The Jim Gaffigan Show - General Discussion

[KLovestoShop]

Ratings are very bad.  Not much to brag about when shows like Donny Loves Jenny score better.  This show just doesn't work for me.  

[VartanFan]

Gaffigan was hilarious on the much-missed My Boys on TBS.  I think most of his stuff on there was off-the-cuff, but I have him SO unlikeable in this show.  

[jbrecken]

Amazing number of comedian cameos!

[candall]

I don't see that Jim's wife even likes him.

[PaulaO]

I couldn't even watch the whole episode.  This show really stinks and I'm a fan of Jim's standup.

[Tetraneutron]

For a show that's supposed to hew closely to Jim Gaffigan's actual life, why did they make Jeannie into a housewife who has nothing to do with Jim's comedy career? In real life, he always gives her credit for being his comedy partner, for helping him write jokes, for shaping his persona, and she's an EP on the show. 

 

Why don't they show that in this sitcom, instead of the slob husband/patient wife dynamic that was old when the Flintstones did it? 

Edited September 7, 2015 by Tetraneutron

[KLovestoShop]

Yeah, and the biggest surprise is it was renewed. So another season of watching this unwatchable man stuff his face.

[marmalade]

I actually find the show funny. if people don't like him or the show,!im confused as to why they watch .

[JasmineFlower]

I really enjoyed the first episode, but it's been down from there for me. And this episode and others, I just don't get the focus on religion and the priest so much. Jim doesn't even want to be identified as religious, which I find much more in line with him then all this focus that has been given to the priest and church thus far. Maybe I'm missing something, but it does feel to me like this show could use with a revamp of the content. I'm not connecting with it at all and I think different situations would be a heck of a lot funnier than what's been going on.

[candall]

I have no idea why I keep recording this, except it's an easy 20 minute background diversion while I try to remember my internet bill logins.

 

She's just awful to him, but he's so distracted and oafish that he thoroughly deserves it. . . I find no one to root for. 

 

The mechanics of this week's crisis, however, were interesting.  Crowds with pitchforks notwithstanding, I bet ridiculous little insignificant things do swing wildly out of control like that, for celebrities.  And any statement or gesture that makes fans admire you probably means an equal number of strangers despise you.  Yuck.  Who would ever want to live under that kind of scrutiny?

[DiabLOL]

I have no idea why I keep recording this, except it's an easy 20 minute background diversion while I try to remember my internet bill logins.

 

Ha! I love this. Yes, every week I tune in as well hoping that it will get better. It doesn't. I just don't understand why not though. I love his standup and in general the way he comes across in podcasts etc. and he's clearly not just talented, he's intelligent and aware of how things work so why is this show so stupid and irritating? I want it to get better.

[possibilities]

I'm in the same boat. I've seen Gaffigan be great in interviews, on panels, and funny with stand up. He's not an idiot. So why is his show idiotic? And why is it airing on so many different channels, so many times a week? Clearly a lot of people thought it would be great, and it's just a mystery why it's so bad.

[candall]

[...] why is this show so stupid and irritating?

Well, you made me ponder and I mentally reviewed some sitcom couples.  Even with the basically unlikable anti-heroes like Rosanne Conner, it was firmly established that she and Dan were devoted to each other.  If you hurt one, the other would undoubtedly murder you.

 

But I don't see Jim ever doing anything that isn't motivated out of self-interest.  Even when he's helpful, it's only to leverage himself out of the doghouse.  And all Jeanie's ingenuous sweetness is horribly passive-aggressive.  "Oh, the priest threw you off your game?  Well you'll see how silly that is when he joins us for The Tonight Show taping."  "You don't like my ex-boyfriend being here everyday, insulting you every time he opens his mouth?  Oh, honey, you're both just being childish."

 

If Dan received credit that was rightfully hers, would Rosanne respond by trying to convince a crowd that Dan was really a selfish glory hog?

 

So besides having five kids, there's no credible foundation for why these two people would even be together.  Neither one seems to care very convincingly about the other.

 

P.S.  The Seinfeld crew sold each other out all the time.  Their main bond was cemented by regular people refusing to put up with that crap.  Still funny, though.  Maybe you have to go one way or the other. 

[Myrna123]

I, too, love Gaffigan's stand-up--I love how silly he is, but part of the humor is that you don't actually think he's the horrible lout he says he is.  I'm not sure why they lit on a show where he's just acting out in a totally literal way all of the examples of what an exaggeratedly horrible person he says he is in his stand up.  His stand-up wouldn't actually be very funny if you thought he really did just sit on a couch while his harried wife raced after five children and all he can do is ask her to bring him a sandwich.

[Lizzing]

It perplexes me why this show is such a clunker too.  I like Gaffigan's stand up and liked him on My Boys, playing essentially the same character with his actual wife playing his TV wife.  Maybe that's my problem...the Andy character was a secondary, maybe tertiary, character and his nagging wife was hardly seen and sometimes mocked by the other characters.  I really don't understand how it's getting a second season, but at least it got me watching Impastor, which, while far from perfect, is at least more enjoyable.

[needschocolate]

I have no idea why I keep recording this, except it's an easy 20 minute background diversion while I try to remember my internet bill logins.

 

I think I record it because every once in a while, when Jim is talking to his best friend or to his wife's former boyfriend, they say something funny.  That, and I am too lazy to delete it from the list.

 

I, too, love Gaffigan's stand-up--I love how silly he is, but part of the humor is that you don't actually think he's the horrible lout he says he is.  I'm not sure why they lit on a show where he's just acting out in a totally literal way all of the examples of what an exaggeratedly horrible person he says he is in his stand up.  His stand-up wouldn't actually be very funny if you thought he really did just sit on a couch while his harried wife raced after five children and all he can do is ask her to bring him a sandwich.

 

 One of the things I find weird about this show is that in the fast-motion scene they do at the very beginning, Jim is helpful, working just as hard as his wife at feeding the kids or getting them ready for bed, but then he is a lazy loaf during the rest of the show.  

[possibilities]

One of the things I find weird about this show is that in the fast-motion scene they do at the very beginning, Jim is helpful, working just as hard as his wife at feeding the kids or getting them ready for bed, but then he is a lazy loaf during the rest of the show.

Yes! They showed him getting up over and over again all night for the kids, while Jeannie slept. I really expected that to become a plot point, that he's tired during the day because he's the one to do the night parenting. Likewise, he works at night, doing shows. She's focused and energetic during the day because she gets a good night of sleep AND she has what looks like a full time helper all day long.

 

They could make this a successful partnership between a night owl and an early bird, but they don't. They borrow all the most annoying aspects of tv marriage, without redeeming or subverting any of them.

[candall]

I thought this was the most painful episode, character-wise, AND had the cleverest bit of the whole season with the Law & Order dong-dongs and Sgt. Benson's surprise appearance.

 

Hi, Macaulay!

[candall]

[...] the humor is that you don't actually think he's the horrible lout he says he is.  I'm not sure why they lit on a show where he's just acting out in a totally literal way all of the examples of what an exaggeratedly horrible person he says he is in his stand up.  His stand-up wouldn't actually be very funny if you thought he really did just sit on a couch while his harried wife raced after five children and all he can do is ask her to bring him a sandwich.

This is so insightful.  It's only as exaggeration that it's funny.  Good call!

[Texasmom1970]

Loved the cameos in this episode. I am a Law & Order addict, so I liked how they did the timestamp with the details showing where they went.

[Whimsy]

I liked the Law & Order bits, but I knew from the very first stop that the sister was back at the apartment.  I did like the little bits of Jim trying to eat his dinner, then his left-overs and then drinking beer but that was about it.

[Chit Chat]

I really liked this episode, especially the ending!  All of the cameos were great too.  I hope this show gets renewed for another season.

[biakbiak]

I really liked this episode, especially the ending!  All of the cameos were great too.  I hope this show gets renewed for another season.

It already has been.

[Chit Chat]

It already has been.

 

Yay! Thanks.  I figured they did the season finale this way in case it didn't get picked up.  I'm glad they'll be back.  I love that Macaulay Culkin keeps popping up on this show.  I wonder if there's a back story with him & JG. 

[candall]

It never even crossed my mind that "Nathan" would turn into a Nathan Lane cameo.  Ha, good job, show!

[zxy556575]

Season starts on June 19th. Seems like there isn't enough traffic to warrant separate episode threads.

I was kind of bored and stopped watching last season but, in a display of uncharacteristic optimism, put it back on my DVR to see if anything has improved.

[possibilities]

I'm feeling the same way. I thought the first season was pretty much terrible. I don't know why I want to give it a second chance, but I guess I will.

[zxy556575]

Ringing endorsements all around!  :)

Gaffigan has been doing a talk show tour and I do think he's a genuinely funny guy. His episode of Comedians in Cars also made me laugh several times. I like Michael Ian Black and Adam Goldberg, so there's a lot of potential to be good.

[zxy556575]

That was a good start. I liked the first two eps a lot better than last season. The jail scenes with the other social media gaffe celebrities were pretty funny. Carrot Top has been in there since the 90s, indeed.

[BusyOctober]

Maybe it's my cable provider, but the first 3 episodes show up on 3 different channels,  3 different times, 3 different days.  I can't set a recording of the series...I have to search the show by name, then find the episode and record individually.  I like Jim Gaffigan's stand up, but like him, I'm too lazy to go through this much effort for a TV show!  If I remember to do it, I guess I'll catch up via On Demand. I don't get why it's so disorganized...if the network(s) liked this show enough to order a 2nd season, why make the audience go on a quest to find it?

[PaulaO]

I didn't think either episode was particularly funny.  In fact, the first episode makes me wonder if Jim is going through a crisis of faith.  Heavy emphasis on religion and one's calling in life.  Couldn't get through the second episode, even with a guest appearance by Carrot Top.  I think Gaffigan's stand up is hysterical but this show just doesn't do it for me.

[Texasmom1970]

The first episode was okay did not like anything about the second. Carrot top and Raven Symone,  or whatever her name is detracted from the episode for me instead of adding anything remotely funny.

Edited June 24, 2016 by Texasmom1970

[possibilities]

For me, it's official: I don't find the show funny or interesting, and I'm giving up. I tried-- I wanted to like it, thought I would like it, don't blame anyone else for liking it, but I just feel bored and vaguely irritated every time I watch. I really wanted it to work for me, which is why I gave it so many tries.

[PaulaO]

I was hysterical during the audtion but the subplot with Jeannie and the catcalls was stupid.  I do heart Daniel.

[jumper sage]

I liked this one.  I also liked where at the end Jim and his real wife explained how darn close this episode came to his real life.

[PaulaO]

I was under the impression that Dave's last name was spelt Marx, not Marks.  Whatever.  I've decided I can't stand the character.  Why Jim feels obligated to him I cannot figure out.

[Videophile]

A very favorable review by Alan Sepinwall.

[KLovestoShop]

I have no idea how this reviewer can call this show good.  I find it to be dumb and without any substance.  I mean, it's a one trick pony with nearly every episode being about Gaffigan and his food orgies. That is supposed to be funny?  I'm surprised TV Land renewed it for a second season. 

[PaulaO]

That was unbelievably painful.  I hope Dave Marks gets written out of the show.

Edited July 26, 2016 by PaulaO
Spelling

[BusyOctober]

This season has been woefully underwhelming.  I like JG's stand up and even his commercials, but he just seems like a second or third fiddle background player.  The only characters/actors I can tolerate are Jim, Michael Ian Black, the priest and most of the cameos of other comedians.  I hate Dave- Adam Goldberg only seems able to play the least likeable man on Earth.  I didn't mind Ashley Williams last season, but this year, she seems so manic.  I don't know if I can finish out the season.

[PaulaO]

I'm with you.  I have it set to record the series, but it certainly isn't must-see tv.  And I'm more than willing to delete if the episode doesn't grab me in the first 3 minutes.

[Gemma Violet]

Quote

I hate Dave- Adam Goldberg only seems able to play the least likeable man on Earth.

I'm glad I'm not the only one.  As much as I like Jim Gaffigan and I'm fond enough of the show, Dave/Adam Goldberg ruins it. I want to turn it off whenever he comes on screen.  

Edited July 31, 2016 by Gemma Violet

[Mulva]

It should be funny, it could be funny, but it isn't funny.  The David character is despicable, the wife is shrill and annoying and Jim comes across as a lazy dolt.  I gave up watching halfway through the 3rd episode this year.

[Videophile]

I wish that just one time in any of the three episodes Jim had shown some semblance of a spine.  But I guess in thate case we wouldn't have had a story.

[Beezella]

This was awful. That is all.

[zxy556575]

Oy, an episode about marital spats now? I like Father Nicholas, but he wasn't enough to save it. And no Daniel.

Gaffigan has remarked several times in interviews that he and his wife write every episode, but they seriously need some outside help and input. What seems hilarious to them is maybe not so much to the rest of us.

Edited August 4, 2016 by lordonia

[Primetimer]

What story structure advice is he ignoring from Mike's blue-collar uncles in Chicago? Find out!

View the full article

[aradia22]

I liked the second episode. It was funnier than most of them, at least in parts, because it felt like something that would actually be put into his act. Yes, it was cameo-heavy but I thought some of the ideas about our over-reactive internet culture worked.

[aradia22]

I thought there were some good parts but I often find myself wondering why I'm watching a comedic show that is only funny for maybe 2 minutes out of 22. I liked John Mulaney and the Young JFK types. I like getting some insight from Jim and Jeannie at the end of the episodes but to me Baldwin was really flat and dull in his delivery. This episode also was a good justification for Jeannie not playing herself on the show.

[aradia22]

I liked this one too. I'm not always into the turns this show takes (like into the avant-garde alternative Queens spaces) because I think they're trying to hard to be artistic or make certain references and it just falls flat but there were more good moments than usual. I also appreciate that they're casting Asian actors in these more prominent roles as his agent and the critic.