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<i>The Comedians</i> – “Come to the House” Retrospective. Guys’ Night.

Season 1, Episode 2

Air Date: Thursday, April 16, 2015, 10:00 pm ET/PT on FX

Rating: ★★★★★

Josh, making new friends.

With the premiere for “The Billy and Josh Show” only weeks away and the studio breathing down their necks, Billy (Billy Crystal) and Josh (Josh Gad) continue their struggle to find the right balance for their sketch comedy. Will the two stars be able to sort out their differences, both personally and creatively, or is the show doomed to fail?

As “Come to the House” begins, so do the awkward silent, yet funny, moments. In the following conversation, the magnitude of the differences going on between Billy and Josh are easy to grasp.

Billy: “We’re live performers, Josh. I just think that we’re at our best when we’re on stage.”

Josh: “So when you shot City Slickers, you shot that in front of a live audience?”

Whoever said you never get a second chance to make a first impression must have been thinking of Josh because Josh’s first meeting with Billy’s wife Julie (Dana Delany) is entertainingly awkward; everything Josh says comes out wrong. Thankfully, Julie has an idea, “Listen, why don’t we have Josh over for dinner? I can cook.” What could possibly go wrong?

Great chemistry.

What sells Delany’s character is that it doesn’t feel like a scripted character. Her performance is so subtle, yet it grounds the show, giving the mockumentary a more realistic feel. Crystal and Delany have great chemistry and there is a sincerity to her scenes I totally buy into, which is part of why it took me so long to realize she’s a character and not Crystal’s actual wife.

I don’t know about you, but I couldn’t stop laughing when Josh visits Billy’s house. Watching Delany control the conversation when Crystal seems more interested in hanging with his friends — guest stars Sugar Ray Leonard, Joe Torre and Will Sasso — than showing Josh around, is hilarious. Crystal and Delany’s timing is so perfect, it’s hard to believe The Comedians is a scripted show. Everything about Josh’s visit, from the tour to watching the game, and the incident between Josh and Julie, is comedic gold.

Poor Mitch.

You can’t help but feel for head writer Mitch (Matt Oberg) as he struggles to get Esme (Megan Ferguson), the show’s P.A., to perform the duties of her job. I enjoy the awkward chemistry between the two as Mitch tries to impress Esme despite being  her supervisor. I hope the writers find more ways to incorporate Oberg and Ferguson into more scenes. I’m looking forward to seeing where their perfessional relationship goes. Do you think Mitch will ever be able to impress Esme? Somehow, I doubt it.

Sketch show producer Kristen (Stephnie Weir) also has some amusing scenes as she continues to process the fact that the show’s new director, who happens to also be her ex-lover, Jamie Dobbs (Steven Weber), is now a woman. Weber makes a surprisingly lovely female and I give him credit for taking on such a challenging role. Watching Weber, I kept having flashbacks to Walton Goggins’ character Venus Van Dam from FX’s Sons of Anarchy, which aired its final season back in December 2014. FX Networks sure knows how to make men into interesting female characters.

Maybe it’s because we only see snippets of the sketch show Billy and Josh are working on, but it continues to be the weakest part of The Comedians. The skits range from crude to offensive in “Come to the House,” and are only occasionally funny. Thankfully, these skits make up only a small part of the show.

I really enjoy the evolution between Billy and Josh in the first two episodes of The Comedians as Billy and Josh, who couldn’t be more polar opposite with both personality and comedic shticks, try to find common ground for the sake of the show. The writers do a great job creating a feel that their work relationship is a real journey, bumps and all.

Some of the funniest moments in “Come to the House” aren’t in the form of jokes; they come from awkward silence. What makes The Comedians so entertaining is that the show isn’t trying to be overtly funny. Unlike other comedies, the writers use great restraint, realizing not every joke has to be a verbal punchline; sometimes, the punchline is simply a look. For example, Josh walking in on Julie and hearing her scream is amusing, but it wasn’t until I saw Billy standing behind Josh with this befuddled look on his face that I laughed.

Because of the mockumentary style of filmmaking, I often find myself forgetting the everyday people are scripted characters. It’s in these moments, when Billy and Josh are portraying themselves outside of the fictional studio setting, that The Comedians is at its best.

Tweet me @Staffaroadtrip or leave a comment below to let me know what you think about “Come to the House.”

Tune in to The Comedians Thursdays at 10:00 pm ET/PT, only on FX.

Visit the show’s website http://www.fxnetworks.com/shows/the-comedians.

Looking for The Comedians on social media? Follow these links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheComedians

Instagram: https://instagram.com/thecomediansfx/

Tumblr: http://thecomediansfx.tumblr.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/thecomedians

You can also follow the cast on Twitter: @Josh Gad, @Billy Crystal, @Dana Delany, and @Megan Ferguson.

Photos © 2015 FX Networks, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

 

Greg Staffa

I provide testosterone to the site. You won’t be reading about how nice a actress looks in a dress or how much of a hunk Matt Bomer is in my reviews. I describe colors using words like brown, not taupe. My twitter name is @staffaroadtrip because I love road trips and have done two different 48-state road trips since 2008. My favorite show is White Collar.

Greg Staffa

I provide testosterone to the site. You won’t be reading about how nice a actress looks in a dress or how much of a hunk Matt Bomer is in my reviews. I describe colors using words like brown, not taupe. My twitter name is @staffaroadtrip because I love road trips and have done two different 48-state road trips since 2008. My favorite show is White Collar.