To say the show is rich with talent is an understatement. David Koechner is the family patriarch, underrated character actress Natasha Leggero lends her talents in a rare staring role as one of the two sisters (Riki Lindhome is also OK, although I feel she's better suited to be partnered with Kate Micucci), and Hamish Blake, Michael Ian Black, Brian Huskey, Paget Brewster and Brett Gelman are all excellently cast in character roles. Christina Hendricks (who's mostly known for period drama) dives into her role as a scheming servant with an unexpected amount of enthusiasm. Michael Ian Black is also one of those characters who sticks out (even in poor episodes) as a character who really puts the "serve" in "subservient" with the character of Peepers.
Peepers is a rich character and fully-formed but seeing him on screen only serves to remind about how deficient all the other characters. Peepers' desire to serve the other characters in the story make little sense because pretty much everyone else is an extreme caricature. Either that or they're the most inhumane collection of people in history. It would be like watching Peter O'Toole act opposite third graders.
The main drawing point of the show (and what keeps it watchable) is that it's a fun historical piece. Although Another Period doesn't have the production values of a period piece, the show has fun with history on a superficial level. Matt Besser plays Leon Trotsky, Kate Flannery plays Annie Sullivan, Ben Stiller plays Charles Ponzi and Chris Parnell plays Sigmund Freud in clever historical twists although it's fairly clear that these historical figures aren't researched beyond what will earn an easy laugh. Similarly, the show also presents us with a hyperactive Gandhi and though Clone High already went down that road a dozen years ago, it's good enough for a chuckle.
The show is too sloppy to be taken as much of a satire and its characters are too cruel to be taken sympathetically or even seriously.
Despite the negative tone of the review, it's still watchable and worthy of a laugh here and there.
Peepers is a rich character and fully-formed but seeing him on screen only serves to remind about how deficient all the other characters. Peepers' desire to serve the other characters in the story make little sense because pretty much everyone else is an extreme caricature. Either that or they're the most inhumane collection of people in history. It would be like watching Peter O'Toole act opposite third graders.
The main drawing point of the show (and what keeps it watchable) is that it's a fun historical piece. Although Another Period doesn't have the production values of a period piece, the show has fun with history on a superficial level. Matt Besser plays Leon Trotsky, Kate Flannery plays Annie Sullivan, Ben Stiller plays Charles Ponzi and Chris Parnell plays Sigmund Freud in clever historical twists although it's fairly clear that these historical figures aren't researched beyond what will earn an easy laugh. Similarly, the show also presents us with a hyperactive Gandhi and though Clone High already went down that road a dozen years ago, it's good enough for a chuckle.
The show is too sloppy to be taken as much of a satire and its characters are too cruel to be taken sympathetically or even seriously.
Despite the negative tone of the review, it's still watchable and worthy of a laugh here and there.