Aziz Ansari's 'Master of None' on Netflix

which one is that? of the first five, only the multi-first-date ep had any flair or laughs

Thanksgiving

Wareheim's character feels really forced and unnatural to me, compared to the naturalistic amiability of the rest of the cast. The first dates episode and the Bourdain parody were both p great imo, esp the former.

one thing I appreciate about this is that it's a comedy where the protagonist is not some mysanthrope w issues, it's a welcome reprieve from that angle

i feel like it goes well with aziz ansari's super-sunny face. that feels like a weird observation to make, but it's true.

loved the tinder episode
loved the pork/muslim parents episode, which is basically my life

thanksgiving episode is really moving and funny and complex

tinder episode is a good idea and mostly well executed but felt kind of like it was making a banal point in the end.

was it making a point?

i think i missed the point if so.

unless you mean the point that dating is hard. which, i guess is banal, but i love montages of dates. i would watch a whole movie that was just the sequence of bad dates in the beginning of kissing jessica stein, for example.

That came off harsher than I intended, since I liked the episode too. I just mean the endless circular purgatory of online dating seemed to be the "point" when I was hoping it would go somewhere more unexpected than the "whoops she's racist" conclusion.

that "mammy" condom jar sequence was insane and excellent

Why? Felt derivatively Seinfeldian to me.

p much everything about this show is derivative - there's a clear line from Woody Allen's peak period through Seinfeld and then Louie and now this (and there's probably a few more dots you could throw in to connect 'em all) - so while yeah this gag in retrospect is like a Seinfeld plot device but it didn't leap out to me as such. It was just unexpected (I certainly didn't see it coming) and it was funny w out being hamfisted.

I loved this then hated it by the s1 Nashville episode. This season is bad so far but I can't resist Aziz himself. That face and smile. He's certainly quite a singular character. Sympatico.

This actual show is a shitshow though. Fucking hell. Why am I talented and broke when this shit gets $$$?

this season is masterful, surprised you aren't are loving it more. it's so much more interesting and varied than the first season, also who would not be in love with that italian woman

I liked the Long Good Friday homage at the end of the Bourdain episode, very well done. This show has obvious antecedents but still feels fresher than anything else on TV right now

yeah I think this is p incredible apart from the ep 2 misstep. Just inventive and clever and oddly compassionate

was that bill murray in the audience of Jon Benjamin Has a Play?

I wonder what Bourdain thinks of Cannavale's impression, it seems p close to the bone

yeah, there were times where, vocally, CAnnavale sounded identical to Bourdain. I imagine he wouldn't be super happy about it IF there are rumors like this about him, which I haven't ever heard.

he did just get divorced but yeah I haven't read anything unsavory related to that

was that supposed to be a Bourdain impression? Cannavale played him a lot pushier and more aggressive than I've seen of Bourdain

it may just be a surface comparison but yeah I thought the vocal delivery especially (vocabulary, intonation, tics etc) was clearly modeled on Bourdain

both cannavale and bourdain are from north jersey, maybe that accounts for some vocal similarities?

I would say sure, some, but not all

I was just thinking an episode parodying Bourdain could be amusing, will have to see how it turned out, until I realized I had already watched this, and no, this did not come off anything like Bourdain whatsoever.

ok I'm glad it's not just me lol

it did come across very much like Cannavale and the other unhinged characters he's played on Boardwalk Empire or the horrific film Daddy's Home, which I watched the other day

still reminds me a lot of louie (which is a big complement)
w/ a bit less edge (which is fine)

this show is slightly more committed to jokes than Louie

louie should wake up one morning in aziz's body.
"oh daaaaaamn, I'm aziz!"
and then he should start binge eating.

i cant decide how much i do or dont like this. it has lots of annoying tics to me, esp w/r/t line readings & the way sometimes characters seem to just be articulating positions instead of being humans

also the italy sequence made me feel very jealous / poor (ive never been)

ummm but i dont know, i keep watching it & i dont even give other shit a shot

its also way way better than like "casual" which i feel actively annoyed by

it also has moments that seem genuinely interesting...i liked following around the taxi drivers

sometimes it seems very relatable (even something like the episode about islam & pork, which i don't at all relate to on a surface level, i can 'relate' to from the dynamic of family & tradition & orthodoxy & empathy, the general dyanmic) and other times it seems to gesture at RELATABILITY [POP CULTURE REFERENCE] in a way that is lame to me. the line about three 6 mafia for ex, where its just like POP CULTURE REF in place of joke stuff

the music supervision feels so insanely specific to old songs i've been attached to over the years that it makes it feel microtargeted to me at some level

the framework is good but the jokes are so barely there it can be frustrating

like it feels like they wrote the script & were like 'we'll fill in the funny parts later'

the line about three 6 mafia for ex, where its just like POP CULTURE REF in place of joke stuff

yeah maybe i'm wrong but i suspect aziz ansari himself wrote lines like this; it smacks of his standup, which i often thought was just being referential instead of funny.

i loved the cabdriver/deaf girl/doorman ep. also loved baby dev singing along to "brown sugar" tbh.

the lifestyle porn/uncritically presenting things only rich people can afford to be drooled over is the worst thing about the season, i think. maybe i'm misreading, but the show seems to present it as evidence of a meaningful life which seems wrong, to say the least. maybe the show wants to present it as evidence of dev's aimlessness instead, but it doesn't read that way.

Good tunes in this charming lifestyle show - Ryan Paris, Patrick Cowley etc. - wonder who picks them if not Aziz himself.

this show is slightly more committed to jokes than Louie

this is weird to me cause Louie is actually frequently v funny, where this elicits a mild chuckle every other ep

Louie is of course frequently very funny (although less so as it went on) but I think it can be blamed for giving lazier comedians the excuse of "well actually, it's not supposed to be funny" when they just couldn't be bothered/weren't able to write any good jokes

That said, I've only watched like three episodes of this because I thought it was rubbish. Maybe it got better, but from the comments in this thread I suspect not

you only wathed 3 episodes of season 1 or season 2? because they're pretty different beasts. At least go watch Thanksgiving.

i cant decide how much i do or dont like this.

Three eps into s2, I think this is how I feel? I don't find it either uproariously funny or especially relatable but I've kept watching this long for some reason, maybe just for the chuckles and relationship stories idk.

loved the pork/muslim parents episode, which is basically my life

Really? I know my experience is far from universal but I found this one especially hard to relate to, both in terms of having this sort of conflict as late as in his 30s and in terms of how easy and pat the resolution seemed. It's the one that's most made me want to check out altogether.

Agree about the lifestyle porn aspect; this is a guy who acts in commericals and pays rent in NYC, right? Also, are dudes in the acting world all overgrown theatre kids who click their heels and do singalongs with their bros? I can believe it.

I do find it refreshing to see male friendships on screen that aren't defined by insults and ball-busting. not that there's anything inherently wrong with that dynamic in reality but it's pretty much the only thing you ever see on TV

only watched 6 episodes of this, but it is overall better written and acted than the last series. it is less of a comedy this time, than it is an indie drama series, with people acting comedically, but not actually saying anything that funny. which is not a bad thing really. it still has issues where the acting/writing gets a bit shakey. there is something odd about the interplay between AA and denise and arnold, neither of whom seem believable as their characters. everyone in this is sort of half acting, half just being themselves, but not in a fluid CYT kind of way. so some of it is very ambitious (ep 6 is like a rahmin bahrani movie, but funnier thanks to the deaf lesbian girl), and some of it is just a bit on the lazy side. its an odd mix. but i love it. i think it will get better if he keeps it going. but for anyone saying it is derivative, it is basically ny post-woody comedy/dramedy, like desiree akhvan, maybe, more so than CYT. people are still getting used to seeing/being minority comics who arent black/white. i see it as growing pains.

loved the pork/muslim parents episode, which is basically my life

Really? I know my experience is far from universal but I found this one especially hard to relate to, both in terms of having this sort of conflict as late as in his 30s and in terms of how easy and pat the resolution seemed. It's the one that's most made me want to check out altogether.

i mean...yes. i don't know what to tell you--i guess i'm particularly stunted?

i do think the resolution is weird, but i attribute that to different families being different. that resolution would not fly in my family, but i don't think i can demand that the show be about my family.

also i have specific nitpicky muslim teachings reasons why i think the resolution is weird, but i gather that's not why you think it's weird.

the way the cousin was convinced so easily to eat pork was truly ridiculous and unbelievable. all those years of being taught not to, then in 2 seconds, his mind is changed! wtf.

tbh i think religion is something AA hasnt really been able to tackle properly, neither in his work, nor in his interviews. but then maybe he doesnt have to.