Is "Mulaney" a Postmodern Sitcom?

This new year of television has brought about some exciting new shows, one of which is “Mulaney” on Fox. John Mulaney is best known for being a “Saturday Night Live” writer and a successful stand up comedian. His new show is somewhat autobiographical and is based on his life working as a comedian. The show has been met with some very negative reviews scoring a 15% on Rotten Tomatoes and being harshly compared to a unfunny version of NBC’s hit “Seinfeld”. The show does have many similarities to the old show such as the main characters are both struggling comedians living in New York city with their eccentric friends as sidekicks. I believe the critics are right in comparing the two but they are not correct in thinking that they are the same genre of show at all.


I believe that sitcoms and reality T.V are the two most influential forms of entertainment that shape our culture. Both presenting an idea of reality or the norm that people should strive for and that many people tend to forget are completely made up stories that would never occur in the real world. Mulaney seeks to take the viewer out of the show and forces them to watch what they think is reality. Really the show is mocking sitcoms that have come before it such as “Seinfeld” which is why they share such similar plot lines. It helps to make the comparison between the shows. Mulaney uses exaggerated canned laughter and blatant humor to take the viewer out of the show and forces them to focus on the ridiculousness of the plot. Even the actors seem somewhat stiff and unrealistic Nasim Pedrad plays the ditsy and desperate friend that may become a love interest, and Seaton Smith takes on the roll of the pitiful friend of the main character. There is such a lack of depth to the characters that they do not even have last names on the show.


Perhaps I am looking into this show far too much and it is just a terrible new sitcom on Fox that will be canceled within a season, but I believe that no network would not put it on television as a serious sitcom. Mulaney seems to be commenting on the ridiculousness of what Americans and people all over the world perceive to be the norm of modern life represented in television.