Eric

The 'Good Day Sunshine' puppet TV show is the successful brain child of creative genius Vincent Anderson (Benedict Cumberbatch). However, though the show has been successful in the 70's the network says it is badly in need of an update. Vincent is a narcissist and control freak, frequently abrasive to all around him, so he is not dealing with this well. Add to this that he is prone to schizophrenia (which his wealthy mother keeps patronising him about - "I think it's time to take your pills again Vincent") and alcoholism and you have the backdrop for the disappearance of his 9 year old son Edgar (Ivan Morris Howe).

Eric is essentially a drama about dealing with the open wound that a missing person (particularly a child) leaves behind. In this respect it is a darkly comic watch because of the juxtaposition of the pain (arguments, anger, profanity, alcoholism) against the child like muppet show style characters. The titular monster muppet Eric (who is reminiscent of 'sully' from Monsters Inc) is the 'Mr Hyde' alter ego of Vincent - imagined by his long suffering son - but manifested (literally) by the father. That's the central contrivance or 'Eric' - and it works well.

At one point the distraught mother, Cassie - brilliantly played by Gabby Hoffman as an emotional wreak - asks a family friend - "What is it about puppets Lenny?" To which he replies "They can say the things that we can't" And that's one of the key themes - using avatars to express the best and worst of our dreams and desires.

Add to this mix uber cool 'lost people' detective Michael Detroit (Belcher) - who rarely gets mad or breaks a smile - but is also strong, handsome and romantically sensitive with his dying partner. However - his investigations seem to move at a snail like pace as he spends most of his time being hounded by grieving parents to do more (or work colleagues to 'get a life / wife').

There are some great 'needle drops' - I won't spoil the surprises but they make you smile and they are well chosen and timed.

I've got to say - this is a promisingly refreshing and creative production. The characters are very well acted and surprisingly three dimensional. Despite its nostalgic 80's setting it has a comic book vibe about it - almost 'super-real'.

The one criticism I do have is that it did seem to me to be a little sluggish in its plot and pacing. I kept coming back for more because the characters and story were so engaging and compelling - but I have to admit, the lack of action was a bit frustrating sometimes. So I think this would have worked better as a four episode series - however - if you can 'go with the slow flow' it really is worth the watch in the end.

Benedict did a phenomenal job acting. Honestly, all the acting was great (even the kid). But there were entire unnecessary scenes that caused the show to feel like it was dragging. The timing was inconsistent, and the direction was weak. I kept thinking, "David Lynch would've done a better job with this." It was watchable, but only in the sense that I could be up doing things around the house or working on other things. It wasn't riveting enough to focus on. There were redeemable elements, like the fact that it represented the 80s more accurately than Stranger Things. Everything really was brown. I would not ever watch this or anything like it again. I'm not sure this was worth being a series, though. Maybe a movie, with all the boring parts cut out. But definitely not a series.

I recently watched the show and found it to be a captivating and well-crafted series. The characters were well-developed, and the themes were thought-provoking. However, I couldn't shake off the feeling that the show was slightly overstretched. Could have been made atleast 2 episodes shorter..

Sometimes I felt that the pacing dragged in a few places, and some scenes could have been trimmed or condensed to maintain a tighter narrative. In each episode the sideway scenes make you do fast forwarding.

Despite this, the show's strengths outweigh its weaknesses, and I would still recommend it to fans of the genre. The acting was superb, the writing was clever, and the overall story arc was satisfying.

I have read a few of the reviews and I'm a little disappointed at the lack of appreciation for art. Other critics have opined that they didn't like the characters; however, that's part of the story/character development. This series is meant to appeal to the side of us that wants to evolve. The side of us that is often ignored.

As far as a critique, I thought Vincent's struggle with his shadow side (Eric) was a bit overdone in the final episodes. Early on it felt like a thriller but the genre shifted around episode 3 or 4, maybe drawn out. Otherwise, this is a great series in my opinion.

As someone who experienced a bit of a personal transformation, I find this story to be touching and inspirational. We're all part of the problem, and I think that's what this series is trying to tell us.

It feels like the purpose of this show was to adress as much societal issues as possible, and weave that all into a story.

It adresses; mental illness, addiction, gay discrimination, AIDS neglect, pedosexuality, gentrification, institutional racism, parental neglect and abuse, homelessness, corruption,....and I'm sure I missed a few.

When you strip it down though, to the centre of the storyline, the boy who's missing and what's going on with him, you're left with not a whole lot of substance to that.

Whether you like the show or not, it's strength will have to be working all those societal issues into one show, one story.

For me, I would have liked more substance to central storyline about the boy, and not all the sidesteps to add moral value.

And the show is a bit too long.