High Maintenance

(Review updated after Season 4).

A series of short stories on the lives of everyday people living in New York. All the stories have one character in common - a pot dealer known simply as "the guy".

Wonderfully quirky and engaging series of vignettes. A great mix of drama and comedy. The short stories, of which there are one or two each episode, suck you in with likable characters in interesting situations. From there it is a leisurely ride to a great punch- line.

Writer-director-creators (and husband and wife) Katja Blichfield and Ben Sinclair do a great job at keeping the stories simple, yet profound, and the characters relatable. Sinclair also stars as The Guy, and does so very well, coming across as an entrepreneurial version of The Dude in The Big Lebowski.

My favourite episode: S1 E3, where the dog falls in love with his walker. You actually feel you are seeing the world from the dog's eyes, and it's a wonderful experience. (Incidentally, the walker is played by Yael Stone, of Orange Is The New Black fame).

Unfortunately, the writing quality started to diminish after Season 2. Season 3 wasn't bad, it just wasn't as engaging as Seasons 1 and 2. In Season 4 it just got dull. The spark is no longer there. Or maybe the novelty has just worn off for me.

Season 1: 9/10. Season 2: 9/10. Season 3: 7/10. Season 4: 5/10.

Great vibe, funny, honest, laid back, chill, positive. One of the best series that shows the vibe and atmsophere of New York. It reminds me of Master of None sometimes. And like someone already said in comments, it gives you the feeling of high without being high. And of course, especially good if you are high. Absolute recommendation!

I find this show to have some of the most unique and interesting writing I've seen anywhere. I don't know how the scripts were developed, but my sense is that the actors were improvising and the scripts evolved out of that. It's hard to believe that all this could have come from the minds of one or two people, unless they are geniuses. I can't think of anything else I've seen that is so effective at giving the viewer a sense of truly being a "fly on the wall", getting actual glimpses of the lives real people live. Often, the scenes are utterly unpredictable, and the situations are hilarious, in a fresh, unforced way that doesn't feel "written" at all. It's really something special. A very intelligent show.

It is so misleading to say this show is about a pot dealer. As if Thornton Wilders' "Our Town" is about a janitor. Yeah, there's plenty of smoke and some exposition about the nuances of sativa and indica blends, but rather the Guy is the perfect, contemporary observer who weaves together wonderful, sweet stories of people coping in the big city, but with such a buoyant spirit I just want to drop what I'm doing and move to Brooklyn, which is more of a magical state of mind than a brick, asphalt and concrete borough of NYC.

I've read some disappointments with the highly produced HBO continuation of the original web series. Well yeah, the original first season was delightful, brilliant with the atmosphere that was accomplished with no budget and compressed into 8 minute episodes. I would have been happy if it stayed in that space. But kudos to HBO for recognizing the talent here, investing in it, and allowing this team to see where it can go with all the tools they could use. They took it to an excellent place and I can't wait until season 3.

A bittersweet, keenly observant view of a community that doesn't know its a community, tied together by the guy who helps them reduce their stresses & avoid their pain. Cold water flats and candles instead of lights. Everyone is all alone, but only in their own minds. Some of them might even die alone, heart attack in the bath. The concept and the realized stories are like an emotional gymnasium. All of the feelings, with all of the possibilities. A world seen with both confidence and acceptance.