Impastor - General Discussion

[Meredith Quill]

Discuss Here!

[SanDiegoInExile]

Comcast has Episode One available on-demand.

 

Wow.  This is not your grandma's TVland.  Three un-bleeped S-bombs, three bleeped f-bombs. And a statement that I never expected to hear on basic cable, especially spoken to a minor child.  I don't even know that I can post it here without being banned.

 

Mods, edit as necessary......

The faux pastor is meeting with a drug-addled attitude-laden punky bratty teen boy, who doubts that the pastor is gay.

Impastor: "Make no mistake. I like cock."

 

Loved loved loved Michael Rosenbaum as Lex Luthor all those years. All that fun sexual tension with Tom Welling. Not sure I will watch future Impastors.  Seems like the plot will get old pretty quick and MR is sexier without the mop-head hair.

 

ETA: That's a line we waited 7 years for Lex Luthor to say to Clark Kent

Edited July 4, 2015 by SanDiegoInExile

[Raja]

I hope they avoid the mistakes of The Soul Man

[Whimsy]

Since the episode is available online- read at your own peril!

 

I liked this.  I thought it was funny.  I like Michael Rosenbaum.  I thought he was funny on Breaking In.  I have a soft spot for Sara Rue.  I think she's adorbs!  I thought her questioning why the cantaloupe was in the microwave and Buddy says "why do YOU think it's in the microwave?" and she says "For ice cream?" and then her "yum" was kind of funny.  I also liked Mircea Monroe as Tansy on Hart of Dixie and look forward to her here. 

 

I don't think it's the best show ever, but I think it's kind of funny so I'm in for the (probably very short) duration.

Edited July 19, 2015 by stacey

[KLovestoShop]

I just have a problem with the whole premise of this show. Beyond the language and sexual situations, I just don't like having this nasty individual making fun of a reverend and the job that most of them do. I also dislike the use of a cross in the title of the show. For that matter, I never liked how they write Soul Man. I guess TV Land thinks making fun of men of faith to be good entertainment.

I will say, TV Land is really shoving this show, and the Jim Gaffigan one, down our throats. Wyyyy too many commercials promoting them.

[missbonnie]

It's on TV Land now starting tonight. I thought the first episode was funny myself, anxious to see how it plays out.

[missbonnie]

I liked it and I am a practicing Roman Catholic, go figure. I don't have problems separating shows like this from my ideas of how I feel a pastor "should" be portrayed.

[ketose]

It was definitely better than I thought it was going to be. I also wonder if the real pastor will show up eventually.

[catrox14]

Well, I thought it was a riot. Not at all what I expected and that is a very good thing.  I'll watch again, if only because I really like Rosenbaum

[Raja]

As opposed to The Soul Man, The Impastor has the advantage that he is basically an identity thief who may or may not be changing after a gay pastor saved him and not someone claiming to have studied and chosen to become a pastor in a traditional route. As an audience member I tend to give them more rope. I remember Clifton Davis saying whatever he did he was not going to embarrass the church when he did Amen, Cedric The Entertainer doesn't have that filter on his comedy

[Raja]

It was definitely better than I thought it was going to be. I also wonder if the real pastor will show up eventually.

I don't see how the plot can be maintained if a homicide detective shows up if the pastor's body is recovered. Sledge Hammer is in the series but the idiot cop can only go so far. Playing the pastor as gay does allow him to have been blackballed thus little from his past may show up allowing the impersonation to continue.

[worleybird]

So, they let at least 3 "shit"s thru, but muted "shittin'"

[sleekandchic]

I liked it. It's subversive.

[nodorothyparker]

I liked this a lot more than I thought I would.  Unless I missed something, the real pastor was the guy who accidentally fell in the bay while trying to talk Buddy out of jumping.

 

It's an interesting premise but one I wonder how far they can run with it before it becomes completely ridiculous or implausible.  I suppose a lot will depend on how out and out there they paint the dead pastor.  The entire setup makes me think a lot of My Name is Earl with identity theft and without the white trash cartoonishness.  It was funny and subversive enough to earn at least another episode or two's viewing.

[imjagain]

I watched because I love Sara Rue.

I really enjoyed it. Definitely will watch again. I think this is the first TV land show I've watched.

[heebiejeebie]

I do love Sara Rue.  Not sure about the show just yet.    I'm not that enamoured with the rest of the cast.  I don't dislike any, I'm justnot charmed by them.  I'm shallow so I'm okay with less talent and more visual appeal and one thing this show lacks so far is eye candy.  Though having him having to pretend he is gay could mean some appealing male guest stars.  I do think it would have been funnier if he was gay and had to pretend he was straight in a town that was the new weekend getaway for weekday Chelsea-ites.  But I'm picky and try to fix things like this in a manner most viewers probably consider unneeded let alone unwanted.

 

I do like the cop duo.  They were the funniest part for me.

 

I wasn't clear about the details concerning the real (dead) pastor.  Was he found in a way that makes it him no matter what?  Because I did wonder if a future twist/cliffhanger (depending on how many seasons they might get out of it) will be seeing the presumed dead pastor an amnesiac in some hospital bed and it being some other dead body found and mistaken to be Buddy.  Speaking of the dead pastor, where have I seen that actor before.  A commercial?  It is bugging me.

[jumper sage]

I am all in.  Loved the first episode.

[nodorothyparker]

I'm kind of fascinated to find this on TV Land because hasn't all of their original programming up until now been stars of sitcoms past doing pretty traditional looking three-camera sitcoms?  This seems pretty edgy for a network that's still showing reruns of Gilligan's Island.  I'm also kind of fascinated to realize that this is the same actor who cut his teeth playing Lex Luthor on Smallville.  I seriously didn't recognize him with hair, which probably says something about me.

 

Because I'm an insomniac who sometimes watches TV Land in the middle of the night, I know there's a promo running that identifies the real pastor as a body under a sheet with a tag on its toe.  The face is conveniently covered so I suppose they can play that either way depending on how they want the story to go.

 

Love worst-case scenario cop. 

[Kromm]

So the cast was at Comic-Con, so obviously there actually IS more of this coming: http://www.ew.com/gallery/comic-con-2015-star-portraits-day-1/2240998_michael-rosenbaum-and-sara-rue-impastor

[Kromm]

Paste Magazine: TVLand Charts Dark Comedy Territory with Impastor

 

Newsday: 'Impastor' review: A little too much of a good thing

 

TVLIne: Impastor Premiere: Will You Religiously Watch TV Land's Con Man Sitcom?

[Kromm]

 

When dead bodies are discovered in town, and evidence points to the pastor, the church is in an uproar; Buddy attends his funeral.

 

[formerlyfreedom]

Buddy Dobbs, a slacker on the run from a loan shark, steals a man's identity and ends up posing as a small town's new gay pastor.

[Kromm]

Who doesn't love Sara Rue?  I mean seriously.  They could put her in anything and there's a good chance I'd watch.

 

Okay thats'a a total lie. She was apparently on 12 episodes of Rules of Engagement, and I have no desire at all to track those down and watch them. Because CBS sitcoms suck balls.

 

But Sara Rue!  Whooo!  I'd watch her in... um.  ALMOST anything.  If it's not on CBS.  

[ketose]

So there is potentially some kind of a supernatural redemption arc. Buddy was incredibly lucky, at the least, for an accident to kill both people who were planning to kill him but not kill him in the trunk. Of course, if he decides to stay, how long will he be a fish out of water before it gets ridiculous. Buddy seems like a guy who would brush up a little on what a pastor does.

 

Is the thing about Episcopalians not praying for the souls of the dead a real thing?

[SmithW6079]

So there is potentially some kind of a supernatural redemption arc. Buddy was incredibly lucky, at the least, for an accident to kill both people who were planning to kill him but not kill him in the trunk. Of course, if he decides to stay, how long will he be a fish out of water before it gets ridiculous. Buddy seems like a guy who would brush up a little on what a pastor does.

 

Is the thing about Episcopalians not praying for the souls of the dead a real thing?

If there's a supernatural theme, and Buddy is redeemed, the original pastor is still dead in a freak accident, and what kind of God does that?

 

According to some quick Googling, Episcopalians do pray for the dead.

[Raja]

If there's a supernatural theme, and Buddy is redeemed, the original pastor is still dead in a freak accident, and what kind of God does that?

According to some quick Googling, Episcopalians do pray for the dead.

The theological position is that this life is temporary and the real pastor did his job and is being rewarded in the afterlife. So far the Impastor has been a positive influence upon his flock. In effect when survivors are attempted to be comforted with statements that their loved ones are in a better place, have gone home,..

[J-Man]

 

Is the thing about Episcopalians not praying for the souls of the dead a real thing?

I thought Alden said they were Lutherans, not Episcopalians. 

[ketose]

Rules of Engagement will eventually suck you in, especially if you're up late and nothing else is on. Sara played a lesbian surrogate for one of the couples on the show.

[ketose]

You're right. Lutherans.

[nodorothyparker]

This is still really mostly working for me.  Buddy's funeral with people mostly showing up to say what a douchebag he was was funny, although it raises the question of why have the funeral at all then.  It's still giving off really strong My Name is Earl vibes.

 

I still wonder how long the premise can hold up without becoming completely ridiculous.  My husband who's just being introduced to the show saw Buddy go out the window and immediate said "so this is going to be a thing every week where he tries to bail when he can't figure out what else to do only to be pulled back for one reason or another to stick it out?"  I don't know.  I think the real sink or swim moment for the entire setup is going to be whether he can stand up in church and credibly pass himself off as someone who has any idea what the hell he's doing.  Hiring an openly gay pastor means the Lardner church has to be on the more liberal end of Evangelical Lutheranism, so he'll probably be able to get away with a certain amount of improvisation but Lutherans are still Lutherans and expect a certain amount of respect for tradition.

[ketose]

From what I gather, Lardner had a hard time finding a pastor, so a gay pastor may be the ecumenical version of a bargain.

[J-Man]

 

Hiring an openly gay pastor means the Lardner church

 

From what I gather, Lardner had a hard time

The town is named LADNER, not Lardner.

[candall]

Holy shit, it's Rusty!

[formerlyfreedom]

Buddy holds a Sunday service, but Schmidt is livid following his unorthodox approach. Later, Dora has a strange request for Buddy; and Alexa and Russell vie for his affection.

 

 

[HunterHunted]

Buddy is so shockingly lazy that's it's amazing he's managed to get in as deep with gangsters as he has. He honestly should have been killed much earlier. He could have easily stolen a sermon off the internet. I'm sure there must have been some saved on the laptop. He's such a lazy narcissist. Good con artists are students of human behavior and are very careful about slipping up. Buddy is sloppy and only occasionally pays attention to others. I don't want him to be Don Draper, buy he has to be a little less incompetent.

[nodorothyparker]

"We're Lutheran.  We don't do joy.  We top out at quiet contentment."  Hee.  This show's doing a better job at nailing small town Protestantism than I would have expected.

 

I couldn't believe Buddy didn't at least google what he would be expected to do either.  Or ask a few questions to feel Dora out on the specifics after she gave him the church program.  It's obvious that he's really liking the setup he has as Pastor Barlow, so you'd think he'd be willing to put in at least a little bit of work at keeping it. He's clearly someone who thinks well on his feet, but the entire premise is going to quickly exceed the suspension of disbelief if he continues to be this lazy and halfassed about it.

[Raja]

I got to say I liked the Bishop. We saw some of Father Mulcahy's religious and Army superiors on MASH but I can't remember that part being played on other pastor shows. While we have seen Alden Scmidt in Deacon Frye on Amen

[ketose]

What was Dora's "strange request?" My cable box decided to reboot during the episode.

[teebax]

What was Dora's "strange request?" My cable box decided to reboot during the episode.

That he pray for her sick bird during the church service.

[formerlyfreedom]

Buddy steals a ruby necklace from a woman in a coffin to pay off a gambling debt. Also, Dora and Alexa have a falling out over a church fashion show; and Schmidt falls for a mystery woman.

 

 

[Raja]

Buddy is so shockingly lazy that's it's amazing he's managed to get in as deep with gangsters as he has. He honestly should have been killed much earlier. He could have easily stolen a sermon off the internet. I'm sure there must have been some saved on the laptop. He's such a lazy narcissist. Good con artists are students of human behavior and are very careful about slipping up. Buddy is sloppy and only occasionally pays attention to others. I don't want him to be Don Draper, buy he has to be a little less incompetent.

Was Buddy a con artist or just a gambler who found a stroke of luck when contemplating suicide? His professional credentials can be looked at in a different light depending upon his starting point.

[nodorothyparker]

I think he's been portrayed as more of a gambler and general ne'er-do-well than a deliberate con artist.  He took the real Pastor Barlow's car on a whim to get himself out of town.  He didn't seem to have any deliberate plan and originally was only staying until he could tap into the pastor's bank account.  His falling into this current life happened precisely because it was such a nice setup and the church and townspeople unwittingly made it so easy for him.  I suppose that does support what we're seeing that he really is this lazy.

Edited August 3, 2015 by nodorothyparker

[Primetimer]

When Michael Rosenbaum grows out his hair he gets really funny! Who knew?

Read the story

[TeeVee329]

OMG...somebody besides me remembers "Sorority Boys"!

I've only seen the pilot, but it was fun summer fluff.

[HunterHunted]

I thought this was a spectacularly unfunny episode. Though I love many of the actors, I'm giving myself one more episode to decide if I want to stick with this show.

[methodwriter85]

Rules of Engagement was actually a pretty good, low-key sitcom.

[nodorothyparker]

This episode didn't feel as tightly focused or plotted and it suffered for it.

It seems dumb to the point of unbelievability that Buddy would gamble away everything and put himself right back in hock after getting to completely start over. But maybe that's where this show is going to be different from others of this ilk where the bad guy finds the good inside him and embraces his second chance. In real life it's very difficult to change on a permanent basis and the person is likely to eventually revert to who they are. Suddenly this feels like a much darker premise.

The unexpected shading of some of our townspeople is interesting if uneven. I'm curious to see where it goes.

[formerlyfreedom]

Buddy tries to help Alexa escape her past, but his efforts put both of them in danger. Elsewhere, Dora has a meltdown after learning her ex-fiancé is getting married.

 

 

[candall]

Okay, what's going on here?

 

The big laughs were fake cancer hooker and coffin hideout.  Smaller laughs included Buddy losing control, forgetting his gig (again) and shouting profanity in front of his congregants.

 

Isn't this supposed to be "ne'er-do-well pulls a long con, making it up as he goes along, sliding by on his wits and charm"?

 

Buddy's an idiot and I wasn't charmed.

 

 

 

 

[Chickp]

That's an accurate name for it...a little treat. I am a Lutheran pastor (a real one) and am super enjoying the sort of riff on our weird little culture. I have never lived in a parsonage but have heard the horror stories. And we totally have out gay pastors and have for years now, but whatev, I get that it's a major (funny) plot point. <br /><br />Anyway, it was a pleasant surprise in the middle of bummer August TV.