I going to start right off by admitting this show isn't very funny. The comedy is forced. I think 'Crashing' should drop the pretense of itself being satire or observational humor. I think it's closer to a drama than anything.
I'm not a huge fan of the urban-fantasy of suburbia life. It's tired and overused; People have been watching these same jokes since 'Saturday Night Live' first started. That old "everything looks perfect on the outside, but you just know it's f'd up on the inside" ... I get that it's semi-autobiographical, but it's also a cliché. It's not funny. It's 1990's water-cooler talk, "Mr. Suburbanite with his 9-5 job has a dissatisfied wife at home who's banging some dirty hippie." Yawn. Drop that shtick.
What is likable about 'Crashing' is the interactions and dialogue.
A. Pete riding the train (with that miserable look on his face) and he opens up to the kids sitting around him.
B. I loved his conversations with Artie and I could care less about Artie Lange. What made me enjoy the two of them together was the feeling that they've probably had these conversations IRL.
C. The competition between struggling comedians where they'll kick you when you're down. I want more of that.
It felt REAL. It felt HONEST. It held my attention. Everyone has something crappy going on, you don't need to shove it down our throats for people to get it.
While Pete's robotic stature & confused face doesn't offer much of a performance; 'Crashing' itself is well-acted. As I stated before, the dialogue feels like it really happened. The puns and jokes make up for some background filler, but keep the focus grounded and on the drama. Stop forcing jokes as if the audience were ignorant and allow the humor to come more naturally.
Mind you, I am 1 episode in and I'm sticking around for the next episode. The inclusion of guest stars is the biggest push here.
