This is pretty uneven. Just really, really funny and thoughtful moments interspersed with flat jokes delivered terribly. I knew his parents were playing his actual parents, but there are like four or five characters that I assumed (wrongly) were played by non-professional actors.
But the high moments are more than worth it. And a bunch of great cameos. Colin Salmon and Claire Danes are both kind of killing it in the episode I'm on now.
______________________________
"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"
at the end of episode 1 set the tone for me. I ended up watching New Edition videos all night long.Thanks Aziz.
time is money, money is time so i keep 7 o'clock in the bank and gain interest in the hour of God I'm saving to buy my freedom, God, grant me wings, I'm too fly not to fly _ Saul Williams
21. "This was great, I watched 3 eps last night with my girl" In response to Reply # 0
We were howling the whole time. I don't get the hate on his dad, I think he's great and I imagine that's how his dad probably is in real life. Dude just seem to be too cool for school to care about acting.
The chicken story was amazing.
sometimes u gotta leave ur inner nigger in the bank vault. - desus
22. "I've honestly never related to a character more in my life." In response to Reply # 0
We're similar ages, both sons of immigrants, and going through that relationship that is great but unsure if it's the one kinda thing cuz I'm getting other and maybe its time to settle.
If a fat guy falls in the woods and there is no one around to see it, do the trees laugh?
23. "watched the entire season in less than 24 hours" In response to Reply # 0
i loved every episode, thought the aziz/rachel chemistry was great, and all the peripheral characters (parents and friends) were great/hilarious as well
28. "Wasn't sure after the 1st 2 eps but glad I stuck w/ it (spoiler)" In response to Reply # 0
Interested to see what direction they'd choose for a 2nd season (abroad or back home) but really dug the misdirection/callback in his final scene on the flight
29. "I really like this show, Aziz as Dev is the wackest part of the show th..." In response to Reply # 0
For such an otherwise well written & directed series, Aziz as Dev is so underwhelming.
Like, Aziz is attractive & has an affable vibe to him but there is nothing charismatic about how he plays Dev. I gotta think that the only reason Dev has amazing ass friends/smashes uber witty hispter white women is b/c his apartment is nice af. And yeah, that mostly white women love interest thing needs to be explored in season 2!
Aziz parents are really great actors tho (they need to show Aziz how to emote lol), hopefully more parents/grandparents in season 2 as well.
Lastly, more Denise & Anush plz & thank you Alan & Aziz!!
<<Mood...Poppy Okotcha in Look 1 at Ashish Fall 2016 ________________________________________
blkprinceMD05 Member since Nov 29th 2004 41323 posts
Fri Nov-13-15 05:02 PM
30. "yes! im pretty sure i cant get past aziz, like him at the center" In response to Reply # 29
of it ruins it lol. i saw the first ep and the other ppl made me want to watch the rest, he had a like two moments (when he took the lil girl to the bathroom he had me laughin) but otherwise he's just not my cup
i will watch two more eps
prototype
stand ur ground, believe in urself, believe in love, prepare urself for love, remove the negativity from ur life, and accept the love u kno u deserve
31. "He addressed the white girl love interests at Redditt." In response to Reply # 29
"So cool people talking about this kind of stuff and having all the conversations about race, etc. since the show premiered. As far as Rachel (and other love interests too), we didn't set out to cast someone white and auditioned people of all ethnic backgrounds, and wanted to cast the person I seemed to have the best chemistry with to sell this huge relationship arc. In the end, Noel blew us away. And, for the writing, I'm pulling a lot from my own real current relationship, which is with a "white" person - so we can do interesting scenes like the scene in 109 (Mornings) about the parents (which many South East Asians have told me really resonated with them and they'd never seen an interracial relationship depicted this way in TV/film before), or the awkwardness of the beginning of 110. For the others, there was Claire Danes, who is a friend and a fucking legend in my book, so we were psyched to collaborate. And Nina Ariande just killed us with her Cartman impression.
Anyway, I'm a fan of all these conversations and there are interesting nuances in both interracial relationships and relationships between two Asian people -- if we get a second season it's definitely an interesting topic to address. Bottom line - if we did a hundred episodes, we definitely wouldn't have Dev date a hundred white women a la Jerry Seinfeld in the hit television comedy Seinfeld. Race and dating is an intriguing issue that Alan and I have talked about in real life. Example: Alan really did have a white girlfriend's mom that hugged him more time in one dinner than his entire family had his whole life."
33. "LoL omg, he tried the hell out of it w/ this weak ass response." In response to Reply # 31 Sat Nov-14-15 02:34 PM by no_i_cant_dance
Oh, he just *happens* to have better chemistry w/ white/white-passing women that are being casted to play his love interests??...FOH Aziz lol, sounds like Dev ain't the only dude w/ a complex. For the record, Idc who Aziz dates in his personal life (uphold that white is right/colorism w/ your personal choices & get your life or w/e lol)...my critique is about the casting choices in the show.
AND ANOTHER THING lol...I noticed he did the "colorblind casting" which is like terrible. If one claims to be about POC representation in media then you have to explicitly have castings that call for POC & then hire them in the roles. Otherwise you end up w/ Denise (YES!), who allegedly was supposed to be a cishet white chick, as the friend & a whole bunch of white/light (shoutout to the light skinned Asian chick that was an asshole & played Dev for the free meal) women as love interests. Everybody talks about they WOC baes except the two MOC on the show, it's weird guys.
Also, am I the only one that like never assumes white people being handsy/huggers means they're being nice?? I definitely read that overly touchy feely stuff as issues w/ boundaries & entitlement (as it relatest to bodily autonomy).
*shrugs* I am a mean Scorpio tho lol.
<<Mood...Poppy Okotcha in Look 1 at Ashish Fall 2016 ________________________________________
I had to cast an Asian actor for “Master of None,” and it was hard. When you cast a white person, you can get anything you want: “You need a white guy with red hair and one arm? Here’s six of ’em!” But for an Asian character, there were startlingly fewer options, and with each of them, something was off. Some had the right look but didn’t have comedy chops. Others were too young or old. We even debated changing the character to an Asian woman, but a week before shooting began, Kelvin Yu, an actor from Los Angeles, sent in an audition over YouTube and got the part.
...
with that loved seeing Condola
~~~~ When you are born, you cry, and the world rejoices. Live so that when you die, you rejoice, and the world cries. ~~~~ You cannot hate people for their own good.
39. "he did it to himself frankly see above" In response to Reply # 32
>and they get a long and thats what he's into. I dont get why >she HAS to be brown to people. Its stupid.
he talks about representation and drops the ball big time
~~~~ When you are born, you cry, and the world rejoices. Live so that when you die, you rejoice, and the world cries. ~~~~ You cannot hate people for their own good.
45. "No..that's your point" In response to Reply # 42
His was make the effort Except clearly when it comes to love interests
~~~~ When you are born, you cry, and the world rejoices. Live so that when you die, you rejoice, and the world cries. ~~~~ You cannot hate people for their own good.
36. "I usually don't like American comedies" In response to Reply # 0
This reminded me of a gentler version of Togetherness mashed up with Louie.It is funny, awkward and especially honest. I watched it with my girl and were blown away about how much we could identify with it regardless of how quirky it was. I came here ( North America) as an immigrant with my parents that assimilated to American culture later in their lives and have seen them evolve into it has been hilarious and I love how the show illustrate that without demeaning them. The last half of the season is the most honest depictions of the good and the bad of a pretty generic relationship. I could see me and my fiance in it as well as our friends and family. The pasta maker thing was eerie for us as she gave me a bread maker that I never opened.
time is money, money is time so i keep 7 o'clock in the bank and gain interest in the hour of God I'm saving to buy my freedom, God, grant me wings, I'm too fly not to fly _ Saul Williams
40. "i liked it but didn't blow me away" In response to Reply # 0 Wed Nov-18-15 03:54 PM by lfresh
his parents were the best part girlfriend and him not the best more brian would be great they play off each other well ("everybody likes me" "brian can get away with that" reminds me of the little brother on Fresh off the Boat and his 'macking' (really just likes the opposite sex and a person not an object) skills and likability quotient
~~~~ When you are born, you cry, and the world rejoices. Live so that when you die, you rejoice, and the world cries. ~~~~ You cannot hate people for their own good.
41. "LOVE this show. I didn't expect it to be so earnest" In response to Reply # 0
It has a lot of heart and is genuinely funny. I'm surprised that so many of you didn't like his dad.
I was slightly bothered with the "grew up in South Carolina" continuity error. That's just plain sloppy. We established that the parents emigrated to NYC, and still live there.
43. "RE: LOVE this show. I didn't expect it to be so earnest" In response to Reply # 41
> >I was slightly bothered with the "grew up in South Carolina" >continuity error. That's just plain sloppy. We established >that the parents emigrated to NYC, and still live there.
48. "I'm like 4 eps in and man this is so good" In response to Reply # 47 Sat May-13-17 01:37 AM by Heinz
That first ep was so fucking good. The series always felt very Woody Allen esque in a good way i wouldnt be surprised if he was influenced by woody the same way Chris and Louie. But yeah the first two eps were very Woody. Really loving this season so far. Francessca is so hot
53. "Episode #8 "Thanksgiving"" In response to Reply # 0
*spoilers of course*
I'm surprised there isn't more talk about this season in this thread but...
THIS , was the best episode of the 2nd season. I'm sure many will list "New York, I Love You", and they wouldn't be wrong. But "Thanksgiving" hit me in many ways. Loved how they captured Thanksgiving dinner at a black household.
LOVED gramma smoking over the mashed potatoes. LOVED the overhead shot that bookends the episode. New ADDition And when 'Can You Stand The Rain' came on, IIIII kinda want to say a brotha almost teared up. Like, *I* was happy to see Michelle after @nipplesandtoes23.
of all of the music they used on this whole series.. they just seem to pick all the right joints... even at the wedding the Holiday joint was in the background...
and last season the chick had Donald Byrd Love has come around on in the scene... perfect...
You take the blue pill, the story ends. You wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.
55. "season 2 is so dope" In response to Reply # 0
On so many levels...I love it. Can't pick a best episode I really just enjoyed the full body of work. Amazingly done. Aziz and Louie have really changed the comedy series game.
63. "it's still Aziz being Aziz so if you hate him you won't like it..." In response to Reply # 60
but with that said it's not him trying to tell jokes or be overly funny the whole time. It's kind of like Curb starring Aziz and centering around his life.
79. "Aziz (and, low key, Eric) are the lowlights of any given episode" In response to Reply # 63
There's a reason Tom Haverford worked on Parks & Rec so well and it was because they played up a very, very specific charicature of Aziz.
But the actual writing and conceptualizing of the show is so top notch it's not too hard to overlook in my opinion. I'll take a few corny, way too happy exchanges from Aziz and Eric for 20 other minutes of superb, thoughtful television.
65. "Phenomenal, my only critique:" In response to Reply # 0
Is that unlike his peers making similar shows, Aziz doesn't express much humility or explore much self awareness of any of his own shittiness. Louie might stoop to some simpler devices in terms of its humor, and MON explores race a lot more and more elegantly, but I think Louie is expressing a more balanced and ultimately more interesting self study
Tiger Woods Member since Feb 15th 2004 18387 posts
Thu May-18-17 09:00 PM
66. "I bet "Dev" is more authentic than "Louie" though " In response to Reply # 65
I mean if we're working on the notion that these are mostly autobiographical, I'm willing to bet Dev is basically Aziz, whereas Louie is a miserable exaggeration of who Louis CK really is.
68. "maybe Aziz just isn't as down on himself as Louie is..." In response to Reply # 65
which would mean they are simply being true to themselves in their respective shows
if Aziz was making himself look perfect i would understand but he doesn't...he's often showing himself make stupid or the wrong decisions and facing the consequences for it...it's just not as heavy as some of Louie's storytelling
an unremarkable character (not Aziz, he's obviously incredibly talented, but Dev, the character) walking / riding around two cities all forlorn because one Becky broke his heart and then another is toying with it, more power to you.
there is nothing remotely interesting or unique about it other than we've spent the majority of serialized TV watching white people / men do it, and now we get to watch POCs do it.
the quirk, comedy, and narrative arc was engaging and original in season one, this time not so much outside the two episodes I mentioned above (which we fantastic)
~~~~ When you are born, you cry, and the world rejoices. Live so that when you die, you rejoice, and the world cries. ~~~~ You cannot hate people for their own good.
75. "I liked season 1 better. This season felt more...forced?" In response to Reply # 0
NY I Love You....it was cute. Thanksgiving episode was cool but that's cuz I love Kym Whitley. Ced the Entertainer's episode stunk. The back and forth with Francesca, too drawn out. Bobby Cannavale was pointless and the "scandal"...cmon.
~~~~ When you are born, you cry, and the world rejoices. Live so that when you die, you rejoice, and the world cries. ~~~~ You cannot hate people for their own good.
78. "yeah i'm only 4 episodes in, but it's *very* stiff" In response to Reply # 75
especially the horrible first episode. i get it...you're paying homage to The Bicycle Thief...but damn. it was so stilted and awkward.
I guess he's going for a stylized, "I'm reading my lines" style, but he doesn't fully commit (i.e. some scenes are played straight, some are over-the-top), so it comes off as disjointed.
80. "i agree with all the criticism of season 2 but I'm still loving it." In response to Reply # 0
I'm not watching the whole thing in one day the way I did season one, in fact I'm doing one or two episodes a day nearly a week apart, but I am really, really liking what I'm seeing. Aziz is maybe regressing as an actor in several ways (though he did a good job with his Michael Clayton scene I thought) but his team is really coming into their own from a writing and cinematography standpoint.
this show is just covering stuff I'm into or going through right now. foodie shit, music nerd shit, trying to figure out how to turn passion into work, etc.
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