MacGruber (2021)

There’s an awful lot of classic James Bond in the mix here as well, if James Bond drank Molsons and talked a lot about his dick.

"MacGruber" the show is about as stupidly funny as you would hope. ... When it gets back to Forte and whatever dimwitted plan is forming in MacGruber's head, this series proves why the character deserves such an epic resurrection, and a second season.

A fun binge for fans of Forte and/or "whoever smelt it dealt it" jokes. [Feb 2022, p.101]

MacGruber is all about making the most with very little, and the MacGruber series certainly knows how to recycle what has worked in the past effectively and with hilarious results.

In all, whether “MacGruber” works for you, or doesn’t, will depend on your patience for sophomoric puns and your knowledge of and deep interest in soldier-of-fortune flicks. But while much of the show can leave the uninitiated cold, its unity of tone, and its ability to keep spinning its simple premise into madness, are genuinely impressive. Chalk up another win for Forte’s unkillable hero.

MacGruber on Peacock, for all its flaws, has the same batting average the character has always had. He is, for good and for ill, the same at any length.

The show still goofs amusingly on how the one-man-army brand of patriotism sold by so many action movies is actually just raging narcissism, and Forte remains an expert at poor attempts to disguise a tantrum as laconic cool. ... It’s a shame, though, that this supersized version can’t sustain its satirical ambitions or its goofy emotional notes as well as, say, a longer-form Ferrell effort like Talladega Nights.

This latest incarnation hasn’t quite reached the popping point for the brand, but it also doesn’t feel like TV has somehow become its ideal vehicle. The standout parts are still every bit as funny, while the gaps between those parts have only grown.

Watched consecutively, the flaws overwhelm the strengths. Viewed a week apart, it might be like revisiting an old friend, remembering what fans increasingly love about the original movie. Back-to-back, the comedy explodes.