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| Left to right: Jay Baruchel and Eric Andre |
Welcome to a new column called Channel Surfing, in which I sporadically look at current TV shows and talk about them. These are not ones that I care to write weekly recaps for and are instead reflections either on the episode, the series, or particular moments. This will hopefully help to share personal opinions as well as discover entertainment on the outer pantheon that I feel is well worth checking out, or in some cases, shows that are weird enough to talk about, but should never be seen.
One of the biggest achievements for the FXX Channel has been managing to find a way to become relevant. Upon launching last year, it took several of FX's finest comedies and managed to get very low numbers, largely thanks to lack of promotion. With The Simpsons marathon last summer, their ratings have greatly improved and they are ready to take on their first original program: Man Seeking Woman. Being paired with It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia's 10th season, it is the latest dating comedy that also features Jay Baruchel returning to TV after gaining recognition with films such as This Is The End and the How to Train Your Dragon series. Much like his inability to become a household name, his style doesn't mesh well with everything else on TV.
This isn't a bad thing at all. In fact, one of the charms of FX's brand has been pushing comedy that's against more familiar norms brought on by other channels. With last year's great You're the Worst, it dissected the romantic comedy in the most brilliantly toxic way possible. Now is the next step. It's time to apply a surreal gloss to the romance and make the down on his luck hero Josh Greenberg (Baruchel) strike out with some of the strangest scenarios put to screen. This isn't your typical bad girl tropes. This is taking bad dating stories to new heights by applying a deeper, more complex and creative twist that for better or worse exists in the first episode with some jarring sensibilities.
This is most evident in the elements at play. For starters, Josh's world isn't entirely familiar with the real one. As he breaks up with his girlfriend in the inciting incident for the series, he has a storm cloud that comes over his head, bludgeoning birds by accident. Add in stories about dating an actual troll from Scandinavia and attending a party with an elderly Adolf Hitler, things become more clear. These are more broad concepts being used to throw random jokes out and see what sticks. If nothing else, credit must be given for making something that's wholly original and taking the sitcom medium into a more visual landscape.
The move itself is interesting considering that the average sitcom has evolved to more of a dialogue medium in which everything is done through words. Any big set piece is usually a physical gag that doesn't really rely on too much suspension of disbelief. If nothing else, this makes Man Seeking Woman already inherently more interesting and dated in ways that were more popular in the time of the Farrelly Brothers and Tom Green. Even then, Baruchel seems too bashful to really ever place the visual eccentricities too much for cringe-inducing humor. Instead, it has heart and plenty of dignity for its main character.
Of course, the appeal of the show isn't so much the premise, which is likely to go to some unpleasant territories due to its nature. It is more the about his performance and the dignity that surrounds his character. It is likely to exist in a dreamlike state that won't entirely make sense, but it serves as an entry point for redefining how a comedy series addresses romance. Even in the final segment of the episode, Josh manages to become a triumphant hero simply for bringing someone how. If the best repurposing of Hitler jokes doesn't appeal to you, then this show probably won't tickle your funny bone. However, it comes out strong enough to give hope that this show isn't just about love, but conquering a world that doesn't make sense through the eyes of a man just wanting to belong.
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