Mike Judge's "Silicon Valley" (HBO Show)

this new show is good stuff

i'm still watching season 4 of this but i had a question that probably can't be answered because this is a sitcom: when action jack left pied piper WHY didn't the guys just decide to make boxes anyway? they would have been rich and they could have spent their time doing whatever they wanted. working on the platform. etc. i know they hated the box, but still it seems dumb that they had this easy money maker and they just abandoned it. felt kinda dumb. especially since they spend episode after episode trying to get funding and they had this cash cow of their own.

oh well. love the show.

they didn't cos the box wasn't Richard's idea. the entire show is based on Richard being a visionary, which excuses his shitty behavior. well, it's supposed to at any rate. after last season i don't think i'll continue w the show

but it was kinda his idea. even though he was joking about building a box at first.

it just seemed like his financial pals would have said hey you can make a ton of money with the box and then go be a visionary. but whatever.

Richard is a petulant egotist who self-sabotages at every opportunity. This is the core principle of the show.

I don't think anything meant to excuse his shitty behavior. It's supposed to be shitty.

sic and Evan otm

it's a pretty funny take on the fact that most startups have no purity of vision or moral compass and would kill to just cash out, and these guys are saddled with the one dipshit ego-bound dude who seems hell-bent on doing something the _right_ way, even when it's very clear that whatever he comes up with is going to get undercut five minutes later

i still like him though. for some reason. richard.

Isn't this what a comedy is?

Season 5 preview:

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/silicon-valley-confronts-a-darker-side-tech-culture-tj-millers-messy-exit-1092493

Season 5 preview:

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/silicon-valley-confronts-a-darker-side-tech-culture-tj-millers-messy-exit-1092493

slash heavily thought through PR piece

Those dumb ads that are on all the time have soured me on Richard

The previous season was borderline terrible, Erlich which was my favourite character is out (and was already bad during S4) and I don't think I can't stand more of Richard's fuck ups/stupid behavior and dickhead/smug Dinesh but... I guess I'll watch it though, just to make sure it IS that bad now !
The only characters I still like are Gilfoyle and Jared (also a bit Gavin, Russ Hanneman and Ron Laflamme).

S4 began REALLY well and then shrivelled up in the last few episodes

I'm still enjoying this and finding it funny but the show could definitely use a couple of new characters at this stage.

Yeah. Or give Monica an actual comic storyline instead of using her as plot device/captain exposition.

Denish-as-new-Erlich CEO was so good and could have gone beyond a single episode.

Dinesh made a good-bad ceo and I agree we could have seen more of it

I think the best character bits for me are the Dinesh-Gilfoyle interactions, anything Jared does, and the occasional Big Head interludes, at this point (rip Peter Gregory). They're generally putting in the work, or caught in the increasingly stupider machinations of the system, and the actual core of the show. The plot stuff is just connective tissue for me, and I think of it -- and Richard by extension -- as somewhat loathsome

Monica seems chill but she's this pawn of big capital. Laurie, as a character, I have more patience for because she's completely uninterested in people and the unrelenting pragmatism while trying to funnel the instincts of a dead prognosticator has some script legs, if they run more with it

I hated Dinesh as CEO ! That was actually the point where I couldn't stand him anymore (previously, I enjpyed his interactions with Gilfoyle, of course).
Big Head was fun at first but that got boring. Same with Jiang Yang.
Another character I really can't stand is Jack Barker.
So overall, that's a lot of characters I dislike/don't care about to keep enjoying the show (not even talking about the circular storyline) !

how did I miss Jiang Yang? he might be my most favorite

I hope he starts prank calling Richard

i was kinda hoping that they would do the Being There thing and Bighead would end up some celebrated tenured CS professor and get asked to run for Senate.

there's still time

although his teaching gig didn't quite go that well

Jiang Yang is hilarious but isn't going to work without Erlich.

I think Jiang Yang is going to try to be the new Erlich (running the startup incubator crash house) and there's a little potential there

There's a sweet spot between Parks and Rec Season 1 (too abrasive) and Season 5 (too comfy) and it feel like SV is still at 1, when it should be aiming for 2/3. Maybe.

Also, it's still too bro-y and Judge's "we're just reflecting reality' excuse seems cowardly (and maybe also just wrong)

i do get weary of the fact that so many of the most talented comic actors and writers are stuck in the endless loop of dick/poop/ass/balls but i suppose that is the essence of modern american comedy. in the old days the essence was more falling down a lot/comic accents/mustaches/sexual harassment.

https://smile.amazon.com/How-American-Immigrants-Disappointing-Parents/dp/0306903490/

mentioned before but I went to school with the actress who plays Monica. She was nice and funny

if no erlich means more jian-yang like the premiere last night than count me in!

it's going to be a beautifully poetic thing if the plan to have erlich declared legally dead works

stallions...magnificent

sliceline is a good distillation of the lack of profit model a bunch of companies have, very succinct

"you are from erlich's administration"

a season of funny workplace stuff + jian yang is a recipe for success. they stuffed a lot of goodness into that episode.

was hoping we'd get at least one actual scene with the alt-right applicant just for laughs.

This was probably the best direction the show could go after the last dismal season. Show has never really escaped the constant Richard self destructive trope, would be nice to see him not be a fuck up for once

who is more self-destructive: richard or cam from halt/catch?

richard's a bit less cameron and a bit more joe macmillan in his self-destructiveness, no? (altho it's hard to compare the nuance of those characters to the clown that is richard when he's 66% of the way into transforming into his final form, Also Gavin)

richard raving over cheap fluorescent office gulag = cameron jamming econo in mobile home

Richard wants to make the best thing ever AND be financially successful but keeps kneecapping himself by not compromising on principles. I feel that Cameron had less (or close to zero) interest in financial success and just wanted to make things that people love. The financial realities just kept catching up to her.

as character arcs go, joe mcmillan dying in an opium den seems about right.

I had very low expectations and so I was agreeably surprised by this very good first ep.
The opening sequence and the running "stallions" joke were great.
Jian Yang scheme regarding Erlich was also nice (the letter scene with Ron LaFlamme !).
Even Richard's plan to mess with Sliceline was good (if only he could NOT fuck up big time for a while...).
If they maintain this level throughout the new season, I'm back on board !

The first few eps were great last season too

The gulping at the end did my brain in, enjoyed everything else, Zach Wood is so great.

Richard's inability to speak in front of people is the least funny tic that they continually rely on.

yeah, that was the weakest part of the ep. but if Richard only fucks up at this level, it's fine by me !