20 reviews
The first two episodes are excellent. They're well-produced, have genuinely funny parts, and are actually pretty touching in a lot of ways. The last two episodes... well, they exist. That's all I'm going to say.
Still a 7/10 because episodes 1 and 2 are genuinely special in a lot of ways.
Still a 7/10 because episodes 1 and 2 are genuinely special in a lot of ways.
- nadblaster
- Feb 21, 2019
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Enlightening and heartbreaking.... at first I was hopeful that the comedy element would bring relief to those in the regions that were highlighted. I was touched by their efforts, but saddened by the realities of their lives. The complexities of this paradox left me in a tailspin of wonderment. I live in Fayetteville NC which is closely connected with Fort Bragg NC Army base, the social climate has been affected by the residuals of many conflicts. I am hopeful for our vets and people of conflict around the world. However, I myself am a human paradox , for I am a believer in the protection of human rights and freedoms, and the defending of those rights.
- pinkzmusic
- Mar 22, 2019
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First 2 episodes are brilliant and inspiring, 3rd isn't great, 4th is abysmal.
- patmckeown15
- Feb 21, 2019
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There is a reason this guy's highest point in life was to be the bearded guy that passed through the scene with no line: he is dull. He talks to much, yet he gets too little. He is on a crusade to show how "his" guys are better than the rest. And I am glad some network executive was so dim as to pay this guy World Wide trips to make some half baked interviews. Hopefully, this would be his retirement gold watch and go back to his hole in the ground.
My first review was before watching all the episodes.. now I concur with Johnathon Wilson " insightful and uplifting piece of work that feels more necessary now than ever. As long as it remains so crucial not to forget the power of laugher and how it can help us survive the traumas we'll all inevitably be beset by, shows like this one (which) are integral to understanding quite how much we all have in common." And how we all need song, dance and laughter to help bear the rigors of life , good and bad.
- pinkzmusic
- Mar 22, 2019
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This is as real as it gets. Comedy as method to cope with real life horror and death.
- danielagarciaroman
- Feb 15, 2019
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Deep, profound, touching and real.
It really was an amazing watch, kudos to Mr. Charles, once again he has presented a masterpiece.
Plus, Larry might be the only person willing to go this far to further deepen our understanding of humor, and for that, he has my utmost respect.
- ruiningcomedy
- Feb 15, 2019
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Just watch it! comedy is the opiate of the masses regardless of location and hardships... this show will connect you with comedians seeking light in times of darkness all across the globe... Larry Charles deserves every award available for this... touching, tear jerking and oh so full of heart and purpose... well done my man!
- ozmartian77
- Feb 15, 2019
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- hi_im_mivan
- Feb 14, 2019
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This show is a trainwreck. Patronizing from the first minute and it doesn't get better from there. Larry Charles apparently has no cultural awareness of the places he goes and also seems to think Westerners invented comedy, and says out loud he doesn't believe people from certain countries have historically had a sense of humor. What?? He also doesn't even showcase good examples of comedy from the places he visits - he just asked people over and over to tell him about their trauma. In one scene near the beginning, Larry says that Iraqi humor involves a lot of references to martyrdom - and then uses a scene from a British movie!!! That is not an Iraqi movie!! The only people who could like this show are people who have never met anyone from any of the places Larry talks about and who have absolutely no political, historical, or cultural awareness. If you know someone from one of these countries, you would know how insane this show is.
- tracikasperbauer
- Feb 16, 2019
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A really influencing and entertaining show. It's incredible to see how powerful comedy is and how it stays alive in the most dangerous, dramatic, wild and chaotic places or issues. Hope to see more seasons for this original work.
- furukkan-17471
- Mar 3, 2019
- Permalink
This show is raw, crude, a bit funny ...but you need to appreciate irony, sarcasm and tragedy.
Its not for movie newbies, very young people or just people who think that avengers is the best movie of the Year.
This is for people who like weird art, and very original content. Not for everyone, only experienced viewers.
If you are a sensitive person, DO NOT WATCH IT.Its very crude and violent like a war documentary would be, guts, severed heads, and so on ( no, not fake, real severed heads and tragedy ).
If you have the stomach for that, its a great series, hope there is more.
Its not for movie newbies, very young people or just people who think that avengers is the best movie of the Year.
This is for people who like weird art, and very original content. Not for everyone, only experienced viewers.
If you are a sensitive person, DO NOT WATCH IT.Its very crude and violent like a war documentary would be, guts, severed heads, and so on ( no, not fake, real severed heads and tragedy ).
If you have the stomach for that, its a great series, hope there is more.
- lobitolespaul
- Mar 4, 2019
- Permalink
Larry Charles starts off strong by covering dark comedy from war veterans and murderers in the first two episodes, providing a compelling view on comedy that is rarely covered in such detail. It can be incredibly uncomfortable, but it's handled respectfully and if you can stomach the horrible war crimes, footage of people being murdered, and some seriously depressing moments, you get some very heartfelt moments as well. Unfortunately all of this emotion is sucked out entirely by the start of episode 3 as the following two episodes cover "Race" and "Gender" respectively. What starts as a politically incorrect dark comedy series suddenly becomes focused with social justice and it's not only incredibly jarring, but comes across as very forward and ham-fisted from a series that started with a surprising amount of nuance. The ends seem to justify the means as they bring up examples of far right extremists twisting the facts to justify their own twisting of the facts in the opposite direction in these episodes. "White people" are blanketed as whiny racists who constantly play the victim card with a few examples of abnormal people who fit this narrative with the scale of it being inflated. Race went as far to strongly imply that Black Lives Matter has not caused violence, which fails to mention the group who kidnapped that autistic man and tortured him with a knife and livestreamed it. If you're going to make a political documentary, try a little harder to provide an unbiased presentation of the facts.
While I think that the idea of investigating comedy around the world is really interesting. And not explored that much before.
The american (usa) context provided in explaining comedy culture in other countries is way to dominant and many times undermines the ability to appreciate comedy from other cultures in their own right. Everything seems to be to some extent a derivative of American comedy products.
Perhaps it is some sort of availability bias that enabled the presented logic. And the potential audience was supposed to be American. And though I do not contest the fact that contemporary western comedy culture has had international impact, the series fails to present actual new information. What is the inherent comedy culture present throughout the world.
The american (usa) context provided in explaining comedy culture in other countries is way to dominant and many times undermines the ability to appreciate comedy from other cultures in their own right. Everything seems to be to some extent a derivative of American comedy products.
Perhaps it is some sort of availability bias that enabled the presented logic. And the potential audience was supposed to be American. And though I do not contest the fact that contemporary western comedy culture has had international impact, the series fails to present actual new information. What is the inherent comedy culture present throughout the world.
- lydiagrooteschaarsberg
- Feb 19, 2019
- Permalink
- yamanyldrm
- Jul 5, 2020
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I think the idea is great, and I enjoyed the show at first. But then I noticed how Larry Charles let more and more space in the series for promoting hate of the right-wing, the left's intersectionality and then even cultural appropriation.. I think it was a mistake because hating Trump is not "edgy" or "dangerous" in any way. It's pretty mainstream. And so was going to promote political correctness when you at the same time show how people die or risk their lives to make provocative jokes. So why going away from the topic of the series so much? I think it's a sign of weak minds. Sad! So I will give it 4 for great idea.
There are lots of twisted informations for this guy own agendas. Yes the world is dangerous and women need more freedom, but to portrait all , even male comedians as evil ? The stand up community struggles to fight against limitations and Political Correction , but he seems against what comedians fighting for
- ayman-ali-alghamdi
- Feb 15, 2019
- Permalink
First two episode are very inspiring bringing us closer to people and sceneries often fogotten but because of this they are of much of interest
well, starting with episode number 3 it became biased only pushing american left wing ideas instead of objective view on both sides. I stopped in the middle of ep 3 when a normal situation of living was described as 'white privilige' by a successful person of color living a better live than most 'white' people, taking advantage of this 'privilige' on his own, which seems to be more relevant than the person of color coming from the street not caring about such topics at all although pushing the opposite stereotypes himself for money, which would be more interesting to question the actual point is there are people turning their bad experiences into their good and using it for dealing with their past (which havent been identified as related to the topic of ep 3, but probably it didnt fit well) and there are others pushing narratives to make money this was not worked out, questioned or challenged but instead Larry jumped on the train of pushed one side of the narrative himself
a very good idea for a show, sadly not carried out very well
well, starting with episode number 3 it became biased only pushing american left wing ideas instead of objective view on both sides. I stopped in the middle of ep 3 when a normal situation of living was described as 'white privilige' by a successful person of color living a better live than most 'white' people, taking advantage of this 'privilige' on his own, which seems to be more relevant than the person of color coming from the street not caring about such topics at all although pushing the opposite stereotypes himself for money, which would be more interesting to question the actual point is there are people turning their bad experiences into their good and using it for dealing with their past (which havent been identified as related to the topic of ep 3, but probably it didnt fit well) and there are others pushing narratives to make money this was not worked out, questioned or challenged but instead Larry jumped on the train of pushed one side of the narrative himself
a very good idea for a show, sadly not carried out very well
Nothing to see here that you cannot see anywhere else.... Just another leftist bias tv show that you could see in a thousand other places. Obviously Netflix doesn't mind but the rest of America does.