[Review] Man Seeking Woman
There are a few shows on television that bring artistic originality to the table while being undoubtedly hilarious. There’s also a fine line when it comes to intelligent comedy and alternative comedy. In some cases, the line is blurred. Much like my Silicon Valley review, the new FXX show, Man Seeking Woman, has me utterly captivated by the somewhat campy, yet refined comedic rendition of literary boy-wonder Simon Rich’s novel, The Last Girlfriend On Earth: And Other Love Stories. This show is daring, absurd and relatable to anyone who has ever felt like love was out of their reach.
A little background about the novel is that Simon Rich is one of the world’s youngest and funniest writers in the literary community. Graduating from the prestigious Harvard University after becoming president of the iconic Harvard Lampoon, he landed a gig as the youngest writer for Saturday Night Live at just 24 years old. Within his first year he was nominated for an Emmy for his work on SNL. Later, he moved onto being a staff writer at Pixar. While he’s only 30 years old, he has published numerous humor novels and columns in the New Yorker similar to the style of acting played on the show. His book, The Last Girlfriend On Earth: And Other Love Stories, throws readers into a semi-fantasy world where impossible obstacles are put in front of him in order to get over a messy break-up and get back into the dating world.
[youtube id="GTTzk69hFQs"]
The show's key players, Jay Baruchel and Eric Andre, seemed like polar opposites when the show began based off Baruchel’s typecast of being a total granola, white dude and Andre’s chaotic, alternative comedy endeavour of The Eric Andre Show. Yet, when you see how Josh Greenberg (Baruchel) and Mike (Eric Andre) interact with each other, it comes as no surprise that they play off each other’s weaknesses. The show begins when Josh’s college girlfriend, Maggie, breaks up with him and in a desperate funk, Josh tries to be cope by attempting to get over his fear of meeting women, going on dates, talking to his mother and “finding himself.” With the help (or lack there of) of Mike and his sister Liz, Josh learns how to date in a world where love seems to fall into the category of being a necessity rather than a natural rite of passage in life for people in their mid-twenties.
[youtube id="2Hd3l291zo0"]
Problems that range from being set up on a blind date with an actual troll, finding out Maggie is dating Adolf Hitler (see video below), faking his own death to get out of a camping trip and becoming jealous of his short-lived girlfriend’s best friend, a tentacled Japanese penis monster, are all obstacles for Josh in the game of love. Man Seeking Woman adds depth to exploring love while bringing in nonsensical humor to the audience. With underlying themes such as finding the right girl, knowing when love is real and knowing when it’s not, the show puts authentic situations into play without leaving the viewers feeling heavy-hearted. If anything, viewers should feel connected to Josh; he’s the poster boy for “nice guys finish last” in a world full of alpha males who avoid love like it’s a prison sentence.
[youtube id="G-3OQC64nhU"]
The target audience is the millennial demographic, who seem to be completely consumed by superficial dating apps and drinking too much, which is addressed in the show as well. Yet, the show uncovers the compassionate side of Josh whenever he fails at trying to find, leave and sometimes, force these “love-y dove-y” feelings upon himself and the women in each episode. The dialogue is brief, to the point and easy to follow for audiences who are used to the antics that each actor portray in their previous work. Their real life situations of trying to find love in an unlovable world are backed by off-the-wall predicaments like having a priest perform an exorcism on your ex-girlfriend’s belongings that just won’t leave you alone or having to attend a destination wedding in actual hell. Better yet, your ex-girlfriend is at the same table as you. These are some of the weird comparisons and “what if” imaginative ideas everyone has thought about when given the short end of the stick of love. If you’re anything like Josh, there is a small glimmer of hope that you don’t have to go through it alone. You can catch the last couple of episodes on FXX at 10:30pm EST.