3 out of 5

Created by: Jonathan Ames

covers season 1

Like FX’s Man Seeking Woman, Blunt Talk seemed to arrive in full force, hilarity barely contained by the confines of the show, ultimate promise of more to come.  The throughline on MSW was clear enough – focusing on relationships.  Blunt Talk’s point was less clear, which became evident as soon as the haze from the manic first episode – featuring a drunk and high Patrick Stewart as newsman James Blunt picking up a transgender prostitute and assaulting cops and having a stroke on the air of his show Blunt Talk – and the series settled into something much more formulaic.  But unlike MSW, which kept trying to hit those opening highs and missing, more clearly exposing the flaws and gaps in the writing, Jonathan Ames and several assisting writers keep Talk chugging along by trying to turn it into a real show with real characters, and not just a gag on Patrick Stewart acting crazy.  We still get plenty of absurdity throughout, it’s just much more tame and “solve it by the end of the episode” than the unleashed opening would suggest.  This makes it, in effect, a very normal show.  And one still without a throughline, really, which is disappointing giving the promise of Stewart’s presence.  I can’t say what would elevate the subject matter, but Blunt’s continual search for relevance would seem to be a valid springboard for some incisive and challenging observations on culture, but instead its often just a gateway to a half hour of foibles.

But the cast is universally pleasing, and Stewart is a joy, if seemingly underutilized.  And overall, Ames’ choice to evolve all of the characters is certainly the wiser one over pursuing the Ultimate Gag each time.  However, similar to Blunt’s quest for a connection with his audience, every episode seems to offer the promise of something more beyond pleasant chuckles, which they never really achieve.  Though I am pleased to let the show keep trying for another season.