The Comedians

One of the funniest shows ever. Original; clever; surprising. In an interview, Billy C. quoted his late dear friend Robin Williams as asking if he would bring out the Dark Billy. He has. The sketch parody of "Orange is the New Black" was genius. There are so many throw away laughs that would be belabored in a network comedy. It's as if there is such an abundance of good writing that the show can afford to toss out lines that the audience may or may not catch. All kinds of allusions across the pop culture landscape: the premise of old/young gives the script leeway to go anywhere. Please leave in minority jokes, in both senses. When Billy tells his wife he has the Clippers schedule tattoo on h. is arm and that's why he can't be buried in a Jewish cemetery, only a small group of viewers will get that. Bravo for leaving it in. The conceit of rotating directors will let a new character appear smoothly. Steve Weir looked like he was having fun playing the former hunk, now a transvestite. Lots of minor great motifs.

The Comedians is not your typical comedy because I think it brings quite a bit more to the table. It is funny, I laughed out loud many many times, but this show also delivers some vulnerability without losing it's humor.

Billy Crystal and Josh Gad are obviously very talented performers; but the documentary aspect of the show is extremely convincing because they each give a very honest performance. And Stephanie Wier is perfection! Every moment she is on screen she is magnificent. She really thinks about the details and the result is flawless. I wish she were in more. Give the woman an Emmy.

I think the reason this show flopped, is because FX has a very brief window for anyone to watch their stuff on demand and binging tv is the preferred method of consumption now. It was a new show and if you didn't see it within the first two weeks of airing, you just didn't see it. I loved this show when it originally aired and I just watched it a second time. My favorite scene still holds up and had me doubled over in laughter.

If you like Billy Crystal, you will probably like this show. A couple of reviewers suggested that the humor might be over some viewer's heads. I thought that was silly, but other negative reviews and the score of "6" make me wonder if they were on to something.

The shows is a docucomedy about the making of the Billy & Josh show, starring Billy Crystal as a character named Billy Crystal, who has a lot in common with the actor, and Josh Gad as a character...well, you get the idea.

The comedy runs the gamut, from physical shtick, to witty understatement, to bits about awkwardness. Much of it revolves around the difference in age between the two stars. Gad has trouble understanding what "classic" means when it pertains to comedy, because he has never been exposed to the classics. Billy doesn't get where Gad is coming from, in part because Gad is a pseudo-liberal poser who understands only the forms of diversity and inclusion, not the actual belief systems.

Inside jokes abound and both stars are willing to poke fun at themselves. They are backed by a fun cast and some great guest stars. The series has started off strong, with plenty of laugh-out-loud moments.

Update 5/11/15: After five shows, I am really enjoying this show. Watching Billy Crystal and Josh Gad in these roles reminds me of Jerry Seinfeld and George Costanza, but like they did not go to school together and they are meeting for the first time and they don't really like each other that much and Jerry is thirty years older. And maybe they're both Jewish...or they are just pretending to be Jewish for the jokes.

This is/was a fabulous show. Inventive, unusual, and absolutely hilarious. Great writing and great acting. Stephnie Weir was incredibly vulnerable and yet so offbeat - a charm to watch. Josh Gad and Billy Crystal played off each other so well. Both Larry Charles and Steven Weber as the directors was a stroke of great casting. For any one who has worked in any form of entertainment, whether TV, film, video, Equity or community theater, this show rings true to the combination of egos and jerks and brilliant talent found in them all. Not since Chris Thompson's 'Action' starring Jay Mohr, Illeana Douglas, and Buddy Hackett has there been a show that delves so riotously into the imagined backstage of Hollywood. I miss this show and wish it would come back to life. Even my DVR misses recording it. Anybody know any backstory about it's disappearance? Will it return?

Billy Crystal is certainly an asset for the world of comedians. Josh Gad was the least interesting part of 1600 Penn which I was watching because of the great Bill Pullman.

So how about a TV-show with these two? This is supposed to be a crossing between a mockumentary and a sketch based show.

Well, if you have Billy Crystal you obviously can expect some "old school" staff. Jokes that are based on recipes and forms. Searching for the laugh in the words or the sounding of the words. Talk about the acting method. How to deliver them. Also lots of self-mocking. And "funny" stories about their grandma and their uncle.

In the end of the day, is how funny it actual is, and ...sorry..this not funny enough. Don't know where the "recipe" failed but you can get good laughs with this material.

At least it doesn't have fake laugh track.