The Break with Michelle Wolf

I really liked her White House bit. I liked her appearances on all the different shows where she gave interviews. But this is show is just not cutting it. It's mediocre at best. But listening to her air-sirene-like voice is hard to do if you have to listen for 30 minutes at a time. If she had anything different to say, it would probably be bearable. But she is no different than Colbert, Kimmel, Myers and/or Hasan Minhaj. And that means I choose not to listen to that raspy voice. If I want to listen to her good jokes, I will turn on the White house bit again. If I want a view on the current political stage, I will watch someone with a bearable voice.

I loved The Break. Michelle Wolf takes what would be a basic late night-type show and pushes the boundaries enough to make it feel refreshing and sharp. Every bit of her routine was hilarious and I loved the 'sports smash' section. The only part I didn't care for was the fake commercials. I felt they were just a bit odd, but it's worth suffering through for the rest of the show! Can't wait to see what Michelle does next week.

There are ample of comedy news shows now a days. And The Break sets itself apart due to the talent and personality of Michelle Wolf. She is hilarious, funny, mean yet not heartless. She can get to the nub of the issue and make you laugh at the same time.

As this is a weekly show, it has the luxury of focusing on bigger issues than individual news items. The shows main strength is Michelle's monologue, sketches are good, but not to the SNL quality.

There are couple of negatives as well, her voice, which isn't the most news friendly voice, and her guest (Amber, fellow comedian from Seth Meyer's show) was underwhelming.

Michelle Wolf is not a new entity, she was already building her fame around the world for quite a few years as a comedian, absolutely fearless and biting in her comedy. Love her. Those reviewers that knows her for the 1st time from the WHCD knows next-to-nothing about what she's capable to deliver.

She was ready for her own show.

But sadly, 4 episodes in, this show is far from her best (or average even) work. She was much better in those other shows & stand-ups. My score of 6 could have been an easy 9 if she's as good as she was in, say, CC's TDS, all the time!

I think the whole idea of The Break - "take a break from the seriousness of late-night comedy" and "instead of making the news fun, she'll make fun of everything and everybody. There will be no preaching or political agenda - unless it's funny." - just isn't suitable for her. It might be good for the likes of Jimmy Fallon - that dude LOVES to laugh at his own jokes BEFORE he delivered the jokes - & Conan O'Brien, not the politically sharp cleaver of a comedian like Wolf.

Still, those 1* reviews are pathetic. Those reviewers should mention what shows they like to objectively judge their comedy prejudices & political leaning subjectivity.

At this point in my review, her show has only one episode that aired just days ago. I followed her stand-up comedy prior to her notorious appearance as the host of the 2018 White House Correspondents Dinner. It seems like many people just know her for just that and not her previous comedy. Because of the WHCD, it seems like her comedy is polarizing for many.

To clarify her previous comedy, she has a great deal of jokes revolving around her voice. It's screechy and annoying, but part of her act. Anyone shocked to hear it on her new show clearly have never seen her stand-up routines.

Now for her new show: It isn't all that bad and it is in need of improvement. Her jokes are raunchy, which is entirely within her normal comedy routines. Her comedy is much like many of the great comics in the form of shock comedy. It is meant to push the lines, and make you laugh and widen your eyes to how much it pushes the boundaries. That was the good part of it.

The DJ (why?): The DJ is introduced in her monologue. All he is good for in the entirety of the show is to nod, smile and laugh at times while on camera. That's it. This really seems like the producers wanted to make the show seem more like nightly live television shows like Fallen, Colbert and Kimmel. However, this show is just 30 minutes long and once a week. There is no need for DJ personality other than to fill in time. This show is on Netflix, so there aren't commercial breaks where the audience is just sitting for dead time. The DJ is a forgettable character.

The break-away segments: I'll just come out and say her show is trying to be the female version of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver with these break-away segments. Last Week kills it with their break-away segments, but The Break falls short. The CGI graphics for effects are horrible. Two of the three break-away segments were forgettable.

Overall: Though the show has only one episode, it does need improvements. It's a half hour that could benefit from some pruning of needless things. There is no need for a DJ. The break-away segments need better writing and execution. This isn't a daily show, so these issues shouldn't be too hard to address.