The Comedians

If you like Billy Crystal, you will probably like this show. A couple of reviewers suggested that the humor might be over some viewer's heads. I thought that was silly, but other negative reviews and the score of "6" make me wonder if they were on to something.

The shows is a docucomedy about the making of the Billy & Josh show, starring Billy Crystal as a character named Billy Crystal, who has a lot in common with the actor, and Josh Gad as a character...well, you get the idea.

The comedy runs the gamut, from physical shtick, to witty understatement, to bits about awkwardness. Much of it revolves around the difference in age between the two stars. Gad has trouble understanding what "classic" means when it pertains to comedy, because he has never been exposed to the classics. Billy doesn't get where Gad is coming from, in part because Gad is a pseudo-liberal poser who understands only the forms of diversity and inclusion, not the actual belief systems.

Inside jokes abound and both stars are willing to poke fun at themselves. They are backed by a fun cast and some great guest stars. The series has started off strong, with plenty of laugh-out-loud moments.

Update 5/11/15: After five shows, I am really enjoying this show. Watching Billy Crystal and Josh Gad in these roles reminds me of Jerry Seinfeld and George Costanza, but like they did not go to school together and they are meeting for the first time and they don't really like each other that much and Jerry is thirty years older. And maybe they're both Jewish...or they are just pretending to be Jewish for the jokes.

Love this show; it reminds me a lot of Curb Your Enthusiasm (no doubt due to Larry Charles' involvement in both) and while it's not quite as good it's still up there with the best comedies currently on television in my opinion. If you like awkward humour and mockumentaries then you should like this. Crystal and Gadd are brilliant together and Stephnie Weir is absolutely hilarious!

I hope this show gets renewed and I hope it gets more recognition as I think it's seriously underrated at the moment. I look forward to seeing where they take it and how it develops but so far I've enjoyed every single episode.

This is/was a fabulous show. Inventive, unusual, and absolutely hilarious. Great writing and great acting. Stephnie Weir was incredibly vulnerable and yet so offbeat - a charm to watch. Josh Gad and Billy Crystal played off each other so well. Both Larry Charles and Steven Weber as the directors was a stroke of great casting. For any one who has worked in any form of entertainment, whether TV, film, video, Equity or community theater, this show rings true to the combination of egos and jerks and brilliant talent found in them all. Not since Chris Thompson's 'Action' starring Jay Mohr, Illeana Douglas, and Buddy Hackett has there been a show that delves so riotously into the imagined backstage of Hollywood. I miss this show and wish it would come back to life. Even my DVR misses recording it. Anybody know any backstory about it's disappearance? Will it return?

I heard about this show from Bill Burr's Monday Morning Podcast because he describes it as the closest thing to reality, showing what its like for comedians to try and get a show on the air. Its only appropriate that this shows is paired with Louie on FX as they both stretch the bounds between funny and uncomfortable. Although it isn't on par with the brilliance that Louie brings, it carries its own very well and has made me long for new episodes as badly as Louie, It's Always Sunny, and Archer. It is still in it's initial stages and obviously hasn't found it's audience judging by the low rating it has accumulated so far. Let me say this though, I have never felt the need to sign up for an online account due to unjust reviews until now. Billy Crystal is in his finest form in years, and although Josh Gadd plays an understandably irritating character, the shows writers have done a fantastic job building the character into someone that you can feel empathy for. Great Show!

The legendary Billy Crystal and the always funny Josh Gad come together in this fine new FX Comedy about fictionalized versions of themselves in a Faux-Documentary style - ala Parks and Recreation or The Office.

It's a bit like Curb Your Enthusiasm in terms of style and delivery, but the Mockumentary outfit gives them lots to play with and despite the fact that the story is about these two actors forced to work with each other on a Sketch-Comedy show, who clearly hate each other in the beginning, it's not hard to see that they have a nice chemistry and overall dynamic.

Billy plays himself in a grounded, but arrogant kind of way, which beautifully plays off of Josh Gad's overly friendly, but very awkward character. The dialog is well written and the delivery by Crystal and Gad is pretty flawless, it definitely suits the material.

The Comedians is by no means a masterpiece and certainly not for everyone, but it's funny and interesting enough to keep your attention if you give it an honest chance. I watched all episodes so far and I really enjoy it, I highly recommend the show to all fans of the Mockumentary genre and/or the actors!