(Stay) At Home with Amy Sedaris, season 3

[Ant Farm Keyboard]

Just a reminder that the third season of At Home with Amy Sedaris starts this Wednesday night in the US.
Based on the pace the previous episodes found their way into some shady methods of viewing, expect a couple more days before they get available outside the US.

I hope that this third season will be more consistent than the second. The first half of S2 was stellar, but at some point, after the Anniversary special, the show became much less inventive. At least, we should get more Ronnie Vino, more Patty Hogg, more Chassie Tucker, more Ruth, the lady who lives in the woods, but I'm also praying for the return of John Early as the community theater teacher with more videos about drugs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAj-prpKipM

[Ant Farm Keyboard]

I've just seen the premiere, "Babies". It wasn't a standout episode, but it was perfectly fine. They had the right balance for guest stars (Laura Benanti, Jane Krakowski, Justin Theroux) or the recurring characters.

There also appears to have some creative changes on the show. Paul Dinello isn't credited on this episode in any capacity. There are a few new writers, but the only name that's ringing a bell is Peter Grosz, who was previously the head writer on The President Show (in addition to playing Mike Pence). That may be why there are so many glimpses of Amy's various neuroses and a few great throwaway lines.

[Small Man Big Horse]

I really enjoyed it, the recurring characters were great to see, I'm very, very fond of John Early's community theatre teacher too, and Patty and Leslie shone in the baby naming segment. It might have underused Jane Krakowski and Justin Theroux but both were fun to see, and in general it made me laugh a lot so I'm pleased to have it back.

[Ant Farm Keyboard]

They had to cut an epilogue for time reasons, but the photos have been posted on the Instagram account for the show.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CAibHhcFCVv/

[Ant Farm Keyboard]

As they don't have an episode this week due to July 4, and I'm in slightly better condition today, I'll say that the season so far has been very solid. There's an episode I didn't like, that was the one with Ana Gasteyer as the twin sister, but she had nothing to do with that. It's just that they don't manage to strike the right tone for "very special episodes" about addiction. There was the very same issue last season when Richard Kind was the corporate mascot addicted to sugar.

The episode about the cruise was quite great, and it had Peter Serafinowicz, Dolly Wells and Michael Stipe as guests. For the time being, the standout secondary character has been Tony the Knife Guy (the childhood story in Italien, then the pretend first date). It's also interesting that they've been cutting short a lot of "one-note" characters like Ruth (the Lady who Lives in the Woods) or Ronnie Vino, who was even pushed away by Michael Shannon last week before she could complete her song. We still get the right amount of Chassie, however.

[Ant Farm Keyboard]

At Home with Amy Sedaris had its season finale last week, and it looks like I was the only one watching this show. It's a pity, because season three was mostly great, as they managed to find some balance between the different sides of the program (the recurring characters, the fake commercials, the big themes), and to keep a quick pace, which didn't really happen during part of season two. The last two episodes were nearly flawless. Inspiration featured David Alan Grier, John Early, Jackie Hoffman (as a children book writer. You could see from miles where it was going, but the execution was very impressive) and Richard Kind. And the New Year's Eve special delivered on all accounts, with turns by Paul Rudd, Darrell Hammond, Michael McKean and Chris Parnell.

I really hope that it will land a fourth season, because the entire team seams to have found their footings.

[Small Man Big Horse]

After watching and really enjoying the first I haven't seen any of the others yet, I have them downloaded though so definitely will do so, and I'm really glad to hear it's found it's footing and is a lot better than the often fun but definitely inconsistent second season.

[The Mollusk]

This is one of those things I know will be great but I keep forgetting to bloody watch. Thanks for the reminder, gonna download some now. I'll report back in a million years when I finally get off on my arse and watch them.