Let's Be Real

Jeez, The Happytime Murders looks better than this... and that's made by an ACTUAL PUPPET COMPANY!

Seems like most (all?) of the 1-star reviews are just from conservatives who 1) don't understand satire 2) think everyone is out to get them 3) still believe the election was stolen.

It's important to realize, though, that "people" like Trump and Ted Cruz are already caricatures and puppets, so portraying them as actual puppet caricatures seems somewhat unnecessary, and as such, some of the jokes involving them just fall flat.

The impressions are well-done, in the sense that the voices are realistic, but there is more cringe than humor in a lot of these sketches. I expected a bit more from Smigel, really.

I just saw the first episode, but I thought it was refreshingly hilarious. Not laughing at a show called "Naked and Afraid with Ted Cruz" would be really hard. The puppets look great too.

This show is wrong on so many levels. First it dares to offend hallowed personages who have devoted their lives to enriching others with their special talents in exchange for mere political power, often in the guise of public duty

Secondly, it does so with puppetry---a noble talent that should never be wasted on simple lampoonage (don't bother looking up the word; it's in the urban dictionary). Puppets have their own culture and it should never be appropriated by cis-carbon life forms.

There are many other levels of wrong with this parody that parades as serious satire. Like its use of humor to minimize actual real problems that are literally serious, like celebrity feelings and politician altruism and athlete platforms.

Just because the guy responsible for this travesty is the same guy who gave us the iconic Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, he has no right to skewer ideas and ideologues that we all depend on for guidance. I say, "Smigel, Schmigel!" Has he ever contributed anything to the world other than a quick-witted Rottweiler?

A recent Pew poll shows that 42% of Americans "don't really prefer" comedy that questions established facts. And another 26% think that polls are misleading when they ask leading questions. So you do the math.

In summation, I suggest that we all stick with our exotic island-based reality shows and our hard news shows for real comedy.

It's just not funny. I can laugh at left and right jokes when they're funny. This has got no punchlines. I mean, you can tell it's a comedy cause there are puppets and nonsensical situations that are written to be humerous skits. However, it's just not funny. Not once did I get close to a laugh. In fact, what I got was uncomfortable, like if you went to a show for your friend who does stand-up and he does his bit, but no one laughs, he just stands there asking, "Is this thing on?"

I highly doubt, the good reviews on here are from people who watched this doldrum. Too bad cause I've enjoyed Robert Smigel through the years.