This premiere has the dual benefits of a) marking the return of Barry, which is automatically exciting, as we have not had new episodes since 2019; and b) being full of faces you’ll recognize, even if you’re not quite sure WHY you recognize them. I looked up three of the attendees and said, “Oh, RIGHT,” under my breath. I still refer to this phenomenon by the name the old site Fametracker gave it: “Hey, It’s That Guy!” I feel like that’s the ideal way to be famous. You’re working consistently and making a good living, you have enough face recognition that your family doesn’t give you shit about your acting career at holiday meals, and yet you can go to the grocery store and buy whatever you want without people taking surreptitious pictures of your cart. THE DREAM.
Anyway, if you haven’t checked out Barry, do it. (I believe you can rent old seasons on Amazon Prime, if you don’t have HBO.) It’s like the comedic cousin to Ted Lasso: a bit darker, a bit broodier, and occasionally more violent, but still featuring people trying to be better versions of themselves. We could do a crossover, though. I really want to see Ted and Roy Kent hanging out with NoHo Hank, for example, and I’m pretty sure Nate has the cunning to run a cartel. Bill Hader and Jason Sudeikis need to call their respective network bosses. Let’s build this bridge.
