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Critic Reviews
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Crashing has enough mostly gentle amusements to keep it on track. And it’s increasingly easy to get on Pete’s side.
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Holmes is terrific as the show's emotional core, a walking wound upon whom the universe dumps a daily portion of salt. Crashing is happy to wear its heart on its sleeve--or on the big goofy face of its leading men. [17 Feb 2017, p.54]
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As raw and raunchy as the comedy sometimes gets on Crashing, there's something incredibly endearing and downright sweet about this new HBO series. That something is the performance of the immensely likable Pete Holmes.
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Pete has yet to figure out that the art of winning an audience is perfected through enthusiastically failing again and again. Crashing shows that Holmes has already mastered that lesson and has moved on to quietly, honestly killing it.
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There is a lot of talk--practical and philosophical--about comedy, and Crashing is very good with the details of low-level nightlife. But what most makes the show entertaining are Pete’s episodic adventures with characters who will help form him, challenge him and wake him from his self-satisfied sleep into a better sort of happiness.
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Being a comedian can be a thankless grind, but in Pete (not to mention Holmes’s) hands, it’s a joy to remember that the whole point is to make people laugh.
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Every aspect of the show seems informed by its main character’s--and creator’s--joy. Plots unfold with rollicking energy, actors ham it up, and the script seems sometimes to read only, “Chuckles abound,” as when Pete and some pals spend a montage mock-surprising one another with excellent news.
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This is the kind of show that’s not going to make the big pop-culture impact of the series that precedes it--Girls--but it’s a worthy dispenser of pleasure.
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Crashing may be a bit slight, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing: It knows what it’s going for and more often than not, fulfills its modest ambitions in amusing and diverting ways.
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The knock-down, pop-up rhythms of Crashing can grow wearying when the only character we’re following is the one going through them. But they also make the few moments of triumph so, so satisfying.
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Retaining watchability with extended cameos from industry heavyweights and an admirable sweetness noticeably missing from television, Crashing is a wacky love letter to comedy with heart to spare.
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While its early episodes are still working through a few kinks, it’s engaging enough to belong in the well-done category, too.
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Although TV has no shortage of shows built around comics and their lives--or for that matter, pulling back the curtain on showbiz--this one captures that moment before success kicks in. Crashing doesn't look like HBO's next great comedy, but based on its opening acts, it has the makings of a pretty good one.
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Give it a couple of episodes and Crashing just might grow on you. But even if you're a huge Pete Holmes fan, you're more likely to smile than laugh out loud.
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A genial, likable sitcom that fits the genial, likable personality of its leading man.
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When it’s studying and performing the rituals of that new religion [stand-up comedy], Crashing is a treat, and a worthy new addition to the comedy house of worship HBO has been building for decades. But, like the fictional Pete Holmes, you have to endure some mortification to get there.
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The show could benefit hugely from creating more of a hash out of this immediately fascinating and largely unsparing world. As it stands, however, Crashing remains fixated on a single proverbial wet noodle, seemingly unaware that wet noodles tend to be a lot more satisfying in groups.
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Crashing never gets off the couch. Pete’s religious background isn’t explored to any real purpose, nor is his style of comedy so disparate it feels essential. He’s a comic with plenty of talent, but stuck in a story that doesn’t stand out.
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It’s pleasant enough, with enjoyable guest stars, but it comes too late in the evolution of this genre to make much of an impression.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 24 out of 36
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Mixed: 9 out of 36
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Negative: 3 out of 36
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May 14, 2017
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Apr 22, 2017
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Feb 7, 2022