High Maintenance

I can't find the words to describe how good this series is. The freedom of being able to make each episode just as long as it needs to be provides a lot of good returns in terms of the narrative. Weed plays a prominent part in the stories in terms of stringing them together, but it is far from the only thread, and each episode is a hilarious, depressing,or somewhere in between, slice of life. The characters run from archetype New Yorkers to some serious weirdos, both of which can exist in the same person. The dealer and main character played flatly and beautifully by Ben Sinclair is both a kind of a low key superhero, and a deus e machicna that lights the bong in each tale. This is far and away the best web series I've seen, and possibly the most artistic.

High Maintenance is like nothing I've ever seen before.

This is not a typical "stoner" comedy. Yes, the title. Yes, the one regularly recurring character is "The Guy," a likable, articulate weed deliveryman. Yes, the current poster for this IMDb page features said likable, articulate weed deliveryman smoking a joint. All that aside, this is not Pineapple Express or Harold and Kumar. Nothing against those two films, but High Maintenance is something far more subtle, beautiful even.

Each standalone episode is a window into the daily lives of different New Yorkers. "The Guy" provides that window, as he is the only stranger the characters let in the door.

There are so many things High Maintenance absolutely nails. There's the stellar acting. There's the rich detail in almost every shot. There's the complete lack of melodrama. There's the runtime (6-15min) that feels so natural. There's the way in which it portrays the commonplace struggles of everyday people in such an honest, compelling way. Somehow, this web series is more than the sum of its parts, though. It's authenticity is just so damn captivating.

For me, watching an episode of High Maintenance is like reading a brilliant short story. I finish, slightly entranced, thinking about the characters for days.

Long live this web series.

Every episode I watch I get more excited about this show. From a filmmaking point of view, it's obviously filmed on a budget (compared to other shows) and is absolutely top-notch. Direction, photography, acting, writing. All up there with the best.

From an audience point of view, I couldn't be getting more pleasure from it right now. Every episode contains a new, different, well- rounded story with interesting characters and situations, which is incredible considering the time-limit they have to create them!

Now Vimeo has started their On-Demand service and placed this as their lead show, this is where i'm starting to get really excited. I've paid for the new season and consider it one of the best purchases I've ever made. Seriously, ever. For the price of a couple of coffees there's so much content. In a world in which our attention-spans are getting shorter and shorter (just look at vine taking over phones and facebook), I'll admit that when I'm looking to chill after a long day, or even on the train to work, the appeal of 15 minutes, rather than a season of 10 hour long episodes, is really enticing.

Don't get me wrong, these short-shows won't be replacing anything bigger any time soon, but when talented people like this are getting paid to make incredible content for the internet, I wouldn't be surprised if TV as we know it will be dead in 10 to 20 years time.

The story telling is so weird and intervowen - not like those horrible emsamble movies where at the end you find out the are All connected.

A really cool collection of what happens stories of a New York pot dealer. All the weird people he deals with, the rip-offs, etc. It's really enjoyable!