Strip Mall

In "Strip Mall", the creative team has distilled all the motivators behind American commerce (power, lust, backstabbing, jealousy, fabricating lies) and made them the key plot developers of an amazingly sharp (and FUNNY!!!!!) TV show.

The production is over the top, which is where one has to be when looking down to examine the key foundations of our society. This show is slick and gaudy, like a laminated menu from Denny's, and (I have to repeat) FUNNY, FUNNY, FUNNY!!!

Anyone who remembers Julie Brown from MTV, Earth Girls Are Easy, or her songs as funny and brilliant as Weird Al's will enjoy this.

You have to love a series that includes porn films and stars, adult sex toys, Russian mafia, cannibalism, and a child star turned killer. There's future cast members of Whose Line Is It Anyway and Parks and Recreation and the still lovely Stella Stevens too.

Some may quibble over the ending. It seems like it was just done to end the series quickly when it could have gone on for another half season or more. But this is minor. The whole series is at Archive dot org. You'll find yourself binge watching.

An amazing set of strangely familiar characters, interacting in most believable ways. Fat dry-cleaner and his mom, lesbian Chinese restaurant owner and her lover, porn stars and mobsters, miscellaneous mass culture leftovers. Full of hilarious gags, this show introduces you to the less-glamorous California. The "low-speed chase" is unforgettable. All the characters sucked into the porn film production - the young film director with his sidekick/cameraman, an upscale fiancée and her even more upscale mom, the receptionist, the next-door shop owner - are a bottomless pit of laughs. In my book, this show is the US equivalent of "The League of Gentlement", the lighter and gentler one, the way California is way sunnier than Scotland (or wherever the Gentlemen ply their decadent trade), but no less brilliant.

I know a lot of people thought the show wasn't that good, but it made me laugh soooo much. The different story lines that ran parallel and sometimes intersected were pretty clever. Dark humour? Sure. Cringey at times? Most definitely. But watching some of the characters try to extricate themselves from their disappointing lives at the strip mall led to some hilarious situations. Chris Wylde's character seemed to be the only one having a good time ("Another day of booty duty at Port Porn!"). I hated the way it ended though. It was not only abrupt, but hastily conceived. It was like "Ok, yesterday we got canceled, so today we need to wrap this up in the worst way possible." Made me sad!

What an amazingly funny and original show. The cast starting with the hysterical Julie Brown(Homecoming Queen's Got A Gun) is just perfect. Add Amy Hill(All American Girl-Grandma Kim) who plays a lesbian who is always arguing with her partner and business partner(Asian restaurant-WOK-DON"T RUN) I have laughed harder during this show than any other I have ever seen(including Newhart-one of my all time favorite shows) If you like movies like Naked Gun and Airplane- you will love this series!! One of the best moments of the show is Cindy Williams playing herself. When she snubs Tammy at the dry cleaners, Tammy finds a picture of Cindy Williams in her coat. The picture is of Cindy Williams doing an unmentionable act with a bowling pin-upside down. It is awesome to see an actress like Cindy Williams being able to play herself like this. Soap opera like with many surprise twists during its short run. I can only hope that this will someday be released on DVD with special many bonus special features. Funniest series I have ever seen!!!!