John Mulaney clearly likes Jerry Seinfeld. Who doesn’t?
His new sitcom, “Mulaney,” is clearly inspired by the legendary sitcom, from the self-important characters to the interstitials of Mulaney performing stand-up to the dialogue beats.
Mulaney is a pretty strong comedian, and his writing chops are impressive: 90 or so episodes of “Saturday Night Live” (and he brought former “SNL” cast member Nasim Pedrad along for the ride here).
So what’s keeping “Mulaney” from being a better show? His acting is a bit wooden. There are superflous characters, like his hippy next door neighbor Oscar (an effiminate Elliott Gould). And that studio audience.
The show improves as it goes along, and Martin Short is a ton of fun as Mulaney’s crazy comedian boss Lou Cannon. Give it a chance, but be patient, because the “Friends” bit in the second episode is pretty hilarious.
