The Premise

The Premise is an anthology series, which means each episode is separate from the others. Each has its own characters, actors, plots, and storylines separate from the others. As a result, you get a wide spectrum of stories and, likewise, story quality. For what it is worth, episode 2 is the best, with episode 5 not too far behind. Episode 3 was entertaining enough. Episode one was okay, not great. Episode 4 you can skip. But with only five episodes, you can watch the entire series pretty quickly. It was a waste of time. There are a lot of great actors in this show, such as Ben Platt, Jon Bernthal, and Daniel Dae Kim. I'm not surprised this show only had one season, as it was kind of all over the place. It was pitched to be a balance between comedy and drama, but it had a hard time finding that ground. IMO, the show worked best when it leaned into the drama. Episode 2, which is the best, has no funny parts. But 5 did have some levity that helped it. If I were to recommend this show, I would say watch 2 for sure (Jon Bernthal's episode) and then 5 (Daniel Dae Kim's episode). If you liked that, watch 3, and then you can decide if the other two are for you.

Some good, some better, some not.

This seems to be a vanity production for Novak. Him wanting to try a little bit of this and a little bit of that.

Least favorite, the one about the guy coming back to high school. It was strange on too many levels. There was zero balance.

Most favorite: Hang on, because this surprised even me: Butt Plug. It was brilliant! Absolutely brilliant. There's one teeny tiny hint in there that I played back twice to make sure I heard it correctly (and I did) because it made no sense at the time - and then it made all the sense to the piece.

Frankly, the bully should have been a lawyer!

I admit to fast forwarding through some of these.

All in all, it's worth it.

The Premise is not a comedy. They didn't advertise it as such. It's an anthology. Yes, there are comedic moments but also tragic moments; it's life both sad and happy.

The idea behind the series is to talk about an unsettling truth. It is not about an office that sells paper in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Is it perfect? No, but it makes you feel things, and that's the point of entertainment.

B. J. Novak dared to show character-driven stories, as in the second episode. Without spoiler, the end of the episode shows a sad reality that some people would be capable of when they reach their breaking point after suffering a tragic event in their life.

There is no pretence here. Up front the makers say these are parables to make you think about issues that they feel affect American society. In the first two episodes it is racism and gun control.

As a result we have a modern Tales of the Unexpected with a number of agendas.

Like another review I think they should have shown episode 2 about gun control first. It was well performed and tight. I had seen a similar story before but it was good.

Episode 1 was about police malfeasance and racism. As a result it did not really contribute anything. And so put people off.

I don't really think the series achieves its goal of encouraging discussions. Messages forced on the audience without entertaining them never work.

I'm really not sure if I would recommend it to people who don't like BJ Novak. I do, i like his ideas and appreciate his sense of humour which is definitely not for everyone.

I'm not a big fan of The Premise although i liked some ideas and situations a lot. And every episode did feel like a movie.

So, i hope we'll see some other stuff from this guy and I'm actually waiting for something brilliant.