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Critic Reviews
- Critic score
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- By date
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Baskets is so naturalistic it’s almost whimsical. Except it’s so definitely lacks any whimsy that all of its naturalism can actually be stale.
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It’s funny, weird, caustic, and occasionally affecting (mostly thanks to Kelly), and parts of it are very good. But there’s also something fleeting about it that doesn’t make it standout as essential viewing.
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The character [Zach Galifianakis] plays in Baskets (along with the main character's twin brother) is too often unfunny and too mean to the poor insurance adjuster, but I found [Martha Kelly's insurance adjuster character] and Chip's mother to be pretty entertaining.
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After the promising first episode, Baskets wanders, becoming a sour, rambling sendup of strip-mall American life.
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I wish desperately that it wanted to be funnier. The only real smiles come from Louie Anderson as the clown's mother.
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[Louie] Anderson and Martha Kelly--who delivers a supremely deadpan performance as Chip's downtrodden friend--are the best things in Baskets, which is so aggressively downbeat it washes away most of the humor.
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After a handful of episodes that were periodically funny and stridently downbeat (which seemed to be the goal), Baskets got stuck in that low gear.
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Baskets is bold, it is courageous, but it doesn’t really work. It’s not that a TV comedy has to offer wall-to-wall belly laughs, but unrelenting bleakness with the minor relief of a few scattered bits of dry humor--no matter how much it may aspire to a neo-Beckettian level--ends up being more bemusing than amusing.
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Very little of this sad clown’s life feels fresh or urgently original.
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The surrealness almost disguises the repetitive plot of returning home as a manchild. But as a series, Baskets is more bleak than amusing.
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Chip’s sad life is neither funny nor moving; it’s just a parade of discomfort, for both the characters and the audience.
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[Chip's mother] is played with Baskets’ one true flash of inspiration by Louie Anderson. Anderson inhabits Christine Baskets with a wonderful, tart delicacy.... Chip Baskets is most often a selfish creep. It’s a brave move for a performer to make, and congratulations to Galifianakis for his commitment. Just don’t ask me to keep watching him in this role.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 72 out of 93
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Mixed: 12 out of 93
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Negative: 9 out of 93
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Jan 25, 2016
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Jan 23, 2016
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Jan 22, 2016