I found the first 4 episodes to be hilarious, clever, and somewhat endearing, and the last 6 (of season 1) to be a bit meh, soap-opera-y, and bland. It's a strange pivot, from Brooklyn 99 style comedy to a painful drama with splashes of light humour.
I thought the latter was temporary, because episodes 5-8, each focused on the backstory of one of 4 main characters. In each case, the emphasis was on drama and sympathising with the difficult lives each has faced and how poorly they've been treated by others. I was expecting with the back stories out of the way, it'd then shift back into the same comedy as the first 4 episodes. But it didn't.
There were definitely drops of humour in the last 6 episodes, but the focus on how miserable and depressing their lives are, and the seriousness of the predicaments they find themselves in, didn't allow for much. More importantly, only Craig Robinson is really funny by himself. The rest need each other to bounce off of. So they struggle to be funny in the episodes that focus on one character at a time.
A lot of people seem to love Claudia O'Doherty, but in general I find that she's one of those comedians who largely relies on being loud and over the top. She has her moments, but that style of comedy can also just be a bit grating/annoying. Some of the supporting cast are funnier, as long as they're interacting with each other.
Fingers crossed season 2 will pivot back to that really funny stuff!
I thought the latter was temporary, because episodes 5-8, each focused on the backstory of one of 4 main characters. In each case, the emphasis was on drama and sympathising with the difficult lives each has faced and how poorly they've been treated by others. I was expecting with the back stories out of the way, it'd then shift back into the same comedy as the first 4 episodes. But it didn't.
There were definitely drops of humour in the last 6 episodes, but the focus on how miserable and depressing their lives are, and the seriousness of the predicaments they find themselves in, didn't allow for much. More importantly, only Craig Robinson is really funny by himself. The rest need each other to bounce off of. So they struggle to be funny in the episodes that focus on one character at a time.
A lot of people seem to love Claudia O'Doherty, but in general I find that she's one of those comedians who largely relies on being loud and over the top. She has her moments, but that style of comedy can also just be a bit grating/annoying. Some of the supporting cast are funnier, as long as they're interacting with each other.
Fingers crossed season 2 will pivot back to that really funny stuff!