BARRY

Bill Hader isn't someone I'm a big fan of, because I can never remember what I've seen him in before. But I fell into watching the first episode of his new HBO series, BARRY, and now I will always remember what I saw him in, and I've become a giant fan.

BARRY is a dark comedy, maybe what they now call a dramady? though the drama is so over-the-top, jump-the-shark, too-much, it seems closer to violent farce or hard-edged satire, but whatever it is, if you can take the sometimes extreme violence the other stuff, if you're anything like me, will have you hooked.

The cast is full of memorable actors playing almost caricatures (e.g. Henry Winkler as an aging actor/acting teacher can be both poignant and ridiculous at once) and writing with unexpected plot twists that at the same time pay homage to every TV series trope, almost, and yet comically expose realities I've experienced (not as a hit man, which is Barry's day job, but as an aspiring actor in acting class at night, which is the hook of the shows narrative).

As one of the creators, producers, writers, and directors of BARRY, this is Hader's production, and he proves himself more than capable of pulling it off. Kudos to him.