Did HBO sell this primarily based on the perceived strength of the creative team and some of the signed stars?
Given the results, that's my guess.
I'm not a fan of Lena Dunham, or Girls. Imo, she has a tendency to write unlikable narcissists and her humor often falls flat.
The draw for me was the rare-ish chance to see David Tennant in a comedy series.
Luckily, his was one of two adult characters in the series-along with Bridget Everett as Harry the proprietor-who was three dimensional. Poignant, wry, interesting; their scenes together were some of the best in Camping.
Juliette Lewis as Jandice did a good job with what she had to work with, but that was the problem. Too much lousy writing and caricature over character. The fact that the other campers largely gushed over Jandice's circular cliches just proved what a vapid bunch we had.
Maybe a more nuanced actor with physical comedy skills and timing could've mined some gems with Jennifer Garner's Kathryn (as Tennant and Everett did) but her overacting and surgically pinched face didn't help.
The Carleen episode and birthday party alone (also, the last minute and the other camp's reaction to Kathryn) were pretty priceless.
Given the results, that's my guess.
I'm not a fan of Lena Dunham, or Girls. Imo, she has a tendency to write unlikable narcissists and her humor often falls flat.
The draw for me was the rare-ish chance to see David Tennant in a comedy series.
Luckily, his was one of two adult characters in the series-along with Bridget Everett as Harry the proprietor-who was three dimensional. Poignant, wry, interesting; their scenes together were some of the best in Camping.
Juliette Lewis as Jandice did a good job with what she had to work with, but that was the problem. Too much lousy writing and caricature over character. The fact that the other campers largely gushed over Jandice's circular cliches just proved what a vapid bunch we had.
Maybe a more nuanced actor with physical comedy skills and timing could've mined some gems with Jennifer Garner's Kathryn (as Tennant and Everett did) but her overacting and surgically pinched face didn't help.
The Carleen episode and birthday party alone (also, the last minute and the other camp's reaction to Kathryn) were pretty priceless.