were just stupid, including the "Dog Mayor" episode. However, in a brilliant move, the series managed to end on a very strong high by making one episode a reunion show that starts off subtly with clips, but takes a turn into a perverse kidnapping routine that builds up to the series finale, in which we get to see Jon's face, and almost everything is resolved.

The most that could be said about the show is that it wasn't afraid to just be wild. The show wasn't very kind when it came to deaths and Jon seemed to be consistently naked. While the Russian stereotypes tended to be an issue, it was nice to see Yvgeny when he was allowed to be funny and not just make a vodka joke. The show's evolution into this odd cat and mouse game involving TV executives was clever enough to keep the show interesting, even if the characters didn't quite fit the 30 minute mold that well. I probably would be rating this higher if it wasn't as long. However, as the final few episodes suggest, maybe they had some good ideas after all.

Overall, Delocated is a solid Adult Swim show that kind of knew when to quit, if just because everyone involved kept getting busy with other projects. It may have lost some endearment over time, but it was too bizarre not to be applauded. The Russians may have been too reliant on cheap gags, but on the bright side, they could have been worse. It was nice seeing Todd Barry get a bigger role in the final season, and while Jon is equally problematic, when he is forced to be a normal character, he kind of works. This show isn't all that great, but definitely really good time filler.

Rating: 3 out of 5