TV-14, 17 22-min. episodes
Creator: Judd Apatow
Directors: Jake Kasdan, John
Hamburg, Greg Mottola, Judd Apatow, Jay Chandrasekhar, Paul Feig, Jon Favreau
Writers: Judd Apatow, Rodney
Rothman, Jennifer Konner, Alexandra Rushfield, Seth Rogen, Nicholas Stoller,
Kristofor Brown, Joel Madison, Brent Forrester
Starring: Jay Baruchel,
Carla Gallo, Charlie Hunnam, Monica Keena, Seth Rogen, Tim Sharp, Loudon
Wainwright
Guest starring: Jason Segel,
Christina Payano, Kevin Rankin, Jarrett Grode, P.B. Smiley, Simon Helberg,
Jenna Fischer, Amy Poehler, Will Ferrell, Katherine Towne, Elisa Bocanegra,
Leroy Adams, Greg Mottola, Adam Sandler, Allen Covert, Jonathan Loughran, Kyle
Gass, David Krumholtz, Sarah Hagan, Sam Levine, Steve Bannos, Lacey Beeman,
Jake Hoffman, Jeremy Howard, Matt McKane, Seth St. Laurent, Felicia Day, Fred
Willard, Ted Nugent, Geoffrey Arend, Adam Alexi-Malle, Gerry Bednob, Joanne
Cho, Kevin Hart, Cathy Lind Hayes, Joel McKinnon Miller, Mary Kay Place,
Kimberly Stewart, Amy Wright, Clement Blake, Busy Phillips, Blake Shields,
Alexa Davalos, Bhavana Kundanmal, Erica Hubbard, Kelly Karbacz, Sarah Carter,
Martin Starr, Youki Kudoh, Alex Breckenridge, Jim Brooks, Kim Fifield, Sarah
Ann Morris, Ben Stiller
It was fortuitous that I
should finally get around to watching this cult favorite, typically canceled,
Judd Aapatow-created sitcom in the same month that Seth Rogen released his
feature film “This Is the End”. Otherwise, I might not have realized just how
he and Jay Baruchel were connected. Baruchel is technically the lead in the
ensemble college-based comedy that gets just about everything about being a
campus college student correct. How could this series not have succeeded?
Well, I suppose when you consider
the canned state of American network television, it isn’t that surprising that
this sort of Seinfeldian comedy that is really about nothing wasn’t universally
loved. It’s that lack of goals that is really one of the things the series gets
so right about college life. Obviously the goal of college is higher education,
but it also involves this unique-unto-itself social climate that is all about
finding something to do in a place that is designed to provide nothing to do
but learn. Learning is rarely the primary focus of those who are college-aged,
however.
Other than Rogen and
Baruchel, the series had a pretty impressive slate of stars that ran through
it, although most had yet to achieve their big name status. Charlie Hunnam, Jason
Segel, Will Farrell, Amy Poehler, Jenna Fischer, David Krumholtz, Kevin Hart,
Busy Phillips and Alexa Davalos would all go on to bigger and grander things,
and here they are making their initial marks. Many of the guests were holdovers
from Apatow’s previously prematurely canceled (and even better) “Freaks and
Geeks”. There were even a couple of already established names that popped up,
like Ben Stiller and Adam Sandler, who played none other than Adam Sandler.
No comments:
Post a Comment