John Mulaney Presents: Everybody's in LA

All the negative or confused reviewers are looking for something that they're not supposed to find: a consistent format.

The show is live, it's meant to be random, fun and slightly imperfect - almost like humans used to be. The phone calls and discussion leave so much room for improv - that's where the fun is, that's where the thrill is. We're all experiencing the show together, it's intimate, it's real, it's not overly polished or saturated like a pre-recorded nightly talk-show that has 5 hours to edit their episode before it airs.

This is a show for the people who go to a concert but leave their cellphone in their pocket and enjoy the moment.

What...what was this? This show starts off with a funny monolog, then I can't even for sure tell you what happened. Was this a series of really dry comedy bits that fell flat, or a series of esoteric parody bits that succeeded in making uncomfortable comedy moments? I'm not sure and I'm not certain John Mulaney knows. He's a phenomenal stand-up comedian, and as a result, I can't believe this was an accident. So that leaves me with the unfortunate belief that this was a deliberately unpolished mash-up of bizarre concepts that have definitely not been tested before a life audience. It kind of feels like if David Lynch made a talk show.

Great first episode trying a totally different approach to a comedy show. Jerry Seinfeld is a bit of a jerk. Would have been better without him. Seinfeld couldn't stand not being the center of attention and was disruptive. Other guests were obviously intimidated by the big star comedian and didn't get their opportunity to shine. John will adjust and I expect every show to improve. Still the show moved along nicely. The prerecorded segments were the best and John's introductory monologue shined. The call ins had their moments but the general public isn't always great story tellers. Can't wait for more. My style of humor for sure.

What a refreshing show! In my opinion the talkshow format has sadly been played out for a while. Modern talk shows lack the spontaneity and natural feel of what made people like Letterman so great back in the day. John has revived that spirit in his show and it is a joy to watch! Art meets comedy meets absurdism meets genuinely interesting conversation. I hope the show is rebooted, and I would love to see him take it nationwide. As a biased Chicago resident, it would be amazing to see John do a Chicago run!!

Kudos to Netflix for putting this on and kudos to the producers and writers who contributed to this amazingly quirky piece of work!

I hope John Mulaney totally saves himself from addiction and goes on with this for many years to come. As someone who's been having several issues with Netflix's recent choice of comedy, this one at the very least signaled freshness in framing humor.

The opening act was great, what with the map, trivia and all... The way it was constructed reminded me of another Netflix show, a special named Red States, Blue States. It always helps to mix fact with not-so-facts to get that mockumentary taste while still establishing the grounds for what we will be experiencing.

Yeah, this show is about LA after all - the unstable nature of the format helps underline the chaotic nature of the city as well. Mulaney being laid back and not too jumpy allows the guests to roam free, which helps each in different ways. That joke by Stavros vs Seinfeld's good boy humor. Etc.

Seeing Will Ferrell in character is always great and maybe that was what elevated my score from a 7 to an 8.

Now, was it really too funny? No, not really. But what matters at this point in streaming is the mood you offer. And they did offer an original mood that brought with enough laughs.

Let's see if other episodes will be even better.