Happy Sunday, Streamers.
To start, some shameless promotion: this week, I wrote two pieces for Collider, one about how House of the Dragon is shaping up vs. The Rings of Power, and another about Bruce Willis’s recent decision to sell his image rights to a deepfake firm. Please check them out, and if you enjoy either, be sure to share with a friend.
Now that is out of the way, this week, our Rec Room features a sitcom about a sitcom rebooted by a streamer produced by that same streamer who is using this sitcom to reboot its own aspirations as a home for sitcoms. Someone call Zuckerberg; I think I just unlocked the metaverse.
Now let’s get to it.
Rec Room: Reboot
What It’s About: This showbiz comedy follows the reboot of an early 2000s family sitcom and the dysfunctional cast and creators as they deal with their unresolved issues in a changing world.
Why You Should Watch: For laughs, Judy Greer, and meta entertainment in-jokes
Steven Levitan could have hung up his cape after Modern Family (the man no doubt has enough money to buy himself an island). Instead, he’s back with Reboot, a smart comedy with much to say about network sitcoms and where (or if) they can live in contemporary culture (like I said - meta). A lot of the laughs are courtesy of boomer vs. Gen Z jokes, with some of the best comedy taking place in the writer’s room, filled with half young woke/PC creatives and half old non-PC Jews (very, very, meta). Reboot has a spot-on cast that often does more than what they are given, including Keegan-Michael Key as the pretentious serious actor, Judy Greer (who, as always, is good in whatever she does) as the insecure middle-aged actress, and Paul Reiser, who is a meta, inspired choice as the original showrunner of the sitcom. It’s fun to see Johnny Knoxville, too, although, for a guy who used to hammer his nuts with sledgehammers and is playing a supposed wild recovering addict comic, he’s pretty tame on the show. Sometimes you can feel Reboot struggling with its identity as it tries to push to be more than a network sitcom (so. much. meta.), but it doesn’t always seem to know what to do with its streaming-platform-freedom (outside of having its characters drop more f-bombs). That said, Reboot is still a fun time, especially if you have ever worked in entertainment/media or have a soft spot for the sitcoms of the 90s / early ‘00s. Just go in knowing you might feel the absence of a laugh track.
Who’s In It, and Where You Probably Know Them From:
Keegan-Michael Key - Key and Peele, and bit parts in most comedies over the last ten years.
Judy Greer - At this point, she’s a working-comedy legend, whom you may recognize for her recurring roles in ‘00 rom-coms like What Women Want, The Wedding Planner, 13 Going on 30, or 27 Dresses. Truthfully pegging her as just that is diminishing, as she’s also been in blockbusters like Jurassic World and Ant-Man, prestige dramas like Masters of Sex, and then every comedy under the sun for 20 years, including Arrested Development, BoJack Horseman, Modern Family, Two And A Half Men, etc., etc. For me, though, she will always be Esther Bloomenbergensteinenthal in The Hebrew Hammer (a truly unhinged low-budget 2003 send-up of ‘70s blaxploitation films you can’t believe got made).
Johnny Knoxville - Making a career for himself out of throwing himself off, into, and through things in Jackass.
Paul Reiser - Mad About You, the all-time piece of shit Burke in Aliens, and Beverly Hills Cop.
Rachel Bloom - One of the few to make the (successful) jump from YouTube to TV, you probably recognize her from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.
Who Made It, and What Else Have They Done: Steven Levitan, who is most famous for creating the mega-hit Modern Family.
Where You Can Watch: Hulu