Amy Schumer is the Ryan Seacrest of young female comedians. She is a stand up comedian, the host of a music show of FuseTV, a writer, an actress. She’s had her own Comedy Central Presents, has opened for some of the biggest names in stand up, will be seen in the upcoming seasons of Delocated and Curb Your Enthusiasm and is co-starring in Price Check opposite Parker Posey. She is a very busy lady.
Do you laugh when a kid falls down? Does Law & Order SVU make you snicker? Do you find it funny when a UCLA student goes on an anti-Asian rant the week of the Japanese earthquake? Then you should probably be watching Showtime. Black comedy is a fine art, and few people are willing to take the risks to make it. Most people equate laughter with comedy, so it makes sense to look for jokes and funny situations in comedy shows. Shows like Community, 30 Rock and Saturday Night Live are hilarious, and filled with laugh-out-loud moments. And they do well. But somehow, Showtime has risen above the odds and created the perfect lineup for those of us who find comedy in the bleak. With shows about serial killers, cancer patients, drug addicts, dealers and thieves, Showtime has embraced the darker side of comedy. And it’s succeeding.
Good news comedy nerds (and just nerds): Paul is funny! Don’t be fooled by the marketing campaign and weak trailers; this is not simply a buddy comedy with wacky CGI’d aliens and weed jokes. It’s a Simon Pegg and Nick Frost movie through and through. Like Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, Pegg and Frost co-wrote a script that embraces, not mocks, the genre film. 
“My ears have been overworked. Drums, singing, whistles, chanting, dogs, helicopters, gays.” Karl was in Brazil when he made this list, but it’s clear throughout the final episode of An Idiot Abroad that Karl felt this way about everywhere he went.
“I know I’m not that old, but I reckon this is my lowest point.” – Karl Pilkington in Peru. 
You know that cousin you have who's from a really small town, isn’t a bigot but just doesn’t quite know how to act around people who are different than he is? New things make him uncomfortable and though he tries to hide it, he’s a little bothered by new people. That’s Karl Pilkington. And much like your small town relative, the most uncomfortable place for Karl to go would be Brazil. Compared to Egypt, India and China, Brazil seems really similar to England. It’s not a third world country by any means, and most people speak English and love the same kinds of food. So how do Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant insure that Karl steps out of his comfort zone in Brazil? They send him to places where Karl is sure to feel out of place; a nude beach, a gay beach and a female impersonators’ home.
The seven wonders of the world have never appeared so un-wonderful. This week, Karl Pilkington goes to Egypt to see the Great Pyramids. And, as per usual, Karl finds the actual wonder to be the least exciting part of his visit. “Exciting” may not be the right word, as Karl is almost never excited about anything, but like every other episode, the visit to the wonder seems to be Karl’s least favorite part. “The idea is that I would see these places and get blown away. I am getting blow away, just by the wind,” mumbles Karl. What was prominent in this episode, however, was Ricky Gervais’ role in making Karl miserable. Unlike other episodes where Karl is miserable just because that’s the way he is, the Egypt episode seems to highlight Gervais’ evil plans behind the scene. Starting with Gervais and Stephen Merchant’s role in choosing the hotel room. 
It marked the end of the season for Episodes last night. It also marked the first episode where I actually liked the main character. Like a movie that doesn’t make sense till the last five minutes, it took seven episodes of this show for me to finally like Sean and Beverly. And, like the hypothetical movie, I found myself thinking “Oh no, why is it over?” It’s as though the first six episodes of this show were all practice rounds for what was a very good episode. And now it’s over.
Infidelity! Car Wrecks! Break-Ups! Deception! All seen in last nights episode of Episodes. Combining genres is a tricky business. And it’s particularly difficult with comedies. Shameless, Parenthood and Nurse Jackie combine comedy and drama with ease. Shaun of the Dead and True Blood combine comedy and horror. And last night, Episodes created a new cross-genre for comedies; Melo-comedy. Sure, comedies usually go over the top with plot points and secondary characters for the sake of a laugh, but the latest episode of Episodes was more of a telenovela than a normal show. 
“The death thing’s good.”
"Nothing is funnier than Karl in a corner, being poked by a stick. I am that stick."
It’s hard to make rape, ocular blindness and infidelity particularly funny, but the most recent episode of Episodes proved to be the funniest yet. Perhaps it’s because audiences have come to accept the more uncomfortable brand of humor, like The Office and Louie. The thing that all these shows have in common is the idea that you don’t have to have a punch line to be funny. While this episode wasn’t a laugh riot, per say, it was still the most absurd and amusing episode to date. 
“I’m fucking full of whimsy.” Matt LeBlanc utters this line in defense of a Peter Pan reference he makes while drunk. What’s ironic about this dialogue is that Matt LeBlanc in Episodes really is whimsical. It’s his playful character choices that sell every episode. Matt LeBlanc carries this show. And not just with the comedic beats. LeBlanc brings a level of realism to a somewhat unrealistic cast of characters. Surprising when you remember that he’s playing the actor in a behind the scenes show, a character that is usually the most outrageous and narcissistic. Not to say that LeBlanc doesn’t embody some of the stereotypes of actors; he’s rich, difficult to control and he’s a whore. But it’s the toned down version of an actor that makes LeBlanc’s role different from so many before him. 
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