Lady Dynamite

If I were to watch this show as a comedy, I would have found it incredibly irritating and outrageously offensive. The show isn't funny, and I don't think it's really supposed to be. It's actually quite sad and deep.

It's about struggling with bipolar disorder. As someone who struggles with mental illness myself, I find it fascinating. It's like looking through someone else's eyes. I find that the structure of the show how things transition and connect is very reflective of how my own mind works.

My recommendation: If you want to better understand what it can be like to live with a mood disorder, watch Lady Dynamite. Don't watch it as a comedy though; watch it as dark, serious drama.

This show is amazing. It's certainly surreal, but the characters are well developed and every episode stands alone. The show is produced by the producers of Arrested Development and you can definitely see their influence here. Lots of puns, sight gags, and intelligent writing.

I loved the story arc of Maria's relationships and if you've ever had anxiety or known someone who did, this show is extremely relatable. It's not for everyone, but those who get it will love it. Also: Dean Cain! Patton Oswalt! Bridget Everett! Fred Melamed! It's not your typical stand-up show. I had only kind of heard of Maria Bamford before watching Lady Dynamite and now I want to see her whenever and wherever she performs. Just watch it already.

It's a bummer when reviewers bring down the overall rating for a show because it isn't their cup of tea or doesn't work for them stylistically. I have a feeling the negative reviewers here were not familiar with Maria Bamford before watching Lady Dynamite. This is all her, this is her brand of comedy, and she's f'ing hilarious. Clearly many in the comedy community feel the same way, given the number of amazing people she's brought in to be on the show--another major highlight of the show for me.

Comedic sensibility is very personal and certainly this show isn't for everybody, but that does not make it garbage, as I believe one reviewer called it. In terms of the kind of show and style of comedy it's going for, Lady Dynamite is knocking it out of the park! It just might not be your park; good thing there are plenty of other TV shows out there.

Lady Dynamite is basically a cast of some of the funniest comedians, crushing it. Maria Bamford's references to mental illness are funny without making light of the struggles. This shines some real light on the relationship dynamics that exist because, well, we're all crazy! Cute innuendo throughout, like Deebag's cafe. Some of their material is so random it doesn't seem like it would be funny, but it is. Fred Melamed's character is great. Must watch... I'm binge watching this right now. One note though, the theme song basically makes me want to stick pencils in my ears and push hard. They seem to have made it even longer after the 11th episode. Gotta change that up to avoid accidental self inflicted ear injuries. Other than that great show.

Lady Dynamite is so zany and out there that it was a little difficult to get a grasp on when I first watched it. Ironically, my difficulty with the material wasn't because there's nothing like it on TV but because I saw traces of nearly everything else on TV: The cutaways of 30 Rock, the awkward attempts at social justice statements from Master of None, the use of a comedic veneer to mask trauma that's shown on Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, the 4th wall randomness of Man Seeking Woman or Family Guy, and the feminist celebration of woman as proudly dysfunctional adult from Broad City. That's not even bringing up the long list of shows that feature a comedic actor playing exaggerated versions of themselves pursuing showbiz start-up that starts with the Larry Sanders Show and goes all the way up to Comedians, Difficult People and Garfunkel and Oates (all relatively stale editions of the genre because all the good plots in this genre have been used up).

Welcome to Peak TV: Where the overabundance of innovative voices on TV makes it harder to stick out and a comic voice as original as Maria Bamford is penalized for not coming out five years ago.

What's good news is that a lot of these complaints are less valid after a scattershot pilot that's loaded with every gimmick imaginable. After that, the show starts to even out and one can see some of the better creative decisions behind the show. It helps to separate the show from other entries in the "comedians playing themselves" genre in that Bamford isn't trying to advance her show business career at all. At times, she seems blissfully ignorant of exactly how well she's doing (her faux sister Susan is alarmed at how much she makes at a studio session). In another episode, she turns down Judd Apatow because in that particular episode, her new focus on life is about doing as little as possible in life. After a few episodes, one can better make the argument that this even if it's a clichéd genre, Bamford's work is the ultimate personal statement: Maria Bamford is simply figuring out her life and way of expressing it on screen as she goes along.

The show is a bit hit-or-miss on the strength of its plots but it helps that the 2nd and 3rd episodes-- dating a bisexual guy, trying to form a family band, and awkwardly attempting to be politically correct-- are winners.