No, I’m not starting a newsletter. This is a TV show.
As I was creating this topic, Discourse helpfully suggested that it was similar to this one:
Consider this a follow-up. My original comment pretty accurately encapsulates the reasons I was avoiding this show. I like Jason Segel, and I like the title of the show, but I didn’t know what to expect, so I just kept putting it off.
So I finally watched episode 1, and it’s fantastic! So far it’s been about 85% aesthetics, but they’re so good that I’d honestly be okay if that’s all it was. It’s weird, and there is so much green, it’s like the show was made for me. For example, there’s this shot in an atrium of a hotel(?) and there’s a fountain in the background, but I couldn’t tell at first because the fountain so closely matches the floor that I thought it was just some sort of distortion or an illusion.
Later, there’s a scene in a shop with a wide variety of weird and wondrous things, but the thing that struck me so much is that the door to the shop has a window-unit style air conditioner above it, and the power cord for it is draped in such a way that the door has to push it out of the way to open. I love it.
The cast is similarly fantastic. Segel plays Peter, a man that who is alone in the drudgery of his life until he takes a chance opportunity to try something new. Eve Lindley plays Simone, an intense and somewhat suspicious woman whose motivations aren’t clear yet, but seems to be mostly looking for entertainment. André 3000 plays Fredwynn, an extremely intelligent man who is trying to unravel the mystery behind it all. Sally Field(!) plays Janice, a seemingly retired woman who’s just trying to get out and meet some new people. Finally, Richard E. Grant plays the enigmatic leader of the mysterious je jeune organization, and is also the narrator.
It’s all a bit pretentious, but in a really sincere and endearing way. So far it’s a bit more style over substance, but I think there’s more to it that will be revealed as the series progresses.
Strongest possible recommendation (so far).