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S01.E01: Renoir

Tara Ariano

By Tara Ariano
in Baskets [V]

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ratgirlagogo

ratgirlagogo

I'd only be interested in this if he ended up getting genuinely excited about getting to be a rodeo clown. I'd love to be proved wrong but I'm pretty sure this is the kind of show that is made by the kind of people who don't realize how fucking awesome rodeos and rodeo clowns are.

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AuntiePam

AuntiePam

I liked it too.  There isn't a single thing I'd change.  It was almost too perfect -- everyone behaved as expected, no surprises.  Which ordinarily would be boring, but it wasn't.

 

I wasn't sure how I'd react to Louie Anderson but he was so believable as the mom.  Loved the old fart in charge of the rodeo clowns and wondered if he was an actor or a real rodeo guy. 

 

Love the insurance lady too. 

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Lone Wolf

Lone Wolf

I adore Zack Galifianakis, so I am in for good. First episode gave me a lot of laughs.

I didn't know Louie Anderson was playing the mom so I went through a moment of "who is that....oh WOW" recognition, and I was delighted when I figured it out; I love his stand up.

Great premiere!

Same here.

 

I enjoyed the show also. Just of curiosity, does anybody know, do they actually shoot in Bakersfield?

From what I've seen of the area, I'd guess not (although it would probably be pretty low overhead). It may not be where dreams go to die, but they're definitely in hospice care. 

Speaking of what I know of the area, it's the San Joaquin Valley in California, not the Redneck South.  Why does Dale have a shit-kickin' hillbilly accent (other than for comedic effect)?

 

I tuned in because Zach Galifianakis and to support Louis CK, and I'll stick if the rest of the run is like this ep.  There's enough "Louie"-ness so far to keep me around for a while.

 

  • Love 2
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Milburn Stone

Milburn Stone

(edited)

From what I've seen of the area, I'd guess [they don't actually shoot in Bakersfield] (although it would probably be pretty low overhead). It may not be where dreams go to die, but they're definitely in hospice care. Speaking of what I know of the area, it's the San Joaquin Valley in California.

 

Yeah, I was kind of guessing they didn't actually shoot in Bakersfield, not because I'm all that familiar with it (or with the San Joaquin Valley for that matter--although I have spent a nice couple of days in Visalia), but because from the time I have spent in Bakersfield, I couldn't imagine any human being choosing to spend some weeks shooting there :) (Sorry, Bakersfielders.)

Edited by Milburn Stone
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peeayebee

peeayebee

I liked this, too. I only hope that Penelope drops out of the picture soon. 

 

I'd only be interested in this if he ended up getting genuinely excited about getting to be a rodeo clown. I'd love to be proved wrong but I'm pretty sure this is the kind of show that is made by the kind of people who don't realize how fucking awesome rodeos and rodeo clowns are.

 

Hard to tell which way the show will go. I can see Chip sticking to his dream no matter what happens, but maybe he'll gain some appreciation for the work he's doing. I don't think the show is saying that rodeos or rodeo clowns are stupid; it's just a mismatch for the type of clowning Chip wants to do.

 

Louie Anderson was great as Mrs Baskets. I also liked Dale, Eddie, and Marsha. All great characters.

 

Did I hear wrong, or did Mrs Baskets say that Chip and Dale are her adopted twins?

 

Zach rollerblades surprisingly well.

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Milburn Stone

Milburn Stone

 I don't think the show is saying that rodeos or rodeo clowns are stupid; it's just a mismatch for the type of clowning Chip wants to do.

 

Yeah. In any Zach Galifianakis project, any mismatch between the ZG character and the world around him can pretty reliably be laid at the ZG character's feet. :)

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cpcathy

cpcathy

My husband recognized the road they drove on (more than one time in the episode) as being in the San Fernando Valley, but he says that he sees that road a lot on TV, so I don't know if he's just imagining it!

 

I enjoyed this, love the cross between comedy and pathos, very "Louie"-esque. It's nice to have stuff like this on TV. I love Zach, so I'm in for the entire series. If you get a chance, do watch him in Bored to Death, wonderful little show, only 24 episodes though.

 

And indeed, why does Dale have a Southern accent?

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Dowel Jones

Dowel Jones

Most of the humor fell really flat on me, sorry.  I'll give it a couple of episodes to see if it grows a bit.  I finished out this episode because I wanted to see if there were any Bakersfield landmarks shown ( I grew up there), but I didn't recognize anything.  There is no actual place called Bakersfield Villas.

 

Did Kentucky County Clerk Kim Davis get cast as the insurance agent?

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AuntiePam

AuntiePam

And indeed, why does Dale have a Southern accent?

 

When I saw Dale, I thought "Wow, where did they find the Zach look-alike?"  The technology has gotten so much better since the days of Bewitched, with Samantha and Serena. 

 

Maybe the accent helps Zach get into that other character? 

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bilgistic

bilgistic

ZG uses that alter-ego brother character in some of his standup. ZG is from NC, and that's the origin of the accent. That's my take, anyway, based upon what I've seen (and I'm an NC native, so pride for ZG).

This wasn't a home run for me, but I'll keep watching. I really like ZG and Louis CK, of course. The first line that made me laugh was, "Who are you, Lee Greenwood?" in response to Martha saying we make good scooters in the U.S.

I rooted for Chip, and was happy he got a raise for making it to head clown position at the rodeo.

  • Love 2
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possibilities

possibilities

(edited)

I realize that being a sad sack is a currently popular thing to be, but the extent of the inexplicable and extreme servility toward his wife and her irredeemable, unmitigated obnoxiousness, paired with his oblivion and total rudeness toward the insurance agent, makes him not just a sad sack but also a complete asshole. It's just a tiny bit too much for me, and I'm a big fan of cringe humor and socially awkward and/or oblivious characters most of the time.

 

I also thought going to clown college in France without knowing French (and then giving up in the first scene) was too much to believe-- especially when even I could see what the professor was doing and asking him to do. Fish out of water stories are usually my favorites, but he wasn't a fish out of water, he was an imbecile.

 

After sitting through a season of rape fantasies and other repulsive shit on Louie, I'm not sure I have the stomach for another show which hints at similarly toolish and self-pitying masculinity.

 

I really wanted to like it; it had its glimmers of glory as others have noted.

Edited by possibilities
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Milburn Stone

Milburn Stone

This is not to convince someone who doesn't like the show to like it, but in some interview somewhere (I think Vulture), ZG said the genesis of the show was to build a story around the Between Two Ferns interviewer character. That evolved into this, but the germ of the BTF character--the nearly pathological narcissism, depression and misanthropy--is clearly in Chip Baskets. 

  • Love 3
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Eyeland Baby

Eyeland Baby

I actually am looking forward to more of this. That moment when the tear rolls down his cheek- my son and I were groaning aloud and laughing. I said "That is the saddest thing I have ever seen," yet I was laughing. I guess Zach Galifianakis just gets me. And his annoyance when shouting "Schweppes! Schweppes, we said Schweppes!" without a hint of self-awareness regarding the ridiculousness of expecting a fast food place to have Schweppes... I get it, he's a jerk, but I think that's the point. Oh, and I almost forgot, that moment at the end after the surprise bull hit, he's prone on the ground and you think it's going to be another groanworthy sad sack moment- but the crowd is LAUGHING, and that's all that matters. And the transition with them chanting his name, which prompts him to do a 180 on the name (from Renoir to Baskets)... Ok, I'm done. See y'all next week, maybe.

  • Love 4
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AuntiePam

AuntiePam

I realize that being a sad sack is a currently popular thing to be, but the extent of the inexplicable and extreme servility toward his wife and her irredeemable, unmitigated obnoxiousness, paired with his oblivion and total rudeness toward the insurance agent, makes him not just a sad sack but also a complete asshole. It's just a tiny bit too much for me, and I'm a big fan of cringe humor and socially awkward and/or oblivious characters most of the time.

 

 

I didn't get an asshole vibe from him, except for that rude comment about Martha's dress.  He might be oblivious, but his behavior might also be refusal to accept anything that doesn't fit his dream. 

 

I'm more intrigued with Martha than with Chip.  Did she ram his bike on purpose? 

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Febgirl

Febgirl

I was fascinated by this show.   I got a Napoleon Dynamite vibe from it.

I'll definitely give it another watch.  I thought Louie Anderson in drag as Mrs. Baskets, bore a striking resemblance to Caroline Rhea.

 

 I'm over Zach Galifinakis doing the effeminate southern accent schtick like he does when he portrays the twin brother.  

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heatherchandler

heatherchandler

(edited)

I'll have the Number 57

That's the price

Oh.. in that case I'll take the Number 4

----------------------

I was dead. DEAD.

This show is hilarious. It reminds me of Strangers With Candy. Another underrated show that made me laugh out loud.

Edited by heatherchandler
  • Love 3
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DiabLOL

DiabLOL

 I thought Louie Anderson in drag as Mrs. Baskets, bore a striking resemblance to Caroline Rhea.

 

Oh yes! I forgot to say that! I laughed so hard when I first saw him. He looks exactly like Caroline Rhea. I love he plays the mom as mom not some hahahhah I know you all know I'm a man playing a mom.

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EAG46

EAG46

I really liked Louie as the mother.  And I hope Martha has an end-game in being picked on by everyone.  Like she's secretly a serial killer and she's found her next victims or something.

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Roxy

Roxy

This is the weirdest show I've seen in a while and I loved every minute of it! ZG cracks me up reading the phonebook and I loved everyone else, as well. The insurance agent and Louie A's mother character are sidesplitting to me. It won't be for everyone- or maybe even most- but I was laughing out loud and thinking "this is so bizarre" the whole time. Win/win!! I am so excited to have a show I actually enjoy.

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ElectricBoogaloo

ElectricBoogaloo

I also thought going to clown college in France without knowing French (and then giving up in the first scene) was too much to believe

To be fair, I have read stories about chefs who don't speak any French going to cooking school in France (Giada de Laurentiis is a famous example).

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SlackerInc

SlackerInc

The general tenor of the reactions in this thread is discouraging to me, because I was hoping (after hearing so much critical praise) that this was a show with a shaky pilot that got much better subsequently.  Louie is one of my favorite shows, but this one in general is not resonating for me like Louie, at all.

I enjoyed precisely two things in this episode, which combined for about 10% of the running time: (1) When his mom chugs the drink, coughs and sprays a bunch of it all over, then says "Mmm, that hit the spot"; (2) The whole scene at the drive-through, attempting to order all those obscure or defunct soft drinks. Those were both really great.  Genius, even.  Which keeps me just slightly on the hook--but wow, what a rough ratio to get that two minutes of enjoyment.

On 1/24/2016 at 7:09 AM, Milburn Stone said:

This is not to convince someone who doesn't like the show to like it, but in some interview somewhere (I think Vulture), ZG said the genesis of the show was to build a story around the Between Two Ferns interviewer character. That evolved into this, but the germ of the BTF character--the nearly pathological narcissism, depression and misanthropy--is clearly in Chip Baskets. 

Ohhh.  Yeah, no.  That will if anything convince me to run the other way.  I don't like Galifinakis's deadpan insult style on "Between the Ferns", at ALL. And he does some of that here, although mercifully not throughout.  Does that comedic style continue in later episodes?

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Milburn Stone

Milburn Stone

2 hours ago, SlackerInc said:

I don't like Galifinakis's deadpan insult style on "Between the Ferns", at ALL. And he does some of that here, although mercifully not throughout.  Does that comedic style continue in later episodes?

Well, since you asked,

Spoiler

I would say the more we get to know Chip in subsequent episodes, the more human he becomes, and the more we see the insult style as a defense mechanism, to the point that he engenders our sympathy more and more. And also, he seems to develop some shreds of empathy for others, in his way.

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possibilities

possibilities

For me, the show did get better, but it was a slow development. Each episode gave me just enough to keep coming back, and it did build so that I liked it a little more and then a little more and then a little more over time, but it wasn't until season 2 that I began to LOVE the show.

Honestly, I think they have shifted quite a bit, not only with revealing relevant backstory that shifts how the early episodes look in retrospect, but they have also shifted significantly in focus so that what's happening now is a lot less annoying and a lot more enjoyable as it happens.

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