I’m not sure how I feel about this one, still. I don’t really find any of the secondary characters likeable (which is very Mike Judgian) and the protagonist is annoying in how inept and stupid he seems about almost everything. I love TJ Miller but I think his character is pretty insufferable as well.
I do like Zach Woods very much though, and am enjoying him in his role as the very odd business guy.
I was getting more and more annoyed by Erlich (Miller’s character) for the first three episodes, insufferable is exactly the right word for him. I was having trouble articulating it to my friend, and the best I could come up with is comparing it to something like the BBC version of The Office. David Brent was a horrible, insufferable human being who was uncomfortable to watch, but he was the boss, and so it was sort of compelling to watch people forced to deal with him, even as we cringed. Erlich seemed on his way to being a horrible guy who’s only contribution to the show was home ownership, who even these other rather submissive characters would’ve distanced themselves from by episode two (sure, he owns 10%, mail him a check every month and move out). If they kept finding ways to wring tension out of Erlich and Richard, it was going to feel way too forced for me and I was ready to bail.
So this episode is either exactly what we needed, or the final nail in the coffin for me. If this is a turning point where Erlich is at least marginally more self-aware about his role in the company and his relationship with Richard and the other guys (as apparently indicated by the reconciliation before the meeting with Peter Gregory) and Richard is a little more willing to stand up to him as they move on to other more interesting obstacles for Pied Piper, then hooray, it was about time. But if this was just the way to patch up the crisis of the week and we just keep revisiting the “So how do we save the company from Erlich’s ego this week?” story over and over, I’m out.
Last night’s episode was extremely funny - especially for me. Being in software development, my office has scrum/agile boards all over the place so that segment really spoke to me. Also, the series of communication failures from Gavin was great as well. I look forward to each new episode.
I really am enjoying this show…but man, I feel like Christopher Evan Welch’s passing should’ve been more widely noted. He’s definitely one of “those guys”, that you know the face because he’s in so many good roles as a supporting character. He’s very good in this, and Peter Gregory was apparently going to remain a main character in the show when Welch suddenly died. Judge had to write him out of scripts already set to go. (He apparently had a lung removed due to lung cancer; as my brother tells it, that leaves the body very susceptible to infection. Welch apparently went into a weird septic shock the weekend after Thanksgiving after feeling like he was really in solid health all things considered, to that point. They discovered the cancer had spread to his brain, the infection took over, and he was dead within a week.)
Also, consulting producer is Clay Tarver of Bullet LaVolta and Chavez, which are amazing bands you should go listen to on Spotify.
This show gets funnier every week. The dick scene was so funny I gave myself an asthma attack, and that hasn’t happened in years.
The dick scene was hysterically funny, I also couldn’t stop laughing. My free HBO trial ends in 2 weeks perfectly timed (I hope) for Game of Thrones but I think I’ll resubscribe next time just to watch season 2 of Silicon Valley. They really got so many things right even going through compression technique history in a few minutes.
I still remember implementing huffman way back in my early college data structures class. The dick scene was about the funniest thing I’ve seen in a LONG time. This show really does keep getting better and better.
Fun first season! Very sad to lose Peter Gregory so early. Watching the finale, I was juuuust starting to think it wasn’t shaping up to be a very promising episode but then the dick scene arrived and suddenly they were nailing the dismount. That was a truly inspired piece of comedy.
I think my favorite character might be Jared aka Donald… Zach Woods has frequently done asshole characters so I just love seeing him play a character with so much heart. His scene where he asks why he hadn’t been included at the toga party was funny yet so touchingly earnest. And the soggy pants? So great.
I am going to try and work in a comment about “tip-to-tip efficiency” in our next meeting
Watched 2.5 episodes, and I love this show. It matches nearly all my experiences in the Silicon Valley and start-ups. I initially avoided it because I thought it would just make me angry, but I was very wrong. Also: Martin Starr!
Am I the only one not to know that this returned tonight? The only way I found out is I was curious about what my DVR was recording.
I laughed a lot at that “what happened to Peter Gregory?” conversation. Then I spent the rest of the episode trying to remember where I recognized one of the investors from until I started looking up episode cast members and realized it was Ronnie from The Shield. Good stuff
Datageddon, man. A term I shall use at work frequently.
I am such a nerd, I watched this before I watched GOT. The smart guys at HBO gave me a free preview this weekend. I guess I’ll subscribe to HBO for GOT, and Silicon Valley the next 2 months.
This is must watch TV IMO. So good.
What a great indirect tribute episode that still managed to set up the rest of the season.
That last scene was not only on the money, but ratcheting up how uncomfortable it was by stretching it through the closing credits was brilliant.
Bro.5
Bro!!
Hey, if I Bro you guys, will you Bro me back?
I didn’t think I’d like this show at first, but I’m really liking it. I wonder if all tech companies should come up with their names by tripping on shrooms.