Super Pumped

I see a lot of people comparing this to The Social Network & Wolf of Wall Street...you know, 2 of the best movies of the 21st century, directed by one of the best directors (Fincher/Scorsese) alive, written by one of the most accomplished screenwriters of our time (Sorkin/Winter), with one of the best scores/soundtracks (Reznor & Ross/standard Scorsese), and great actors in pretty much every role in the movie. Besides maybe Succession & Better Call Saul, what else currently on TV can even be mentioned in the same sentence as The Social Network or Wolf of Wall Street? I guess maybe Atlanta but even that isn't to the same level.

Super Pumped is a fun show about the pretty crazy story of Uber's genesis. I thought they were taking a lot of liberties with the story but besides JGL's portrayal of Travis, it shocked me how much of this actually happened, even scene for scene recreations of certain events. Unlike The Dropout & WeCrashed, which are slightly better shows, this one seems to be sticking to the facts a little more closely when it comes to plot.

I can see why this show isn't for everyone, it's not supposed to be some serious meditation on Kalanick or some cinematic masterpiece like TSN or an Oscar winner packed drama-comedy like WofWS...it's a very specific look at what things were like at Uber, testosterone fueled fast paced corrupt etc and the show reflects that. The pacing is excellent as is the analog synth score. There's a really great cast involved (JGL interestingly is probably the worst part since he's nothing like Kalanick but even he grew on me) and the show is undeniably fun. The show is narrated by an uncensored Quinten Tarantino which I think also tells you more than I could with further description. Those are actually some of my least fav parts of the show but they set the tone perfectly.

I would recommend this show for anyone who is interested in Uber's history and likes a fun fast paced show. This is by the "Billions" guys and the tone is exactly the same. Just like Billions once you get used to the style there's some great stuff in there. Who this isn't for is anyone looking for a more documentary take or even a serious dramatic take on Uber (although the irony is that this is more accurate than TSN or WofWS was by far) but rather a fun retelling of a wild story. I have pretty discerning taste when it comes to TV and I thoroughly enjoy watching this show so I would say at least give it a try...especially since the first episode was the least interesting imo.

Super Pumped is a limited series on Showtime based on the true events for the battle for Uber. The story centers around the cofounder Travis Kalenick who is played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt thru all the ups and downs the start up withstood against the public, their employees, politically and to their drivers. The story was intriguing from the start with narration from Quentin Tarantino. I never knew Ariana Huffington was on the board for Uber and she was played by Uma Thurman. Kyle Chandler acted as Bill Gurley who was initially invested in the company and tried to control Travis and his egocentric management style. Half the time I am rooting for him and there are times I was expecting the company to fail. Bill Howe and Elizabeth Shue played Travis's parents. Travis was such a momma's boy, every time he was battling and losing he would cry to either his mom or to Huffington. Damon Gupton (David Drummond) and Chelcie Ross (David Borderman) we're also added to the board of directors and all the members eventually ousted Travis from his own company. Ben Feldman acted as Larry Page along with David Krumholtz as Sergei Brin the co-creator of Google. There were plenty of good actors with small roles from Fred Armisen, Bill Harper as Eric Holder, John Michael Higgins, and Hank Azaria as Tim Cook. Mark Cuban had a cameo playing himself. Overall great series that is better than Billions and definitely learned a few things along the way. Definitely check it out, very entertaining and never boring.

You just wanna see this cocky a-hole fail.

And the history of Uber is interesting in itself.

Pretty good characters and environments.

Mark Cuban from Shark Tank makes a cameo.

The show is so in your face you want to binge it!

If you're interested in Uber and it's CEO, then you are. If you're not, you're not.

That's basically what this comes down to. Joseph Gordon Levitt is JGL, he's fantastic. The acting is great, etc.

The script is good, the story is .. well, again, "good" if you're into it and "not good" if you're not. I didn't know much about Uber and the crap that the Uber CEO pulled, went through, etc. So, I found this show quite entertaining! It's a hollywood version of the events that went down with him leaving the company he, for the most part, built.

But, in the end, it's a very entertaining watch IF you are interested in this story. Everything (the script, acting, story, etc) is great if you are. If you want to watch a 7 episode story about Uber as a startup until 2017 when Travis Kalanick left, then you're the prime audience. If you don't give a rats a$$ then....

I enjoyed it even though I didn't give a rats a$$ about the CEO.

I worked for several Silicon Valley start ups 25 to 30 years ago when the Valley was in its hey day. It's the reason I started my own company - I could no longer stand to work for domineering egotistical management. Super Pumped is a bit over the top in some ways but also an accurate depiction of today's tech start ups. People need to understand the mentality of these 'disruptive' genius's. Guys like Larry Ellison (founder of Oracle) was very much like the Uber founder - a ton of hype and in the end very successful but he did many under-handed things to get there (like shipping blank installation disks in the 90's because the product wasn't ready for prime time despite Ellison saying it was, plus Oracle's misleading and deceptive sales and ads).

Travis Kalanick is what Silicon Valley is today what Larry Ellison was 30 years ago. I do remember Uber going through terrible growing pains and they had to deal with hypocrites and corruption in local governments. I also vividly remember when NYC banned Uber for a short time until locals and businesses fought back against DiBlasio. I did a lot of business in NYC and can verify that the cabs at that time (10 years ago) were God awful. Nobody, and I mean NOBODY, had sympathy for them and their broken down beat up unsafe cars and bad attitude cabbies. They overcharged and cabbies were blatantly dishonest. I started using Uber the moment it was available. Uber was a breath of fresh air at the time. However, today Uber has lost its luster imo due to inconsistent rates, unhappy drivers and surge pricing that customers despise. This limited Showtime series accurately depicts Uber's fight for relevancy. I specifically remember their 'Grayball' tactics on the West coast. Everyone was rooting for them at that time and they were very creative in getting around the rules until city after city finally accepted them. I have 2 beefs with this series: 1. Kyle Chandler plays the same role he plays in everything he does. He's ok in this series but not great imo.

2. I enjoy JGL as the Uber CEO/founder but it is highly dramatized and does have that Billions feel to it. He's good though in the role he's playing.

Overall it's a good watch and a *relatively* accurate depiction of Uber's struggle (and continued struggle) for profitability. It's stock price today is about half of the $45 IPO when it went public in 2019. It's been a terrible investment for shareholders. It's a business that burns through tons cash due to the high variable costs of scaling the business to meet demand. This series accurately depicts Uber's struggles and the ego's that get in the way of success.