Maria Bamford (Photo: Saeed Adyani/Netflix)
Kate Kulzick and Noel Kirkpatrick invited me back to The Televerse to talk about Lady Dynamite, Maria Bamford, and a weirdly reassuring comedy about mental-health troubles. You can also read my episodic reviews of Lady Dynamite at The A.V. Club — and I hope you will! The show is enormously entertaining, smart, and thoughtful. Reviewing it was a pleasure and an honor.
There has to be a middle ground between Maria’s frantic tendency to overextend, her sluggardly loafing, and her resentful lashing out at people who drive her to achieve. But tryin’ is for chumps, so in “Loaf Coach,” she learns the art of doing nothing. Read my full review at The A.V. Club.
“I stop with my hands! Which means I’m on an adventure!” Maria warns the
coffeehouse crowd early in “I Love You.” Maria’s wheeling out of
control, and not just because she’s on rollerblades. This episode’s is all about establishing and respecting boundaries, but almost no one in it knows how. Read my full review of “I Love You” at The A.V. Club.
With a collection of wacky misunderstandings and a nod to Three’s Company, “Jack and Diane,” the fourth episode of Lady Dynamite, marries classic sitcom conventions with its distinctively capricious, enormously pleasing voice. Read my full review of “Jack and Diane” at The A.V. Club.
“White Trash,” the third episode of Lady Dynamite, shows the many ways well-intentioned people do harm. Grappling consciously with her own unconscious racism, Maria manages to perpetuate racism instead, in an episode as layered and complex as Mira Sorvino’s multi-level guest appearance. Read my full review of “White Trash” at The A.V. Club.
“Bisexual Because Of Meth,” the second episode of Lady Dynamite, poses some worst-case scenarios, then shows that even the worst case is rarely quite that bad. The episode tries to have its meth cake and smoke eat it, too, by sending up some ugly tropes even as it gleefully exploits them. But ultimately — and in keeping with Bamford’s comic voice — it’s a hopeful story about learning to trust your gut and sing your heart out. Read my full review of “Bisexual Because Of Meth” at The A.V. Club.
With a collection of wacky misunderstandings and a nod to Three’s Company, “Jack and Diane,” the fourth episode of Lady Dynamite, marries classic sitcom conventions with its distinctively capricious, enormously pleasing voice. Read my full review of “Jack and Diane” at The A.V. Club.
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