Daybreak with Matthew Broderick

Was great to see Matthew on the screen again. What a strange mishmash of a series. Overall enjoyed it, but it sure went in On my some weird directions. The football gang reminded me of low-rent wannabe cosplayers.

It’s on Netflix.

I really enjoyed this one. I did watch it with my wife and 16 year old son. Some of it was a little awkward in that context. Probably be alone in this but I really loved the episode that was just Sam and our hero.

My favorites were the little girl and the witch. They stole the show for me.

So this is a show for teens that is… actually decent? Neat!

It does look like it’s aimed at teens. There are definitely some episodes that will be a little awkward if you are watching it with them.

I also liked the relationship between the little girl and the witch. The way they do some of the episodes are completely different than the format of the previous ones. It keeps it interesting.

A few strong episodes, overall a good season. Definitely worth sticking with I think.

I’m sad this news didn’t break… 28 days later… after the last thread bump.

After repeated recommendation from Netflix I relented and watched this show - and thought it was great! Some major Ferris Bueller, Scott Pilgrim, and Zombieland vibes hit me and then I find this thread… and the cancellation message. Damn. I’m happy that they were able to wrap up the season 1 arc and didn’t leave us with some terrible cliffhanger.

For some reason this was only recently recommended to us, and I gotta say, it was great. There were several of shots early on that were clear homages to Ferris Bueller, and there was one in the last couple episodes that I’m pretty sure was a reference to Caddyshack. I wonder if there were more that I missed?

The whole fourth-wall stuff was pretty wacky but I think it worked well. I do think that would make it pretty tough to go for a second season, though, as they’d have to really change up the formula or it would just get old. Fortunately they wrapped it up pretty well (and I can just ignore the last few minutes where Sam goes evil which frankly didn’t fit anyway).

So I cant’ say I’m sad they cancelled it, because I’m about 90% sure that season two would have been worse. But I do wish they had another bite at the apple, so to speak. Makes me think of Party Down, where there was some serious comedic + heart-felt chemistry that was cruelly axed after one season.

This is all seriously persuading me to give Daybreak a try, but you may be pleased to know that Party Down got two seasons on Starz before it was cancelled. And then, many many years later, a third season came out. It’s going on right now! That third season is fantastic, just as good as the first two, but cruelly short. The season finale is this week.

Whaaaat?

To be clear, I wouldn’t necessarily compare this to Party Down beyond being a heartfelt comedy that got cancelled. For example, if you dislike fourth wall shenanigans then give this one a pass.