User reviews

I like "How to Make it" and think the writing is good and the acting is good. Yes, it could be better, but the first season (watching it On Demand) has kept me coming back. Bryan Greenburg, Victor Rasuk, and Lake Bell put in fine performances and I can see this as a real story line in New York. There is plenty of realism in the writing and acting.

It is not fair to compare this to Entourage, and I think those comparisons are partly why the show only lasted 2 seasons. People who were drawn to the show by this comparison and expectations of what the show would be like were disappointed. Entourage brought flashy people, a fantasy life in Hollywood, and lots of naked women, bare-chested fit men, and sex. It was a fantasy world with a few hints of reality.

"How to Make it ..." was more about reality and with no nudity and sex. So right there the majority of the Entourage audience started tuning out once they realized they weren't going to see Lake Bell, Florence Faivre, or anyone else naked. As superficial as it sounds, there are a number of people that watch the HBO shows because there is nudity. Without that, it's "just another show". They picked it up a bit in season 2 with a few nude shots - and the famous Lake Bell scene in Episode 3 that won her a Mr Skin award - to try to boost viewers. But by then it was too late, they lost a lot of the HBO viewers and ratings were down 25% in season 2.

So I think "How to Make it" didn't quite fit the bill of a paid cable channel show. If it were on a network, it might have fared better because the expectations of the audience would have been different - not lower (or higher) just different.

There are some ways where it did compare to Entourage, but that doesn't mean it was good. It was the typical up/down story line - things are going great, then disaster strikes. They work their way through it, things look good again, then something else goes terribly wrong. Then the first season ends on a high note to get you hooked for season 2 - where things go wrong again soon. That was the type of story line throughout Entourage which started turning people off after a few seasons - but the promise of hot naked women kept them coming back. As I stated above, without that lure, this type of story line got old fast and viewership dropped.

You can create drama in other ways then this constant up and down in every single episode (look at Boardwalk empire, Sopranos, Breaking Bad, etc.) but it seams that is the only way this production team knows how to operate.

So in the end, I liked the show and think Lake Bell is a beautiful and talented actress. I watched both seasons and would like to have seen more of it, but I think it just didn't have enough to keep a pay channel audience watching.

Since we are now 4 episodes in I think I've given this show enough time to get on track.

I really want this show to be good cause I really like the main story going on, but lets be clear this show has major issues and if it want to get a second season they need to be fixed quick. So let's just dive right in and stop beating around the bush: You need to condense the show down a lot, it is not an hour show no matter how much you think or want it to be. Limit character appearances in the show and stick closer to the main characters. I understand you are leaving Bryan Greenberg ex girlfriend Lake Bell in the show only because they are going to get back together at sometime or you are going to create a time when they both want each other again and can't have each other do to some kind of circumstance.

But I can't fathom why you keep showing Lake Bell's boss, as she might play a small roll in the development of Lake Bell's character but let's leave it that way. Stop giving her valuable screen time when you have Kid Cudi in the show and he hasn't said more then 10 words. I can understand why you are showing Eddie Kaye Thomas because he is going to play some part in helping get Bryan Greenberg denim line going and Luis Guzmán has his own making it in America story going on.

So to break it down let's cut the show down to the half an hour it has been given and focus on the main storyline, if you do that you will have plenty of time to work on smaller character development later on.

Other then the few mistakes I'm seeing above I think the show is going great and can't wait to see the next episodes, but I pray that you do re-edit a little to focus more on the main storyline and not so much on the little characters that play such a small roll in this show.

I'm going to make this as short and sweet as possible. Lets look at The Offices' rocky first season. No one thought it was going to get picked up and that Steve Carell was trying to hard with his character. A review from The New York Daily News said it was ''so diluted there's little left but muddy water''.

Now The Office is in it's 6th season and just recently got the OK from NBC for a 7th and is consistently one of NBC's highest rated shows and it's my personal favorite.

So, that said, we can't be too critical of a show that hasn't even finished it's first season. Plots are still evolving, as well as characters. I'm not saying it's going to be a great show but sometimes these shows have to crawl before they can walk.

Watched this show since it supposed to be similair to Entourage. S1 starts a little bit slow but S2 is much better and starts to get closer to Entourage but its definitly not as good. A thrid season would have had the potential to be even better. The character build up is a little slow and you feel less involved as you did with Entourage or for example Californication. S2 improves on this and you start to see some more depth in some characters.

Still a good watch and enjoyable. Some fun and dry humor here and there. But not as good as people claim it to be. S1 is a 6.5 and S2 is a 7.5 because of its potential.

This show is amazing if you like the fact that it could be any of us in the same situations. Do you ever have something important you need to do to make it and you think you wont make it? So do these guys! They are funny, witty, and pretty hot. Over all I feel the show is good and would rate it a 10 out of 10 but its only been one season so far and its not even over yet. If anything you should watch the show to see what crazy statement Edith will make. Obviously those of you who think the show is not good cant relate to real life struggles. If you want to see what life could be like when you're creating something new for yourself here it is.