- Network: HULU
- Series Premiere Date: Sep 16, 2021
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Critic Reviews
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Even though the first episode of The Premise was uneven, there was enough there to make us want to watch the other episodes. Mainly we want to see if the big swings Novak takes in each episode connect, or if they’re admirable strike outs.
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The Premise would do better to simply commit to its white-centric myopia rather than occasionally and clumsily gesturing toward peripheral people of color. Though the series shows some insight into the hypocrisy of its subjects, it seems oblivious to its flattening of marginalized characters into little more than bystanders to some white person’s mess.
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Novak is probably still best-known for having once been a writer, producer, and actor on The Office, which makes The Premise’s failures as comedy all the more frustrating. Oddly, the series is much, much better when it’s playing straight.
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Novak is an accomplished writer and actor, best known for the US version of The Office, but The Premise seems to take novel ideas and flatten them out.
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Novak is an accomplished writer and actor, best known for the US version of The Office, but The Premise seems to take novel ideas and flatten them out.
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Real tension is only felt in two episodes, though: the aforementioned “Butt Plug” and “Moment of Silence,” both of which are buoyed by strong performances from their leads and a greater sense of storytelling focus. ... That’s what The Premise really is: a series of episodes that each have their own gimmick. “Moment of Silence,” at least, is smart enough to not try to be funny. The other episodes try too hard and, too often, fail.
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[The five episodes critics were given] can be exasperating and confusing, but also intriguing. At times, it’s god-awful, and at others genuinely good. But the shifts in tone and execution from episode to episode — or even scene to scene within certain episodes — feel incredibly jarring, even when The Premise seems close to achieving its full potential.