Loot

This show makes my heart happy. It's lighthearted and charismatic- as some of the best kind of "Netflix" is. You don't have to think too much, or act as if you're a judge on America's Next Top TV Critic (which thankfully, does not exist). Every few minutes, you're hit with a nice "how can't I laugh at that?" - whether it's dialogue or delivery, even bad acting on occasion. By the end of an episode, I find myself rooting for the characters and the actors portraying them.

I dig where Maya's gone with Loot, regardless if it emulates a "real rich lifestyle" or what a "real rich person" might do. Most people can't relate to that anyhow. Hats off to Maya, AppleTV, and the entire team behind Loot for green lighting. Five episodes in and bottom line, Loot's compassionate, fun, and easy to watch when not taken so seriously or literally. If you're into that, it's worth the watch.

Based on the credits of everyone involved, this should have been much better than it is. It feels like they had a great pitch meeting at Apple TV, everyone said, "It'll write itself!" and they all went home and cashed their checks.

The writing is both uninspired and lazy. There are lots of warmed over jokes about how filthy rich the lead character is, which have been done much better elsewhere.

The characters are all paper thin and derivative. Her gay assistant is shallow and bitchy. Groundbreaking. There's a major comic scene where she goes on a show and eats too-hot hot wings - which we have all seen Maya Rudolph do already on SNL. Lazy.

The only bright light is Nat Faxon as a timid accountant / love interest. The show springs to life whenever he's on camera. They seem to be moving towards some character development, but so far? Lazy.

IMHO the reviews on IMDB don't do this show justice. Sure, it's mostly predictable and somewhat cliche characters are present. However, in my books, some amount predictable is not bad, on the contrary - it's what makes a comfort-watch.

The jokes are light-hearted and simple, but created with taste and grace. Many are rooted in pop-culture so you have to be there to understand, some are too on the nose, and the creators clearly know about it, and that's why they are funny.

The story is made with kindness, with heart and nobody tries way too hard or too little, just the right amount of effort behind it.

And the cast is amazing! Maya Rudolf looks like a real live woman and I love her for that. MJ Rodriges - oh, I just fell in love with her, she's so spirited and energetic. All the characters are lovely.

Last but not the least, let me mention the colors, the decorations and the light in the show. It's beautiful and brings up the optimist in me.

Sure, it's no Brooklyn 99, no Office, you can't laugh your bum off and quote "Loot" to your friends and children for years to come. But so what, all of those exist already, don't they?

And this here is a heartfelt funny show to give your eyes and you soul some relaxed time.

I have read a handful if not a bunch of the low ratings and it boils down to 3 things:

• billionaires wouldn't allow anyone to speak to them that way
• I don't buy MJ Rodriguez as the head of a non-profit
• Maya's character is so disconnected from reality it's not believable

Basically criticisms without any real rationale other than narrow experience and thought. It's a great story, and characters I'm looking forward to in development. Yes, Sofia Selina's is a guarded character and the way she talks to the owner of the foundation is a bit off putting at first, but that's what makes it a comedy. It's literally what a majority of us think at work when the higher-ups want in on the day to day without ANY real understanding or consistency. We know they'll be gone in a day, and they've caused more of a raucous being there than actually achieving anything, it's relatable if anything. Secondly it's a story about a woman standing on her own and that takes effort because as she describes she's learning about herself after the last half lifetime of being married. It's a difficult redo, completely relatable (sans billions of dollars) and it's well approached by the writers. I think the criticisms and low rating are entirely based in ignorance, inexperience and again in narrow viewpoints. Parks & Rec was hard to watch the first season, the characters blossomed in the second season and well beyond, as do most characters. I despise people who are ready to trash a series in THREE episodes. But that's a very American way of being.... I am American. So eat it before you say I'm not. This show is funny, and well crafted. I look forward to the season and to these characters growing on me. I especially love the dynamic between Ron Funches & Joel Kim. It's poised to be a great comedy. Why shouldn't people talk to billionaires like this? They're people just like everyone else around them. They may fly to space but they're NOT otherworldly.

Watched two episodes so far and I'm enjoying the characters and storyline. One of my favorite actors is Nat Faxon and I usually like whatever he's in. I'd say this is kind of a workplace comedy with nice character development.