Friday, February 28, 2025, 1:57AM |  43°
MENU
Advertisement
Jay Baruchel stars as Josh on
1
MORE

Tuned In: FXX sitcom 'Man Seeking Woman' rather bizarre

Matthias Clamer/FXX

Tuned In: FXX sitcom 'Man Seeking Woman' rather bizarre

PASADENA, Calif.— It’s difficult to watch the first episode of FXX’s “Man Seeking Woman” (10:30 tonight) and sink into it because it’s so odd. Viewers waiting for the other shoe to drop — waiting for the show’s weirdness to get explained away as a dream or fantasy sequence — will be left waiting forever.

By episode two, the show’s surreal depiction of one guy’s love life begins to settle in and feel more, well, not exactly normal, but at least expected. And that understanding makes it easier to laugh at what’s happening in this bizarre comedy.

Sweet, geeky Josh Greenberg (Jay Baruchel, “She’s Out of My League”) gets dumped by longtime girlfriend Maggie (Maya Erskine). He’s got a going-nowhere job and an overachieving sister (Britt Lower), whose professional success makes him feel doubly crummy.

Advertisement

Buddy Mike (Eric Andre) encourages Josh to get back out there, hit up a club and find a new woman to have sex with but Josh is looking for love. So far, sounds pretty normal, right? But then Josh’s sister sets him up on a blind date with a troll — literally, a troll.

And it’s not like in the previous FX Networks’ series “Wilfred” where it was just the title character who imagined a talking dog. Nope, Josh’s sister is well aware that she’s set him up with a real-live troll, who Josh proceeds to unintentionally offend by using “troll” as a slur, as in, “trolling the Internet.” This leads to a fight in the middle of a fancy restaurant, and while viewer sympathies may be with Josh, the other diners think he has mistreated the troll even after she bites him on the leg during the melee.

Later in the episode, Josh learns Maggie has a new boyfriend, Adolf Hitler (guest star Bill Hader, “Saturday Night Live”), which really sets Josh off since he’s Jewish. Once again, Josh ends up getting lectured that he needs to apologize after he says, accurately enough from an outsider’s perspective, “I’m better than Hitler.”

“Man Seeking Woman” is based on Simon Rich’s book of short stories “The Last Girlfriend on Earth,” and Mr. Rich created and writes the FXX series.

Advertisement

The show’s second episode proves stronger because viewers are more accustomed to its rhythms but also because the episode traffics in slightly more relatable scenarios. Josh’s attempt to ask a stranger (guest star Vanessa Bayer, “Saturday Night Live”) to dinner are presented like the precision planning of a military attack — completely with a war room and military officers — as Josh plans the exact wording of his invitation text.

There’s no question that “Man Seeking Woman” is not run-of-the-mill entertainment, but whether its weirdness will appeal or repel will depend largely on the openness of viewers to new, strange TV experiences.

Another ‘CSI’ on CBS

Sunday night actress Patricia Arquette (“Medium”) won a Golden Globe award for the critically acclaimed film “Boyhood.”

By late Monday morning she was on a panel promoting the latest iteration of “CSI,” CBS’s “CSI: Cyber” (10 p.m. March 4).

“I kind of feel like Superman and Clark Kent,” Ms. Arquette said. “We’ll be shooting all day and then I go to do press [for ‘Boyhood’ during awards season]. I’m so fortunate to be working as an actor. I’m interested in this subject matter; we made this little art movie, it’s having an incredible reaction I’m very grateful for. I feel like I’m having a beautiful moment in my life. ... I’m just grateful for everything.”

To assure critics that this “CSI” won’t be the same procedural-heavy show as its predecessors, “CSI” creator and “Cyber” executive producer Anthony E. Zuiker said CBS has given the show’s writers license to “open the power of characters.

“We have the nuts and bolts of procedural but we have the opportunity at this time in our franchise to take advantage of the talent [of our cast],” Mr. Zuiker said.

That must make the casts of previous “CSIs” feel a little rotten, but moving on.

Not calling the show “CSI: Washington, D.C.,” where “Cyber” has its home base, is also an attempt to convince the press and viewers that this is “something fresh,” Mr. Zuiker said.

And while producers said they'll be slightly futuristic with the crimes, they also gave an example of a crime in the pilot episode that was duplicated in real life after the episode was filmed. Those scenarios are sure to make some susceptible-to-paranoia people more paranoid — especially, perhaps, older viewers who don’t understand technology but watch “CSI: Anything” — but producers said that’s not their goal.

“We’re not interested in inducing paranoia,” said cyber psychologist/producer Mary Aiken. “But there’s a logic there that if you use a baby cam remotely and see your baby in a crib and it’s not secure, then others can, too.”

Showtime updates

Showtime renewed “Shameless” for a sixth season and ordered pilot “Happyish,” about a man facing a midlife crisis when he gets a younger boss, to series and set an April 26 premiere date. “Penny Dreadful” returns for a second season the same night.

“Nurse Jackie” returns for its final season at 9 p.m. April 12 and here’s what we know won’t happen in the “Nurse Jackie” series finale: The hospital won't burn down. Executive producer Clyde Phillips said that was the original ending the show’s writers had in mind.

“We started out the season knowing what our ending was going to be and then we completely changed it because the show spoke to us,” Mr. Phillips said.

Sticking the ending on this one will be tough. Jackie’s addiction can’t be realistically cured in 12 episodes. But killing her off seems a bit harsh, too.

“I don't believe in inauthentic endings,” Mr. Phillips said. “I think the ending of this season is as authentic as it could possibly be and will be really satisfying to viewers.”

More ‘The Chair’?

Back in November, Chris Moore, executive producer of the shot-in-Pittsburgh reality competition series “The Chair,” said he intended to make a second season and make it in Pittsburgh.

But since then Starz has not announced a renewal. How come?

Turns out, Mr. Moore has not yet pitched a second season to Starz CEO Chris Albrecht, who said he was happy, creatively, with season one.

“He hasn’t come to us with a specific season two, but we’re totally open to the idea,” Mr. Albrecht said at a Starz party Friday night. “I want to hear what he’s got planned, but we’re 100 percent open. He knows where to find me.”

Channel surfing

There was already plenty of evidence that TV is the superior medium to film, but this seals the deal: Amazon announced film auteur Woody Allen will write and direct a TV series for Amazon Prime Instant Video. No other details about the half-hour series were announced. … “Community” returns for its sixth season March 17 on Yahoo! … “So You Think You Can Dance” regular Mary Murphy will not be on the show when it returns this summer for its 12th season.

A portion of this column originally appeared online in the Tuned In Journal blog. Post-Gazette TV writer Rob Owen is attending the Television Critics Association winter press tour. Follow RobOwenTV at Twitter or Facebook. You can reach him at 412-263-2582 or rowen@post-gazette.com.

First Published: January 14, 2015, 5:00 a.m.

RELATED
SHOW COMMENTS (0)  
Join the Conversation
Commenting policy | How to Report Abuse
If you would like your comment to be considered for a published letter to the editor, please send it to letters@post-gazette.com. Letters must be under 250 words and may be edited for length and clarity.
Partners
Advertisement
An example of a Real ID-compliant non-commercial driver's license in Pennsylvania.
1
news
The Real ID deadline is approaching. Here's what Pennsylvanians should know.
Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Bubba Chandler delivers in the third inning of a spring training baseball game against the Minnesota Twins in Fort Myers, Fla., Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025.
2
sports
3 takeaways from Pirates’ lopsided spring training victory over Twins
FILE - Demonstrators protest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) layoffs in front of the CDC headquarters in Atlanta, Feb. 18, 2025.
3
news
Judge finds mass firings of federal probationary workers to likely be unlawful
Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney II, left, and general manager Omar Khan stand on the field before an NFL football game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New York Giants, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, in Pittsburgh.
4
sports
2025 NFL salary cap will rise to $279 million. Here's what that means for the Steelers
Pittsburgh Steelers coach Arthur Smith walks off the field after losing to the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025, in Baltimore, Maryland. The Baltimore Ravens won 28-14.
5
sports
Joe Starkey: Was Steelers GM Omar Khan kidding with his Arthur Smith comments?
Jay Baruchel stars as Josh on "Man Seeking Woman" on FXX.  (Matthias Clamer/FXX)
Matthias Clamer/FXX
Advertisement
LATEST ae
Advertisement
TOP
Email a Story