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Looking for some quality comedy entertainment to check out?
Who better to turn to for under-the-radar comedy recommendations than comedians?
Assholes are having a moment right now.
But anger is still a limited palate.
Have you heard Baba ORiley by the Who?
Who hasnt gone completely head over heels for a song?
OBrien wrote forSaturday Night Livefor years and appeared as a featured player for one season.
Biois, at its heart, about a true asshole learning how to be a nice person.
We talked about his workout routine, Joe Pera, and midwestern niceness.
Theres a million things I like about it.
Mostly I like the whole show in general.
This one may have lingered because it was so simple.
Its a perfect indulging and heightening of one idea.
From years of sketch writing, I like to see that done really well like this.
What if someone had somehow not heard Baba ORiley by the Who?
Both this show and your show are about small midwestern towns.
I think thats part of what I like about Joe Peras show is its so Midwest.
It just feels very genuinely Midwest, and like people I grew up around.
I mean, maybe thats why I relate to it.
Ill play a song sometimes ten times in 24 hours.
Definitely put in the article that I work out.
I put one of the songs into season two ofA.P.
I was just wanting to talk to people about it, and theyd say, Yeah, yeah.
Its a good album, I dont know.
It came out in the 90s.
Why are we talking about this?
So I was basically living this episode.
1 alternative album of the 90s or something.
Its definitely not an under-the-radar thing.
I dont know how it slipped past me.
But, yeah, I dont think that is the case.
In fact, I couldnt listen to a straight-up playlist from my college days.
There are only a few bands that survived.
Just when Im working on my delts, you know?
That would be a good time to hit some of the old hard-core albums.
In a sitcom you have to hit multiple jokes.It was definitely a challenging transition for me.
I leaned on the experienced writers in the room.
Act Two ended on a fun joke.
Whatever, its fine.
Can we move on to Act Three?
And theyd be like, No, it needs to be more on the A story.
So I picked up on it pretty quickly.
It needs a game, a playful heightened element.
Its a really, really long single take.
In lingering so long, theres almost a heightening of the bit.
Were going to indulge and really watch this character listen to a song youve heard too often.
I found myself actually tear up when the congregation sings the song, and Im not sure why.
No ones mad at him or calling him an idiot or a dork or anything.
It goes against one of the rules of TV writing: You have to find your conflict.
But it is really cathartic and can be emotional to watch.
Would you say theres even a conflict in this episode?I dont think there is one.
Is it Joe versus himself?
But I dont know what hed even be working through.
I just messed up.
Ive adjusted the dial in season two a smidge.
But I dont know whether that comes out.
Everyone always says, I like that show about the asshole.
But hopefully we get ten seasons, and everyone will see that this is a Scrooge story.
I think we watch so many shows where they are [mean].
And, yes,A.P.
Biodoes have that for sure.
But you brace yourself, especially with a quirky lead.
He walks into a diner, and youre ready for someone to go, Dude, youre weird.
The world-building of Peras show is remarkable.
Do you have a favorite side character?Jo Firestoneas the love interest was done so sweetly.
She did such a great job of always seeming like shes onboard for Joes weirdness.
Shes quirky herself but also is so realistic.
Since I knew we would have some light romantic story lines in season two [ofA.P.
Bio],Ive been watching everything with an eye toward how shows do that.
I went back and watched some of the classics, Sam and Diane and the like.
Joe and Jo have such a un-Sam-and-Diane relationship.
Its more Diane and Frasier, if anything.
Two peas in a pod.They did the classic Diane and Frasier route.
InJoe Pera,they might have slight disagreements, but its not a relationship built around conflict.
Youve never heard that song?
She just agrees that its a good song.
Do you find thats the case?Ive never heard that, by the way.
But yeah, thats probably true of all nice people.
Because southern hospitality is a thing.
As long as nothing ever changes, and nothings ever scary, then Im the nicest person on earth.
But then things change, and get scary, and everyone suddenly pulls out a KKK hood.
I think thats me at 42, wanting it to be the case.
How are you planning on adding sweetness toA.P.
Because theyre smart; theyre like him.
He was like that when he was in high school.
He has a tone with them where he speaks to them like an adult.
Hes casual with them like youd be talking to a friend.
Id never call what he did sappy anyway.
Its sweet and real and funny.
So I think its a misconception, but its hard.
Its a little tough.
No one will say that sounds stupid or sappy, but its a little vulnerable to pitch.
