John Mulaney & The Sack Lunch Bunch: Season 1

METASCORE

Universal acclaim based on 7 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 22 Ratings

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5.3

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5.3	Your Score
5.3	User Score Mixed or average reviews based on 22 Ratings

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Season Details & Credits

Netflix | Season Premiere Date: December 24, 2019

Summary: The musical comedy special from John Mulaney with a group of 15 kids aged between 8 and 13-years-old are joined by Annaleigh Ashford, David Byrne, Jake Gyllenhaal, Richard Kind, Natasha Lyonne, Shereen Pimentel, and Andre De Shields.

Genre(s): Comedy, Variety Shows, Events & Specials, Music

Season 1 Episodes

No episode information is currently available for this season

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

Richard Roeper

Dec 20, 2019

“John Mulaney & the Sack Lunch Bunch” is an instant classic. ... A brilliant, multi-layered piece of performance art. Read full review

IndieWire Ben Travers

Dec 19, 2019

It’s an inventive, exciting, and very funny homage to “Mister Rogers Neighborhood,” “The Electric Company,” and more live-action kids’ shows of yesteryear. But it’s also very theatrical. ... An advocacy piece for thinking like a kid again — and Mulaney makes a damn convincing case. Read full review

Erik Adams

Dec 24, 2019

While the Sack Lunch is an unconventional package, its ingredients are pure Mulaney. ... The overriding sentiment is one of staggering honesty. Read full review

Daniel Fienberg

Dec 23, 2019

[An] odd and charming mixture of what Mulaney does best. Read full review

John Anderson

Dec 20, 2019

A conceptual-art piece masquerading as a variety show. The more you know—about the evolution of children’s TV, music videos, sketch shows—the more effective it is. And, as always, the fact that you get a joke makes the joke funnier. Read full review

Alan Sepinwall

Dec 23, 2019

It’s a delightful hour-plus of silliness. ... The whole thing is a joy. Read full review

Kathryn VanArendonk

Dec 23, 2019

There’s so much care and craft in Sack Lunch Bunch. All the musical numbers work, and occasionally they’re breathtakingly good. Read full review

User Score

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5.3

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User Reviews

cvanaver

Jan 4, 2020

Clever, weird and delightful. A little mature for my 2 year-old, but I anxiously await when my children are 9 or 10 and can appreciate this. Would love to see a series.

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

Davrosdaleks1

Dec 30, 2019

John Mulaney & the Sack Lunch Bunch on Netflix is a parody of children's specials from the '70s and '80s. I only watched this because someone else in the room was, but I was completely surprised at how much I loved this weird and wacky little work.

The word to describe JM&tSLB is "random,"John Mulaney & the Sack Lunch Bunch on Netflix is a parody of children's specials from the '70s and '80s. I only watched this because someone else in the room was, but I was completely surprised at how much I loved this weird and wacky little work.

The word to describe JM&tSLB is "random," but it's the good kind of random. This is just an insanely creative special. There are a ton of funny lines and back-and-forth between comedian John Mulaney and the child actors. A highlight is the songs, which cover a range of topics you can't predict.

This goes for "The Muppets Show" in primetime feel and is really meant to amuse adults as well as children. I feel that the former will get more out of this than the latter. (There is a surprising amount of talk about death in this.)

The cast of child actors are all good, plus there are a few really strong singers among them. Mulaney is great as the oddball who is never quite in control of his own show.

If you're looking for something funny and distinct, I highly recommend this.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

brockcheese

Jan 9, 2020

Hilarious children's special from John Mulaney that really displays his talents that are dark yet wholesome.

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

heltondrew

Dec 26, 2019

crazy, weird, hilarious, and some brand of wonderful...still trying to figure out exactly which brand though.

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

infin

Jan 13, 2020

Mulaney's standup is funny. But this was not. This special is full of random offbeat skits, poor musical acts and lame children's show spoofs. I will watch anything but I struggled to finish this. Netflix is really scraping the bottom of the barrel.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

MovieBuff2020

Dec 30, 2019

Although it seems many critics view the show positively, realize that these are adults (tuned into Mulaney's flavor of humor) rating the show. I suspect reviews by kids, who are the target audience, would reflect much differently. They would not understand many of the jokes and flavor ofAlthough it seems many critics view the show positively, realize that these are adults (tuned into Mulaney's flavor of humor) rating the show. I suspect reviews by kids, who are the target audience, would reflect much differently. They would not understand many of the jokes and flavor of humor. My kids saw the episode and were largely bored and confused. John stuck his neck out there to try something new and different, which is appreciated. However, he missed the mark if he is trying to entertain kids rather than garner a tip of the hat from society's media critics.… Expand

0 of 3 users found this helpful03

ourman

Feb 4, 2020

Huge Mulaney fan but completely missed the joke here. Not one laugh. Love the guy but his whole "I don't want children" thing is done to death. That and his dog. EVERY. SINGLE. SHOW./INTERVIEW/ETC. ETC.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Seasons & Episodes

87

Series Overview
Season 1

87
- Season 1 Overview
  Air Date: December 24, 2019
- No episode information is currently available for this season