Mulaney

Lorne Michaels is best known for being the creator and, as of 2024, the current producer of NBC's long running sketch comedy series, "Saturday Night Live." This is Mr. Michaels' first appearance on this list of the 400 Most Notable Shows Set in New York City, as he served as executive producer for the series in question... "Mulaney."

The year was 2014. "Seinfeld" had stopped creating new episodes some sixteen years before. That's enough time to recreate that series for a new generation of viewers, right?

Now, I don't mean to say that "Mulaney" was simply plagiarizing "Seinfeld" for their own fun and profit at all, except in one way: In every way possible!

Each episode of the show began with John Mulaney (played by John Mulaney) doing a stand up comedy routine for an audience (John Mulaney is a comic, just like the real John Mulaney), which sets up the plot for that week's episode. Does this sound at all familiar?

Wait till I tell you the rest. Mulaney is surrounded by wacky friends and neighbors that involve themselves in his life, whether he wants them to, or not. His housemates Jane (Nasim Pedrad) who was a college buddy and a perpetually heartbroken fitness trainer, and Motif (Seaton Smith) a fellow stand up, act as sounding boards, comic inspiration, continued support and/or conflict generators.

Additionally, his neighbor Oscar, played by Elliot Gould, offered wizened wisdom or wisecracks, whichever was needed at the moment. Andre, (Zack Pearlman) John's frenemy and frequent visitor, made a living by comically selling drugs, but let's keep that on the D. L.

And last but definitely not least is Martin Short in the role of Lou Cannon, a long time show biz trooper and a current game show host: think Regis Philbin meets Richard Dawson, only much more obnoxious. Cannon hires John to write material for him, so when he shoots off his mouth, something funny will come out.

The differences in the plots of "Mulaney" and "Seinfeld" can be chalked up to the differences in the jobs John and Jerry had before they did their respective sitcoms. Mulaney was a writer on "Saturday Night Live" but rarely appeared on camera during his tenure with the show. That explains the character of Mulaney being a writer of jokes for a different personality.

And there was some element about how Mulaney was trying to be a better person who struggled with that attempt because of the people in his sphere, but that thread often got lost in the attempts to make the show funnier.

The SNL connection was everywhere - Both Martin Short and Nasim Pedrad were regular players on that show before they joined this cast. Elliot Gould was one of the first "5 Time Hosts" of SNL. And of course, Lorne behind the scenes.

New York played a part because of the comedy club scene, the talk shows and game shows that are filmed here and the basic fact that you could run into someone odd or comical or really annoying as soon as you open your front door.

"Mulaney" may not have reached that rarified level of success, because, just like 383's "Platypus Man," they didn't have that extra element... they didn't have a Larry David to turn the Stone Soup of "Seinfeld" into a delicious and hilarious concoction. John Mulaney even described the show's premise as "a show without a premise." Oh, so, a SHOW ABOUT NOTHING, John??

It's also notable that this series was first developed at NBC. But then after tweaking it a couple of times, they passed on it, making The Peacock the ultimate arbiter in what's funny... and what is not.

John Mulaney has admitted that this show didn't work out the way he hoped.

However, he is funny enough that even his worst effort is better than a lot of syndicated sitcoms.

I gave it an 8. I'll be the first to admit that is extremely generous. I was disappointed when I watched it the first time, but I gave it a second shot after it got cancelled. High expectations are a huge reason (I think) that so many people hated this show.

I also gave it an 8 in the hopes that that will encourage someone to give John Mulaney a chance at redemption. I think he'd do a better Netflix, Amazon, or HBO one hour drama. I think maybe some combination of the NBC platform and the sitcom genre took this show down in quality.

Still, if you're a John Mulaney fan it is worth watching at least an episode to see if you like it. Don't be too put off by the low star rating.

So our lead here, Mulaney, is a an award winning writer and comedian, neat. The show has a another strong supporting established comedian, Martin Short, sounds even better right? But unfortunately these two pillars are missing the third essential one to hold up the show, and that is any actual qualities of a show. It has virtually no real story, a show about nothing eh? Sound familiar? Not so bad, there are tons of shows about nothing. How about the jokes? We'll on paper I'm sure they're great, out of these folk's mouths, they sound forced and are just horrible. But even that isn't a show killer. Bad jokes and terrible actors are abound on successful TV shows. What puts the death nail into this steaming pile of a show is Mulaney himself. The guy just can't act, not even a little. It's not bad acting, it's non-existent acting, like watching a mannequin who sort of sounds like 'Raymond' awkwardly read lines like a 3rd grader public speaking in front of his class for the first time. It's awkward and painful to watch him speak, worse than a fork on a chalk board painful. He obviously has no idea what he's doing, and whoever green light this, well warm up that resume cause your days are numbered. So go ahead and skip Mulaney, you're not missing anything.

I'll start off by saying that I am huge John Mulaney fan. His stand up special New in Town is hilarious and one of my all time favorites. So when I heard he was getting his own show I was pretty excited. The thing that kills this show is the format. Multi camera shows with a studio audience/laugh track are old school. They are painful to watch in this day and age. The only way to get past this is for everything else to be so awesome that this sin can be forgiven. Unfortunately, it falls short here. Again though I blame the format. If you watch his stand up you can see that he is quick and has a certain flow to his humor. The multi camera strategy of say something funny, pause, cue laughter, and repeat feels very un-natural and does not mesh with his style.

John Mulaney is a funny guy. There's no doubt about it; just watch his comedy special "New in Town" on Netflix. His delivery is deadpan, which may turn off some people, but once you understand that his humor presents itself in subtle, sarcastic tones, it's easy to see why Mulaney wanted to have his own sitcom - an edgy, modernized version of Seinfeld. Yeah, the Seinfeld comparison was inevitable. I got it out of the way early.

The problem with Mulaney is that it got off on the wrong foot. The pilot was a disastrous mish mash of jokes from his stand-up routines, with the obligatory forced character introductions and sub par acting. The next few episodes weren't much better - characters were developed slightly but the chemistry was lacking. They weren't fleshed out enough and none of them were particularly likable; aside from Oscar, of course, played wonderfully by Elliot Gould as Mulaney's warmhearted openly gay hippie neighbor.

When Mulaney does shine, it shines bright. Nothing shows this better than the recent stretch of episodes - "Worlds Collide", "French Roast", and "Power Moves" - which are examples of when the show actually feels like a sitcom, and not just some struggling comedian being put in awkward situations and reacting to them. They have genuine character development, interactions you actually care about, and every character has found their purpose.

Jane, the tomboyish roommate that is easily annoyed and as sarcastic as she is crass. Oscar, the wise caregiver who provides an older generation's perspective to modern trivialities. Lou, the narcissistic boss who thrives on other people's suffering. Andre, the awkward pill-pusher who desperately wants to fit in. Motif, the oblivious mooching roommate who always has the best of intentions. And John, the struggling comedian working for a sociopath, having to deal with two polar opposite roommates and trying to find stability in the capitalist insanity that is New York.

Some character combinations work better than others. For example, Oscar and Jane had magical moments together on "French Roast". It was the ultimate conundrum for Jane: having to tone down her crude personality to impress a guy, and this was paired with Oscar's hilariously machismo sense of 1950s etiquette. Jane and Lou had their moments on "World Collide", both of them as self-absorbed as the other and leeching off each other's company with the other being none the wiser. John and Motif have a similar childish comic mentality which makes the confrontations involving all three roommates a constant recipe for hilarity.

Mulaney simply needs to find its groove. Now that John has gotten his rehashed stand-up jokes out of his system, he can start treating it like the sitcom it's supposed to be. The show is at its best when it's at its most subtle or most offensive, much like Mulaney's stand-up. Wise cracks like Oscar's "She was a dentist and one day said "enough!" and became a therapist," casually peppered into a conversation. Jane agreeing to work for Lou by stating "for $750 a day you can call me a dumb bitch." Lou and his demoralization of an employee, calling him a liar for saying his grandmother's in the hospital when she was actually dead. Jane catching John praying to himself and John's startled excuse that he "was just masturbating."

I don't want to get into the acting performances, but to put it simply, John is the weak link. His neutral delivery is fine for when he's helping set up a joke, or even for the occasional dry punchline. But there are moments where his robotic line reading is just uninteresting and not at all captivating. Thankfully, that doesn't happen often, because Nasim Pedrad (Jane) essentially steals the show. Her character is the most realized - she has the best lines, and she's basically a negative, repulsive personality, which ensures the funniest confrontations. Martin Short and Elliot Gould are fantastic with what they are given. Gould could use more screen time, and Short's segments on his game show could be cut altogether and it wouldn't be much of a loss. But their performances are game, and they manage to turn otherwise unfunny dialogue into hiccups of guilty laughter.

Once the writers take note of which jokes work and which don't, it will go a long way to helping Mulaney become the great sitcom it has the potential to be. That is, assuming it doesn't get canceled, which unfortunately is looking more and more plausible. Oh well, Fox has allowed worse shows on the air for longer- fingers crossed for Mulaney.