The beauty of FXX's Man Seeking Woman is that anything can happen in its surreal, over-literal universe, but not everything has to happen. Do you understand what I mean by that?
There's a unlimited amount of potential in this new series from SNL scribe Simon Rich, but the creators are smart enough to pace themselves and explore their full boundaries with each passing week. They tread delicately with their boundaries each week, pushing their exact boundaries at very choice moments, instead of at any given moment so as to keep the audience engaged but always guessing.
The sky's the limited, literally. Man Seeking Woman's latest episode, "Sizzurp," begins with the Gods, as Zeus and his parade of assorted friends gather around to give their lost immortal Cupid (guest star Jorma Taccone) an intervention for his alcohol and cough syrup ("sizzrup") addictions. Agreeing to go to rehab once and for all, he commends the service by "hooking up the world's biggest loser with some super hot chick." In this case, "some super hot chick" is Whitney (guest star Minka Kelly), while the "world's biggest loser" is, of course, our protagonist Josh (Jay Baruchel).
From there, Josh becomes a new man, "an American hero," his rarely bewildered friend Mike (Eric Andre) even calls him. But Josh must, of course, battle the challenges of literally every man around him wanting to sleep with his new girlfriend, including Whitney's old travel aboard friend Tanaka, a giant purple Japanese penis monster — by far, one of the most characters I've seen in years, be it film, television or any other medium.
Written by Robert Padnick — the first Man Seeking Woman episode thus far not written or co-written by Rich — "Sizzurp" may not be the best installment of FXX's new sitcom yet, but just like every passing week it seems, except for last week's episode, it's the most assured and self-confident of the bunch. Padnick, who also co-wrote "Traib", seems the most assured with Man Seeking Woman's tone and goals, except for Rich obviously. He understands the aesthetics and oddities of the show, but is never afraid or discouraged to see what he can create or explore how far he can go. His metaphors are clear but never too obvious, and his plotting is well-flowed and highly suited for the show's intended structure.
Man Seeking Woman, it seems apparent by now, enjoys a nice blend of modernism, absurdity and spunkiness, with a nice mix of sophomoric Judd Apatow-esque genitalia humor to boot. It's an unusual mix, and that's why Rich and his team should be applauded. For a show about an unconfident man trying to make it in the dating, Rich's sitcom is full in sync with itself and burst into the scene with good stride and assurance. That this is just the show's fifth episode is astounding.
Image courtesy of Peter West/ACE/INFphoto.com
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