Mulaney
Mulaney | |
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250px | |
Genre | Sitcom |
Created by | John Mulaney |
Directed by | Andy Ackerman |
Starring | <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
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Country of origin | United States |
Original language(s) | English |
No. of seasons | 1 |
No. of episodes | 13 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producer(s) | Lorne Michaels John Mulaney Andy Ackerman Andy Singer Dave Becky David Miner Jon Pollack |
Camera setup | Multi-camera |
Running time | 22 minutes |
Production company(s) | <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
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Release | |
Original network | Fox |
Picture format | 16:9 HDTV |
Original release | October 5, 2014 February 15, 2015 |
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External links | |
Website |
Mulaney is an American situational comedy that ran for one season from October 2014 to February 2015 on the Fox network. Stand-up comedian and former Saturday Night Live writer John Mulaney created the show and starred as a fictionalized version of himself. At the beginning of each episode, and sometimes throughout, Mulaney would perform stand-up comedy to the studio audience. The show suffered from low ratings and poor critical reviews, and was cancelled in January 2015.[1]
Contents
Premise
John Mulaney is a comedian living in New York City with his roommates—Jane (Nasim Pedrad), a personal trainer with emotional issues, and Motif (Seaton Smith), a fellow stand-up comedian. John often receives advice from his gay, Jewish, elderly neighbor Oscar (Elliott Gould), and visits from his annoying, odd friend Andre (Zack Pearlman), a small-time drug dealer. John's life changes when he's hired as a writer for Lou Cannon (Martin Short), an eccentric, legendary comedian and game show host.
Cast and characters
Main
- John Mulaney as John Mulaney, a standup comedian and writer for Lou Cannon
- Nasim Pedrad as Googoosh[2] "Jane" Parvana, a personal trainer
- Seaton Smith as Gerald "Motif" Goods, a standup comedian
- Zack Pearlman as Andre Van Horn, a drug dealer
- Elliott Gould as Oscar Glass, neighbor to John, Jane and Motif
- Martin Short as Lou Cannon, a game show host and John's boss
Recurring
- Fortune Feimster as Mary Jo
- Julie Klausner as Donna
Guest stars
- Maria Thayer as Amanda the Doula
- Dan Mintz as Mintz
- Lorraine Bracco as Vaughn
- Penny Marshall as Tutti
- Nora Dunn as Patty Mulaney, John's mother
- Pete Holmes as Father Trey
- Nick Kroll as Jesse Tyler Munoz
- Bailee Madison as Ruby
- Dean Cain as himself
Production
The show was originally taped as a pilot for NBC, but was not picked up.[3] Mulaney re-tooled the pilot,[4] and then pitched it to Fox, who picked the show up with a cautious six-episode commitment.[5] Fox later ordered an additional ten episodes.[6] A trailer was released on May 12, 2014, along with an announcement that the show would air Sunday nights at 9:30 p.m.,[7] replacing the Seth MacFarlane sitcom, American Dad!, which moved to TBS. The series premiered October 5, 2014.
On October 18, 2014, the day before the third episode was supposed to air, Fox announced it was cutting three episodes from its order. This resulted in the production of Mulaney to be shut down, as the thirteenth episode had already been filmed and production of the fourteenth was about to begin.[8] Less than a month later, Fox moved Mulaney into the 7:30 PM timeslot where Bob's Burgers had been airing.[9] The season ended on February 15, 2015 and Fox announced Mulaney's cancellation shortly thereafter.[10]
Episodes
No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Prod. code |
U.S. viewers (millions) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "Pilot" "Mo'laney, Mo'Problems" |
Andy Ackerman | John Mulaney | October 5, 2014 | 101 | 2.30[11] |
Stand-up comedian John Mulaney gets hired by comedian Lou Cannon as a writer on his show. Jane attempts to prove an ex-boyfriend she isn't crazy. Motif struggles to write a joke. | ||||||
2 | "The Doula" | Andy Ackerman | John Mulaney | October 12, 2014 | 107 | 2.19[12] |
John starts dating a doula who helps him deal with his fear of childbirth. Meanwhile, Lou's outrageous on-screen behavior warrants John's attention. Guest starring Fortune Feimster as Mary Jo and Maria Thayer as Amanda the Doula |
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3 | "Halloween" | Andy Ackerman | Dan Mintz | October 19, 2014 | 110 | 2.25[13] |
As a tribute to his recently deceased neighbor, John uses jokes from his deceased neighbor, Lapidus, in Lou's monologue to prove he's a good writer in order to get his contract renewed. Meanwhile, Jane tries to get Lapidus' cheap apartment. Guest starring Fortune Feimster as Mary Jo and Dan Mintz as Mintz |
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4 | "Sweet Jane" | Andy Ackerman | John Mulaney | November 2, 2014 | 102 | 1.63[14] |
John wonders why Jane doesn't like any of his girlfriends. Lou fixates on his death. | ||||||
5 | "In the Name of the Mother, and the Son, and the Holy Andre" | Andy Ackerman | Karey Dornetto | November 9, 2014 | 111 | 1.99[15] |
John's parents visit, forcing him to lie about going to church. Jane begins a new pill and suffers side effects. Guest starring James Handy as Father Ed, Nora Dunn as Patty Mulaney, and Pete Holmes as Father Trey |
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6 | "Patriot Acts" | Andy Ackerman | Justin Spitzer | November 23, 2014 | 113 | 1.65[16] |
Jane begins dating a Marine. When feeling the pressure that he hasn't contributed to the military, John auditions to be in an USO show. Guest starring Fortune Feimster as Mary Jo |
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7 | "Motif & The City" | Andy Ackerman | Rachel Axler | November 30, 2014 | 109 | 1.55[17] |
When Motif learns John and Jane are not adding him to the apartment lease, he leans on his three girlfriends for support. Lou's audience plant demands a contract. | ||||||
8 | "It's a Wonderful Home Alone" | Andy Ackerman | Dan Levy | December 21, 2014 | 112 | 0.99[18] |
John finds himself home alone for Christmas when he lets his resentment of Home Alone impact the holiday. Lou learns his rival is planning a special that will compete with his. Andre is mistaken for a puppet. Guest starring Nick Kroll as Jesse Tyler Munoz |
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9 | "Worlds Collide" | Andy Ackerman | Karey Dornetto | January 11, 2015 | 104 | 1.32[19] |
John quickly regrets mixing his home and work lives when Jane becomes Lou's new personal trainer. Meanwhile, Motif turns to Oscar for advice on his stand-up routine. | ||||||
10 | "French Roast" | Andy Ackerman | Dan Levy | January 18, 2015 | 103 | 3.38[20] |
John becomes conflicted when he is invited to Lou's celebrity roast. Meanwhile, Jane takes lessons on how to be a lady from Oscar to impress a new date. | ||||||
11 | "Power Moves" | Andy Ackerman | Dan Mintz & Marika Sawyer | January 25, 2015 | 105 | 1.03[20] |
John takes Lou's advice about trying to control his roommates, but it turns into a fight with Motif. Meanwhile, Jane gets a new cat Omar and becomes frustrated when she can't get it to like her. Lou tries to get a movie role to showcase his dramatic side. | ||||||
12 | "Ruby" | Andy Ackerman | Markia Sawyer | February 8, 2015 | 108 | 1.23[21] |
John dates a single mother and befriends her daughter, Ruby. However, John soon finds his new girlfriend annoying, but refuses to jeopardize his new friendship with Ruby. Guest starring Bailee Madison as Ruby |
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13 | "Life is a Series of Different Apartments" | Andy Ackerman | John Mulaney | February 15, 2015 | 106 | 1.11[22] |
When the apartment gets infested with bed bugs, John and the gang secretly go to Lou's place, where Oscar's "treats" and Lou's early return lead to problems. Meanwhile, Oscar and Lou fight over who is John's mentor. |
Reception
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I look back on making the show really fondly. It's my noble failure. I tried, and I wanted to do it this way. Some people liked it—just not enough.
Even before Mulaney aired, critics were wary of the direction of the show. After viewing the show's trailer, Eric Dodds with TIME magazine penned an article called, "8 Ways the Trailer for Mulaney Resembles Seinfeld," and said it could "trigger a little déjà vu."[4] In regards to its multi-camera format, Canadian magazine Maclean's asked, "why would a cool comic pick such an uncool format?"[24]
Ultimately, the show was universally panned by critics, with most reviews drawing unflattering comparisons to Seinfeld. On Rotten Tomatoes, the show has a "rotten" score of 17%, based on 42 reviews, with an average rating of 4.3 out of 10. The site's critical consensus states, "John Mulaney, we know Jerry Seinfeld. Seinfeld was funny. Mulaney, you're no Seinfeld."[25] On Metacritic, the show has a score of 38 out of 100, based on 27 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews."[26] James Poniewozik with TIME magazine said the show "seems like something a dutiful student might have produced for his final project in his 'Tropes and Themes in the 1990s Sitcom' class."[27] Robert Bianco with USA Today called the sitcom a "misfire."[28] The show was named the fourth-worst show of 2014 by Entertainment Weekly.[29]
Mulaney fared poorly commercially as well, with the series premiere only getting 2.3 million viewers,[30] the weakest scores for any of the fall's series premieres.[31] The episode from December 21, 2014, became the lowest rated episode, with fewer than 1 million views; the January 18, 2015 episode, airing after the NFC Championship Game, became the highest-rated, with over 3 million viewers.[32]
References
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- ↑ episode "Life is a Series of Different Apartments"
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- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Dodds, Eric (May 15, 2014), "8 Ways the Trailer for Mulaney Resembles Seinfeld". TIME. :1
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- ↑ Pfeffer, Ryan (May 1, 2015). "WITH NO MORE DISTRACTIONS, JOHN MULANEY RETURNS TO STAND UP". New Times. Retrieved June 20, 2015.
- ↑ Weinman, Jaime J. (August 4, 2014), "'The New Seinfeld'". Maclean's. 127 (30/31):60-62
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- ↑ Poniewozik, James (October 3, 2014), "Review: Mulaney Does Its Homework Too Well." TIME.
- ↑ Bianco, Robert (October 3, 2014), "Fox's ‘Mulaney' is a misfire of a sitcom". USA Today.
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