Aziz Ansari's 'Master of None' on Netflix

Just watched the first 3 episodes, decent so far but more muted chuckles than laffs

I don't get a moralizing tone from this at all - agree it seems much more ambivalent about domesticity than Apatow and co. The opposing fantasies of having children in that one episode were lol funny, I liked how Aziz's ideal parenthood scenario looked like it was set in 1965.

Also agree Parents episode was incredible. All of the ethnicity/race stuff seems very well done - I lol'd at "Is Mindy Kaling real?"

I thought all the parents were hilarious. His mom's caustic facial expressions were great.

just watched the whole thing. firs episode i thought was sort of terrible - it felt like that was a rehearsal almost, like it wasnt even written or the actors hadnt even worked together until someone started filming. but it gets progressively better. last episode is actually really great (though maybe just because his concerns almost exactly mirror my own). the parents and indian casting ones are brilliant. though oddly, in the guardian review it talks about how the show is so great cos its about how there are next to no white people in it, and the show is about inter-ethnic relationships, which is kinda true, and what makes it novel actually, but white people have pretty significant roles in this... like.... his girlfriend! and apart from the indian casting episode, there are no other south asian ppl in this except his parents, which strikes me as... interesting. its not really a comedy series though, forget what people are saying. its basically just a US indie drama, delivered in a slightly 'funny' tone. like how i feel when i watch a lot of modern american indies. the tone is that of a comedy/dramedy but there arent many jokes, or funny scenarios. which is bit of a problem with AA in general - his lines often feel like jokes, but the actual joke doesnt come. i wonder if the series would have worked better as one indie movie, but its a good first series. and the first real US series presented from a south asian perspetive (apart from mindy obv) as far as i know...

did anyone else think in that episode about the father john misty show, that the 'smoking hot' barmaid alice wasnt actually all that smoking hot?

also, soneone needs to broaden AA's taste in tv and movies.

I think she was just tall which when you are as short as Aziz is probably = hot.

I HATE it when women on TV aren't hot enough.

im not moaning about women not being hot enough on this series - the girl playing rachel is very hot. but i am entitled to comment on the hotness of a character who is explicitly referred to in the episode as being 'the super hot' girl that is way out of AA's league etc etc.

something about this show made me weirdly happy. i wonder if there will be more. it ends in a weird, semi rushed way.

one thing that bothered me, but is fairly typical of movies/tv shows these days - he is this struggling actor, but did you SEE the apartment he lives in? and how does someone only doing adverts and shitty movies get to eat out that much?? also, why must he be an actor? do comedies with people doing non glam/media jobs still exist in the US?

the funniest character in the whole thing is the colin salmon character.

Is he struggling? He seems pretty successful to me. He notes that residuals from one of the commercials is paying his apartment rent.

I think the only other job for people on TV is in advertising.

He says the Gogurt commercial alone has been paying his rent for years, which is maybe not realistic for that particular apartment but I've heard that residuals from a national advertisement can be shockingly good money.

well hey, who needs black virus movies when you have gogurt money....

Claire Danes best role since the one where she went to a Thai prison for trafficking drugs

"personally, i think dryers are full of shit man"

The opening and closing music choices are so good.

Through the ep after Nashville, curious if they're going to give Rachel any characterization that's not "adorably perfect."

Yes, and it's done very well.

this has good stuff in it. weird that it was so hard for him to find the right asian actor:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/15/arts/television/aziz-ansari-on-acting-race-and-hollywood.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=wide-thumb&module=mini-moth®ion=top-stories-below&WT.nav=top-stories-below&_r=0

lol at his dismissal of the Martian, I skipped it for the same reason

I like the writing, but so far (first 2 episodes) the acting has been pretty awful. Obviously the dialogue isn't super naturalistic, but the cast can't seem to pull it off. Hopefully they get better...?

finished this last night and felt like it got more like GIRLS and less like Louie as it went on (with attendant drop in amount of laffs). good overall though.

In the first few episodes the dialogue does feel quite stilted, reminded me of the adverts I've seen for "scripted reality" things like 'Made in Chelsea'. Gets less so as the episodes pass and the relationship narrative takes over a little more.

not sure i'm gonna be able to handle three so-so episodes of anything starring aziz ansari with the promise of "it gets better"

It's so long since I've seen Short Circuit that it had completely escaped me that the Indian character wasn't Indian.

It's hard to see the parallels w/ Girls since every character on Girls is a horrible person.

the acting has been pretty awful

lol Two of the main actors in the 2nd episode are Aziz's real life parents, who are not actors, but are very charming, so I was able to forgive their transgressions.

i don't think anyone's complaining about them when they talk about the acting. a lot of the scenes with just the main cast members sound like a fucking table read.

the last couple episodes were a bit of a drag, their relationship is the least interesting thing on this show

started this last night, I like it. It feels light, obv, compared to Louie or some other things; and it's more 'thoughtful' than 'LOL' sometimes, but it's pretty good. The bartender woman was hot enough.

It's hard to see the parallels w/ Girls since every character on Girls is a horrible person.

GIRLS in the sense of declining laughs/"serious" relationship nonsense ratio

Ansari would be better off as a cable talk show guy ala Conan than acting, he's just not good. All the OTT movie bad acting lines were indistinguishable from the rest of his performance.

The actress who played Rachel was solid, I thought, despite the one-dimensional character.

I though Ansari was ok. Tim Wareheim is kind of a terrible actor though.

yeah Wareheim is a little distracting, not sure who/what his character is supposed to be exactly (stunted manchild?)

all my actual laughs were from Eric, i think.

i (as usual) didn't mind the stilted dialogue, the only thing that bothered me was the exhausting, cute-sy banter format between Aziz and his girlfriend. it was "i say something sarcastic/faux-mean/clearly untrue, you pretend to take it at face value" over and over, ad nauseum. in the last couple episodes i really expected one of them to say, "hey, can we stop doing that thing?"

but overall this was hugely enjoyable to watch.

Ive only seen the first two eps of this and it doesn't make me laugh but I love it anyway

episodes featuring senior citizens > episodes not featuring senior citizens

if the ep with Dez taking out Rachel's grandmother had been an episode of Louie she would have either a) died, b) had sex with him or c) both

It's a surprisingly earnest show. Not finding it hilarious, but am somehow still hooked. Just saw and much enjoyed the Indians on TV episode.

that not getting a kiss outside the club was a too true for school moment. i liked that. in all its awkwardness. though it did feel a little more like high school....i have no idea how old these people are supposed to be.

I'm guessing in their mid-30s? The flashbacks to Dev playing computer games/watching TV in 1990 make him look about 10.

dev is supposed to be 30

This show is so pedantic

His apartment is rad though and I like the girlfriend character

On episode 3. Thought the Parents episode was sweet, but felt very Filmmaker 101 - stiff acting and poor direction. The first and third episodes were way better (maybe because Aziz didn't direct them?).

Looking forward to the lynn shelton directed one

the acting is def not good in this - i wouldnt have cast the parents, though i loved them anyway, and the dad isnt bad at comic delivery! - and that includes aziz, who cant seem to break out of his usual persona. his co-stars arent great, but they all seem to get better as it goes on. aziz is better as a writer on the whole. weirdly i thought his acting was better when hes auditioning and in the virus movie than when being dev...

funny how the mindy show doesnt get mentioned in his NYT piece.

if the ep with Dez taking out Rachel's grandmother had been an episode of Louie she would have either a) died

Yeah it was such a fucking relief that she didn't die. Damn Louie...

Agree it got more 'Girls but where you keep liking everyone" without getting smug or boring tho (yet).

I just watched the Ladies & Gentlemen episode, and now I am a fan of Condola Rashad.

what have i become
my empire of 'gurt

watched the first 3 episodes. this is a cute and p earnest show, humorous but not really full of belly-laughs. dude playing his friend brian isn't too great an actor. aziz himself is a little limited but not to the extent that it's damaging to the show. decent tv.

the IVF episode is incredible.