I read the Richard Russo novel "Straight Man" over 20 years ago. Something about it impressed me and I still remember some scenes. It led me to read several of his other novels. So I was interested to see how this series would treat the novel, its characters and tone. Now having watched all eight episodes, I'm impressed with the ambitious effort to take the rich Russo material and find a compelling balance of humor and drama. The pilot, "The Clock," and now "Chopping Block," stand out for how well written and directed they are, how ambitious and challenging the material is. The hour-long "explainer" following "Chopping Block" was effective in explaining the writers/producers' intent. If more people saw it, it might help "Lucky Hank" find an audience. But now I'm surprised how this quality effort hasn't gotten more support.
3 Reviews
An open ending
efd-1046716 May 2023
A real writers series, a good mixture of drama and comedy, with a lot of snappy clean dialogue, as always delivered with ease by Odenkirk.
The humour was what got me in and kept me watching, I found the drama while logical and adult, at times a bit dragged out, with a couple of episodes a little too much hard-work.
I didn't do my homework, so didn't realise that Ep. 8 was the S1 finale, so when an Ep. 9 never appeared I did have a feeling of 'is that it ?', so while it was rounded and a happy but not perfect ending, a few questions or issues remained standing.
I hope there is a S2 because overall it was a good adult piece of TV, very mature for modern times, with great writing and acting.
The humour was what got me in and kept me watching, I found the drama while logical and adult, at times a bit dragged out, with a couple of episodes a little too much hard-work.
I didn't do my homework, so didn't realise that Ep. 8 was the S1 finale, so when an Ep. 9 never appeared I did have a feeling of 'is that it ?', so while it was rounded and a happy but not perfect ending, a few questions or issues remained standing.
I hope there is a S2 because overall it was a good adult piece of TV, very mature for modern times, with great writing and acting.
Episode 8
bobcobb3015 May 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Lucky Hank has definitely been an uneven show from the beginning, but they ended on a positive note. You had an upbeat finish to the first season, while setting the stage for some trouble between Hank and Lily in a prospective season two.
They didn't give Julie much depth in the first season, but her scenes with Russell were simple and effective and felt like a throwback to an 80's sitcom of how young love had its highs and lows.
This show was far from perfect, but the pilot was good and the finale was good, just need to figure out how to fix the rest of the episodes in between those two ones.
They didn't give Julie much depth in the first season, but her scenes with Russell were simple and effective and felt like a throwback to an 80's sitcom of how young love had its highs and lows.
This show was far from perfect, but the pilot was good and the finale was good, just need to figure out how to fix the rest of the episodes in between those two ones.
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