Big Lake

There is a reason that New York City filmed sitcoms never do well. It's because shows like Big Lake need support from other sitcoms. NYC sitcoms like Big Lake never have the support of the studio system to help ill what matters. It's not like they have 30 Rock next door to help them out. Anyway, the plot is thin. It's about an adult who returns home to his parents in Big Lake, Pennsylvania. I love the casting of James Rebhorn and Deborah Rush as the parents. James Rebhorn is more well-known for his darker roles on daytime but this Jersey resident is one of the finest actors around and needs for his talent to be shown to the world and the same for Deborah Rush. They take the bad writing and work it like professionals. Jonathan, their adult son, has two friends played by Saturday Night Live Alums, Chris Parnell and Horatio Sanz. I love both of them but they're not being utilized very well. Jeremy is the younger brother who acts more grown up and has a thriving business in reality. He would rather launder money to plan for his film school future. His parents are oblivious to the boy's maturity and brilliance but he's lacking a childhood with friends his own age. There are some moments in this show but not enough to keep it going.

Is this show perfect? No. Is it funny? Absolutely. Gethard plays his character very convincingly depicting a genuinely misguided but well- intending friend that isn't always the blunt-end of the joke. Parnell balances a semi-self-aware slacker with enough common sense to coast through life. Horatio Sanz perfectly combines dumb and funny while avoiding painfully stupid and annoyance. Dylan Blue's character is a vector for the style of comedy that utilizes unexpected responses and juxtaposition of age/lifestyles which he delivers with full efficacy. The rest of the cast does equally well in portraying their characters and filling their roles but with less screen time.

Critiques of the plot are misplaced as the show's intention is not to tell a great story but instead to use the plot to drive forward situational comedy. As such the show's intention is dead-on. There's seldom a minute that passes without a joke and most of them fly. This type of comedy relies on a laugh track so there's no awkward silence after deliveries that may not work.

I've watched the series multiple times and it is worth the time. It's easy to critique and therefore will lead some people to never have a chance to enjoy but the appreciation is more subtle as the humour jumps around in style.

Outdated just 10 years later, but gethard is the goat and James rebhorn is a national treasure

I saw the commercials for this, it didn't really look that funny. Now I'm waiting on The Daily Show to come on and I'm stuck watching this. I thought maybe since Will Ferrell was involved in it's creation, it might have at least a couple laughs. I was wrong. All the other reviews pretty much hit the nail on the head. The idea of the show is...OK, and it could have delivered something good but...it just feels wrong. It seems as though it's trying to be a parody of an 80's/90's sitcom. I have never been a fan of extremely repetitive laugh tracks, and this is no exception. But at least in the older sitcoms, the laugh followed a joke that could actually be considered...funny, and the acting was at least sometimes somewhat believable. As stated before, it just feels like its trying to be a parody of a sitcom and it's maybe..supposed to be kinda fake but it just doesn't work. I will also be surprised if this show sees a second season.

It shouldn't have had a laugh track. Don't punish this unsung classic for the sins of The Powers That Be.

(The premier party was paid for by one of the cast, not Comedy Central.)

RELEASE THE LOST 11TH EPISODE!