When it comes to Comedy on television, people seem to flock back to classics like Friends or Seinfeld. Before Netflix took over the industry, HBO held the standard for one of the greatest ways to watch new shows. They have proven time and time again that their content is of the highest value. For the most part, every time I start a new show distributed by HBO, I find myself hooked and eager to see more. Recently concluded, I discovered the show Silicon Valley about a year ago and it rapidly became one of my favourite shows. Here's why, if you haven't had the chance to watch it, you absolutely should.
Silicon Valley is pretty much an R-Rated, raunchy version of the film The Social Network. The series follows Richard Hendricks and his group of intelligent friends, as they develop a new company in Pied Piper. With the name of the company being the butt of many jokes itself, this series sets itself up to make you laugh right off the bat. The story does dive deep into the technology world and becomes interesting and frustratingly honest as the series progresses, but if it wasn't for how great this entire cast was, it wouldn't have been as entertaining.
Thomas Middleditch as Richard feels very reminiscent of Jesse Eisenberg's iteration of Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network, which also happens to be one of my favourite films of all time, so it was kind of hard for me to dislike. Kumail Nanjiani, Martin Starr, and Zach Woods all steal the show on multiple occasions, but the highlight of the entire series for me came with the character of Nelson Bighetti (Big Head). Without ruining it for anyone, he is a character who is as dumb as a brick and he knows it, but somehow becomes more successful than anyone else in the series. Everything just kind of falls into his lap and there were times where I was laughing with this character to no end. Silicon Valley features one of my favourite supporting characters of all time in 'Big Head'.
There are a few jarring moments when some of the seasons begin and end, simply due to the fact that this show had to deal with some behind-the-scenes drama on multiple occasions. From a main supporting actor in the first season passing away in real life to needing to write T.J. Miller off the show when his character was the reason any of these guys had a place to work in the first place, I was rolling my eyes a couple of times, admittedly. Other than the odd choices they made to work around these elements, this is one of the greatest Comedy-based television shows I've seen in a very long time.
In the end, Silicon Valley is a very smart, yet hilarious series that never overstays its welcome. Although still great, you could feel it losing steam somewhere between season four and five, so it felt natural when a sixth season, consisting of just seven episodes, wrapped everything up. This show also has a very surprising finale that I had to applaud them for. With the way this show progresses, I never would've expected it to end the way that it did, but I got a kick out of it and it felt fresh. Overall, aside from a few bumps in the road in terms of production, this is easily one of my favourite shows. Through all its dryness and sarcasm, Silicon Valley is not one to miss. Coming to an end just a few months ago, the full series is now available.
