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.

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.

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.

Episode two and five are really good. Episode one just good. Skip three and four, especially three. If you decide to watch only one episode just watch episode 2, chilling. It's enough for me to watch season two.

Two epidode premiere, big stars, and edgy comedy. It's exactly what you'd expect from the commercials and it's what you're going to get. It's a little slow building up, but it's funny and more sharper than it appears to be in the commercials. If I had to wrap this up, it's a funnier and very edgy Twilight Zone and I'm not mad. Can't wait for more episodes and potentially a new season.