Mr. Corman

Existence in all its frustration. Fears, facades, buttons and conditioned responses, and worse-- conditioned, cliché dreams imposed by an overwhelming society.

Actors are great, direction is smart, dialog insightful, everything pro with some interesting dabs of creativity... but this show may not be the experience most people are looking for.

On the other hand, everyone can relate to something in this show and snicker or sneer... it's a must-see for psychologists, psychiatrists and anyone who has experienced paranoia, depression, severe anxiety or panic attacks. For me the real mastery in storytelling here was showing that these are all related, overlapping symptoms hinting at a greater underlying condition beyond anyone's control.

I knew I loved this show 10 minutes in when Mr. Corman spoke exactly like me. Everything he said on the couch with his friend is exactly what I say/think and my friends agree lol. It's great to see something so relatable that's not just like nostalgia comedy. I went in expecting to hate it because most things that touch in depression are preachy and pretentious (this is too), but it does a good job.

In the first few episodes I kept waiting for this series to be funny. It doesn't go there. It goes deeper. It's compelling as you try and unravel the big picture. It can be hard to watch sometimes. The anxiety is deeply upsetting. Strange and dark, I think there's something going on and I'm going to stick with it.

It's very well made, written, acted... but it's absolutely not what I need right now in my life (personally). More anxiety, stress, despair, depression is not what I need from my entertainment when my state is on fire (California) and we're in a pandemic and teetering towards fascism. That mixed with the "life of despair" element to this, where he's clearly not feeling happy or satisfied with his life... yeah, after 2 episodes, I had to stop.

Again, extremely well made. Just not what my brain (or soul) need right now. It's hitting a little too close to home, given everything.

But I don't want to rate it for the same reason...

After the first two episodes I feel like there's a little of Mr Corman in a lot of us post-2020. That wound-up, restless anxiety that stems from nothing going how we planned is very relevant and sometimes a little uncomfortable to watch. But I found Mr Corman an engaging character, and look forward to getting to know more of the supporting cast (and hopefully seeing things go his way, at least a bit) in the coming episodes.