A program that follows a couple who must navigate the exhilarations and humiliations of intimacy, commitment and other things they were hoping to avoid.
Sam, an 18-year-old on the autism spectrum, decides it's time to find a girlfriend, a journey that sets Sam's mom on her own life-changing path as her son seeks more independence.
Stars:
Jennifer Jason Leigh,
Keir Gilchrist,
Brigette Lundy-Paine
Sophia, a misfit, discovers a passion for fashion, becoming an unlikely businesswoman in the process. As her business grows, however, she has to learn to cope with life as her own boss. This show is loosely based on the true story of Nasty Gal Founder, Sophia Amoruso.
Stars:
Britt Robertson,
Ellie Reed,
Johnny Simmons
James is 17 and is pretty sure he is a psychopath. Alyssa, also 17, is the cool and moody new girl at school. The pair make a connection and she persuades him to embark on a road trip in search of her real father.
Based in Atlanta, Earn and his cousin Alfred try to make their way in the world through the rap scene. Along the way they come face to face with social and economic issues touching on race, relationships, poverty, status, and parenthood.
Stars:
Donald Glover,
Brian Tyree Henry,
LaKeith Stanfield
A program that follows a couple who must navigate the exhilarations and humiliations of intimacy, commitment and other things they were hoping to avoid.
Created by Paul Rust, Lesley Arfin and Judd Apatow, "Love" is a romantic comedy series that is way less pretentious and quirky than its title suggests. After a very bad day Mickey (Gillian Jacobs) meets Gus (Paul Rust) at their local grocery store after he paid her coffee, as she had no money with her. "Love" is the story of the two of them trying to figure out their very messy lives whilst feeling a connection for each other after that first quirky, yet sweat day together.
After "Freaks and Geeks" and "Undeclared", Judd Apatow has another brilliant series to add to his resume and it is so wonderful that he can finally get to do a second season as both of his shows were canceled after their first run and they are all so deserving of further character work.
This is the third time I find myself reviewing a show by Apatow in less than two months and it feels kind of repetitive by now because the reason this show succeeds is exactly the same why his others do: treating the characters with affection and love and making them develop in a constantly poignant and relatable way, whilst never loosing a sense of fun and love for life which lights up the screen with the usual, non-stop laughs that constantly carry forward the storytelling in an effort of combination between comedy and story that is both perfect and extremely rare to find.
The writers populate this show with such distinguishable and unique characters it never feels we have to stop and halt the story to get a gag and some laughs out of it. They integrate every person organically and whilst it is clear that almost every side character is playing off a stereotype they always get away with it, both because of great self-consciousness and because of genuine story beats where all of the people are handed turns that ground them in reality. So whenever the comedy come out, it gradually builds and releases flowing naturally with story. It is such a difficult thing to pull off, but Apatow has demonstrated throughout all of his career to have a natural instinct for playing to stereotypes, reversing them, mocking them, using them correctly to understand a character instantaneously and ultimately delivering the laughs without ever feeling slightly offensive nor looking down at these characters.
Now the show's merits don't end simply on comedy value, actually comedy might be secondary to what is the primary focus of the writers which is the relationship between Mickey and Gus, a great opportunity to look at blossoming relationships, the complications of dating and trying to make someone else like you, but most of all looking at two different types of broken individuals (one admittedly more than the other) and the challenges they face in their every day lives which aren't by any mean romanticized and instead ring so true and bittersweet.
I think this series gave me a crush on Gillian Jacobs: she brings to life Mickey in all of her off beat charisma and humanity and she is for sure the character whom I most related to, but also the one that had the most interesting arch. There are many, many points in the show where Mickey takes decisions that aren't necessarily understandable looking from the outside-in, but Jacobs grounds her so much, she strips away any filters and gives this incredibly human performance that manages to make us us stick with her even when she repeatedly makes the wrong choices. Paul Rust isn't any less interesting, his struggles are very different from Mickey's and it makes for a very fresh dynamic throughout the show. Gus is painted as a very coherent character and the perfect "Apatowian" under-dog who has become a staple of the years still never loosing his fascination with audiences thanks to an always original take on said dynamic.
Does the show have flaws? Yes, it is occasionally a little too exuberant and the approach to some characters might be considered simplistic or rushed at times, but on such a low budget it is extremely impressive to look at quality of storytelling and character development we are handed in five hours of content that pass by in the blink of an eye. Another gem of joy from Apatow.
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Created by Paul Rust, Lesley Arfin and Judd Apatow, "Love" is a romantic comedy series that is way less pretentious and quirky than its title suggests. After a very bad day Mickey (Gillian Jacobs) meets Gus (Paul Rust) at their local grocery store after he paid her coffee, as she had no money with her. "Love" is the story of the two of them trying to figure out their very messy lives whilst feeling a connection for each other after that first quirky, yet sweat day together.
After "Freaks and Geeks" and "Undeclared", Judd Apatow has another brilliant series to add to his resume and it is so wonderful that he can finally get to do a second season as both of his shows were canceled after their first run and they are all so deserving of further character work.
This is the third time I find myself reviewing a show by Apatow in less than two months and it feels kind of repetitive by now because the reason this show succeeds is exactly the same why his others do: treating the characters with affection and love and making them develop in a constantly poignant and relatable way, whilst never loosing a sense of fun and love for life which lights up the screen with the usual, non-stop laughs that constantly carry forward the storytelling in an effort of combination between comedy and story that is both perfect and extremely rare to find.
The writers populate this show with such distinguishable and unique characters it never feels we have to stop and halt the story to get a gag and some laughs out of it. They integrate every person organically and whilst it is clear that almost every side character is playing off a stereotype they always get away with it, both because of great self-consciousness and because of genuine story beats where all of the people are handed turns that ground them in reality. So whenever the comedy come out, it gradually builds and releases flowing naturally with story. It is such a difficult thing to pull off, but Apatow has demonstrated throughout all of his career to have a natural instinct for playing to stereotypes, reversing them, mocking them, using them correctly to understand a character instantaneously and ultimately delivering the laughs without ever feeling slightly offensive nor looking down at these characters.
Now the show's merits don't end simply on comedy value, actually comedy might be secondary to what is the primary focus of the writers which is the relationship between Mickey and Gus, a great opportunity to look at blossoming relationships, the complications of dating and trying to make someone else like you, but most of all looking at two different types of broken individuals (one admittedly more than the other) and the challenges they face in their every day lives which aren't by any mean romanticized and instead ring so true and bittersweet.
I think this series gave me a crush on Gillian Jacobs: she brings to life Mickey in all of her off beat charisma and humanity and she is for sure the character whom I most related to, but also the one that had the most interesting arch. There are many, many points in the show where Mickey takes decisions that aren't necessarily understandable looking from the outside-in, but Jacobs grounds her so much, she strips away any filters and gives this incredibly human performance that manages to make us us stick with her even when she repeatedly makes the wrong choices. Paul Rust isn't any less interesting, his struggles are very different from Mickey's and it makes for a very fresh dynamic throughout the show. Gus is painted as a very coherent character and the perfect "Apatowian" under-dog who has become a staple of the years still never loosing his fascination with audiences thanks to an always original take on said dynamic.
Does the show have flaws? Yes, it is occasionally a little too exuberant and the approach to some characters might be considered simplistic or rushed at times, but on such a low budget it is extremely impressive to look at quality of storytelling and character development we are handed in five hours of content that pass by in the blink of an eye. Another gem of joy from Apatow.