FX is responsible for some of the best, most groundbreaking TV of the 21st century. The Shield, Archer, The Americans, It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, and Atlanta are each exemplars of their respective genres, while shows like Pose, Mrs. America, Better Things, and What We Do In The Shadows demonstrate that, despite being swallowed by the House of Mouse, FX’s future as a purveyor of quality content remains bright, American Horror Story notwithstanding.
It seemed a curious choice, then, when FX went and greenlit a show from Lil Dicky, a.k.a. Dave Burd, a YouTube rapper with one album and a handful of viral songs to his name. Groans quickly chased this Vulture interview in which Burd remarks on how “funny” it is that he, a guy with “zero resumé in this space,” was able to score his very own semi-autobiographical comedy at a major network.
“My whole life, I wanted to be a comedian. I grew up idolizing the Larry Davids, the Adam Sandlers, and the Seth Rogens of the world,” he said when asked what “qualified” him for the show. “I loved movies. I loved TV shows. I loved Seinfeld. I loved Curb. I felt like the feedback I was getting as a child when I met people was, ‘Oh, you’re really funny.’ I found that very validating. I thought to myself, ‘I don’t believe the Larry Davids or Seth Rogens of the world began as anything more than somebody’s funny friend.’”
A pitch like that isn’t likely to please anyone, most assuredly not those who see viral fame as nothing more than dumb luck. Burd rose to prominence in 2013, when his video for the filthy, fitfully amusing “Ex-Boyfriend” got more than a million YouTube views in 24 hours (it’s on the verge of cresting 40 million as of this writing). Since then, he dropped an album, a music video featuring just about every mainstream pop artist, and a controversial hit song with Chris Brown that some accused of downplaying Brown’s history of domestic abuse.
Burd is not without talent, but one can’t shake the sense that behind the curtain there’s a room full of suits desperate to make him happen, to somehow replicate the instant success of “Ex-Boyfriend.” A cursory glance at his resumé shows us blunt object after blunt object (rampant dick jokes, cameos, controversy) and a background—upper-middle-class kid from Philly who worked in advertising—that doesn’t necessarily cry out for dramatization. Throw in the fact that media mogul and manager to the stars Scooter Braun is an executive producer and it’s easy to envision Dave as little more than a commercial punctuated with jokes about dicks, a Curb-style showcase for the artists that already dominate cultural conversations around mainstream rap and pop. Dave was advertised with an image of Burd popping through the flap of a pair of boxer briefs. Get it? You totally get it.
But this is FX. And Burd created his series with Jeff Schaffer, the Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm writer who also created The League, another very good show that very easily could’ve been very bad. The writers’ room, meanwhile, is filled with alums from It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, New Girl, and The Boondocks; directors include Superbad’s Greg Mottola and American Vandal’s Tony Yacenda. These are humorous people, and you only need to watch the first episode of Dave to see that, yes, it is indeed funny.
But Dave isn’t good because it’s funny (though that helps). Dave is good because it knows you think you know what it is. Yes, Dave is about a white rapper named Lil Dicky clawing his way to the hip-hop throne, but what simmers beneath the surface is a tension between perception and reality in a world where virality has become necessary to success. Burd knows rapping about his small, mangled penis will get him clicks, just as he knows yelling “Somebody suck me!” while dressed like Jim Carrey in The Mask will turn him into a meme. That’s the easy part. Dave is about what happens next. How do you ascend to the next level? How does you become an “artist,” as opposed to a purveyor of content?
Dave adds dimensional layers with the realization that his dirty, self-deprecating rhymes aren’t just an attention grab. His relationship with Ally (Taylor Misiak) is consumed by the penis anxiety he pokes fun at in “My Dick Sucks,” the onscreen Burd’s most successful single to date. His penis operates fine, we learn, but he was born with a tangled urethra and the subsequent surgeries left it scarred and looking, in his words, like “an old pile of worms.” That anxiety, of course, feeds into a general sense of sexual anxiety, which results in blowout fights over ass-eating and silicone fuck toys that are somehow as honest and vulnerable as they are hilarious.
Dave isn’t the first show to navigate this balance of the vulnerable and profane, nor is it the first to frame them through the tension between one’s true self and their artistic identity. But the distinctions between “Dave” and his stage persona “Lil Dicky” are more nuanced than in most comedic portraits of an artist and their art, and they speak to the fine line that separates IRL and online in an era when the two are becoming more and more entwined. In Dave, “My Dick Sucks” can be a novelty track angling for virality and a vulnerable portrait of body dysphoria at the same time.
But Dave is more than its themes. It’s hilarious, for one, with episodes leavening the blue humor promised by its poster with some deliriously playful cringe and the subtle banalities of its core ensemble. That ensemble deserves credit, too; Misiak’s Ally is radiant and playful, while Davionte “GaTa” Ganter, Burd’s real-life hype man, translates his friendship and history with the star to comedic and emotional effect.
Now, more than two months since it premiered, I sit here kicking myself that it took FX announcing Dave as its “most-watched comedy series ever” (and, let’s be honest, a global pandemic) for me to finally boot up that first episode. Don’t make my mistake.
92 Comments
I thought it was okay.
Nice review and all, but the promo poster for this show makes it impossible for me to want to watch it.
Also Lil Dickey has collaborated with domestic abuser Chris Brown…
OMG everyone look at how BRAVE this dipshit who spends all his time online complaining is. Soooooooooooooo brave.
Thanks, it was already brought up in the piece.
Worth mentioning again.
No not really. You just want everyone to know how much of a better person you are than them.
No, but you seem very insecure if you feel the need to care that someone mentioned Chris Brown is scum and people who collab with him are also scum.
Interesting opinion from someone who doesn’t matter.
I apologize for my other comment; didn’t realize I was talking to the one person who mattered. I guess I mistook you for a nobody idiot because you talk like one.
Fun fact: When someone shows themselves to be a better person than you, it’s not always an attack. Sometimes it’s just a signal that you could be less shitty if you tried a little.
The piece was pretty intentionally downplaying it:“a controversial hit song with Chris Brown that some accused of downplaying Brown’s history of domestic abuse.”The song did downplay Chris Brown’s domestic abuse. The piece discredits itself by downplaying the downplaying.
Kind of an odd comment. A promo poster means you won’t check out a show? M’kay. It is a good show, at least the first season. I’m not sure how far it can go and still be interesting. At least one more season.
I had no interest either until I was made to watch it. It’s one of those shows that starts off as a quirky little comedy and then gets smarter and more compelling. I recommend it.
This show always shows up on my Hulu’s recommends or top tv shows or FX on Hulu, and right before I hit the button to start, I see Archer or Sunny or Frisky Dingo(sadly they took this one off a week or so ago) or Rick and Morty or South Park and watch that instead. I just can’t seem to pull the trigger on it. I think I’ve reached a point where, like Kelly Bundy, the only way I can watch and enjoy new tv shows is by forgetting old ones.
I know exactly what you’re talking about. I discovered the “marathon” streams of R&M and Venture Bros on the Adult Swim site and they seem to be my go-to when I can’t find myself to invest in a new show or film. Comfort food, so to speak.
I’m starting to see why my dad only ever watches M*A*S*H and John Wayne movies. Christ I feel old.
I find it interesting that MASH and John Wayne movies are the two things I avoid at all cost anymore. Grew up on those, and over them. Knowing my dad, he’s probably binging Buffy again.I did start re-watching Cheers though. Seeing how the last time I did so was when it was still first-run, I’m ok with watching a sitcom that I haven’t seen in over 25 years.
Cheers is great. The final season of Cheers is especially great.
I still have a vague recollection of watching the final episode and then the after show episode (which I think may have been the first time that had been done? Can’t say for sure) in 1993. I think it aired a week or two before my h.s. graduation, and I’m fairly certain that the only reason I was able to watch it was because I was on suspension at that time. Cheers has aged relatively well, which surprises me for an ‘80’s sitcom. Amazingly, Frasier isn’t bad either, although the latter seasons are hit or miss. Even though I hate Niles, I find that the episodes centered around him tend to be the better ones, which makes no sense but neither does a spin-off of a comedy lasting nearly as long as the original series that spawned it.
Dammit, you just reminded me that a former co-worker still has one of my Frisky Dingo DVDs and I will probably never see it again.
Funny you say that, as I’ve been watching Married With Children again recently and it holds up pretty well. Not so much later episodes where it got more cartoonish (I mean… it was never terribly realistic, but the first 3-4 seasons were relatively grounded) but the Steve Rhoades years.
The Seven years makes the Steve Rhoades years look like gold.
The early Jefferson years aren’t too bad, but you can see the slide into the cartoonish. But Jefferson gave Marcy more range and even though Steve was great, Al just never seemed to get to as much trouble with him as Jefferson. Once the “No MA’AM” stuff got stale (never was that funny, but whatever) and Buck died, the less said the better.
Yeah, I think I can agree with that actually.
I loved this show. It starts out making you think it’s one thing but it completely ends up being another thing. I’m being vague because no spoilers here. Maybe it helps that I had no idea who this guy was before I started watching but it’s remarkably good.
I was letting episodes pile up on the DVR after catching the first two and finding them moderately amusing. Got back into it this past week, and the third episode (“My Dick Sucks”) is squirmingly uncomfortable and relies on escalating deceit in the time-honored sitcom fashion, but the resolution blew me away with how open and honest it was. And then the fourth episode explores bipolar disorder in a similarly fearless but caring way. For me the “demands of fame” story threads are becoming very much the B-plot.
I’m getting burnt out on explorations of mental health in TV shows these days. The majority are not covering any new ground or perspectives on the topic. Exploration of bipolar disorder in particular isn’t even unique. I’ve seen it explored several times across various shows during quarantine.
How do you list off all of FX’s best shows and not mention Justified?
and LOUIE.
as much as i loved the show at the time it hasn’t aged well, not just because louis is a Bad Person, but it just didn’t have the legs. it comes off as a self-important time capsule at best. of all his projects i think lucky louie has aged the best.
You have the right to that opinion, of course. I feel it’s aged wonderfully. I’ve gone back to a few episodes and, yep, still brilliant.
That show was ass boring even before whatever controversy he had, which I could care less about.
There was no mention of Louie either, without which we probably wouldn’t have gotten Atlanta & Better Things (and possibly this very show, although I haven’t watched it).
Yeah that stood out to me, too. Sure, Louis CK is persona non grata now and a giant fuck up, but in a piece talking in part about FX’s strong reputation for quality, leaving off Louie is a pretty big omission. Arguably that and The Shield put FX on the map in terms of critical acclaim. Plus the line seems pretty direct from Louie to Dave. Put a huge asterisk on it, mention it has a complicated legacy now and it doesn’t excuse CK being a heinous asshole, but it shouldn’t be washed out entirely.
Louie appeared on virtually none of the major “best shows of the decade lists” last year, when it routinely ranked at or near the top of every “best shows of the year” lists for the first half of the decade from all the same publications.
He who controls the past controls the future, and he who controls the present controls the past. Nah I’m just being dramatic. But fuck these people for not simply recognizing the show remained good despite the fact Louie CK jerks off onto his belly while women watch.
It is hard to view the jokes on Louie as funny if the audience can no longer distinguish between him being serious and exaggerating for comedic effect. Critics are allowed to change their minds, especially if hindsight informs them that their original opinion was wrong.
See, I don’t think opinions can be wrong, per se. Sure, they can be ill-informed, ignorant, and differing, but I think the real problem is people viewing opinions as facts.
But you still cannot deny that Louie was a great FX property, nor CK’s direct influence on Better Things and Baskets, and indirect influence elsewhere. See Polanski, Roman, or Allen, Woody. Or, hell, Weinstein, Harvey. I’m certainly not going to shun every Miramax release just because their co-founder was reprehensible. CK’s problems, while terrible, were several shades away from Polanski, Cosby and Weinstein, IMO.
…if the audience can no longer distinguish between him being serious and exaggerating for comedic effectEXACTLY! When he spoke of beating off or spoke of women in a sexual way as the character Louie on the show, I thought it was done with sarcasm or irony in mind, and I found it be a fresh take on sexuality. When watching the show knowing what I know about Louie C.K., I find him creepy and a bit disturbed. Bias overtaking objectivity? Probably.
Basically all the critics raved about his show while it was on the air, and wrote about the throughline between it and subsequent FX comedies, but places like the AV Club now like to act like it never existed. There was that recent list of the best shows of the decade here which never mentioned it while including those descendant shows.
I agree entirely, and add that I feel the same way about the Cosby Show. Bill Cosby is a monster, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that the Cosby Show was a monumentally important part of television history.
Wait a second, I thought this show was racist because it “overshadowed” Atlanta? You AV Clubbers need to get your narratives straight.
I’m a professed fan of Lil Dicky, who’s responsible for one of my favorite lyrics ever (“She like ‘apples to oranges’/Bitch, that phrase don’t make no sense/why CAN’T fruit be compared?!”), so even just a show of him doing Lil Dicky things would have been enough. But finding those extra layers in pathos and the ascension of fame definitely elevates into the next great FX comedy.
That line was almost life changing for me. How had I not seen how dumb it is not to be able to compare fruit before?
Because one is a citrus and the other…isn’t.
It means not to expect the same characteristics out of different items. A Honda Civic and a Peterbilt truck are both motor vehicles, but if you’re faulting the Civic’s towing capacity or the Peterbilt’s fuel efficiency relative to the other, you’re missing the point. Likewise if you fault oranges for making bad pie when you slice them up, or producing bad cider, when you shouldn’t even be comparing them to apples at all.
I’m sure many people enjoy having you in their life.
My favorite part of the internet is not being able to make even the most inane comment without having a couple of dudes try to explain it to me!
Its a stupid line. I won’t explain why, but it is. Lil Dicky sucks. Was that better?
You’re the one who couldn’t figure out the meaning of an ancient cliche. But sure, my bad.
loser alert!
Thanks for sharing that lyric. It made me laugh.
I like “Dave,” but that line is meh to me, superficially profound without actually being profound. The whole _point_ of that admittedly now trite, overused phrase is precisely that apples are so different than oranges that it’s not useful to compare them, like a lot of other things people make comparisons between that only have 1 or 2 similarities, but really have little in common. So the phrase still works, much better than two completely unrelated things. (Use “apples and kumquats” or “apples and tomatoes” if you prefer to be (very slightly) original, if derivative. But oh-so-21st century. 😉 )
“I’d like to comment on this show that I claim not to watch, and never will.”- Lots of people, for some reason
“I like to comment on how other people comment instead of saying anything at all” – also lots of people for some reason
Well yes, that’s how first impressions go. If your first impression of a show is bad, you can say why and move on. What, exactly, do you think agents do when they read log lines and cover letters?
the first two episodes are excellent, then the series gets progressively worse.
The opposite to which you say is true
I had never heard of the dude, did not realize it was semi-autobiographical until the season was almost done and don’t really listen to rap, but saw Dave was paired on Hulu with new episodes of Better Things, so I gave it a watch the first week and by the third found myself looking forward to the next.If you like the FX and FXX comedies, I highly recommend. It’s worth a binge.
You’re not the first critic to say something to that effect, but I’m still not convinced. Atlanta was able to overcome my disinterest in rap with Louie-esque surrealism, but I don’t need a heartfelt exploration of the dysmorphia associated with a mangled penis.
Unlike 11 of the comments made on this post, I actually watched Dave (when it premiered no less) and it’s easily the best new show of the year. Yes, some can say it’s a white washed Atlanta. However, I think it definitely stands out on its own, has the right amount of self awareness without trying to go all Community with it, and has the perfect mix of pathos and laughs. I expected big things from the show since I have been a Lil Dicky fan. Yes, his past stuff has not aged all that well, but you can still tell he has the comedic chops and musical talent to poke fun at (and revel in) the current pop culture climate. I’m stoked for Season 2, even if its missing a certain key character (Vague Spoiler: I was surprised at the fact that he actually did end up making his song/true story “Molly” into a season long storyline).
First season was great. I went in not expecting much and was pretty shocked at how deep, layered, thoughtful and funny the show turned out to be. AVC should cover it next season
Absolutely not.
Lil Dicky is a hilarious rapper, but he goes beyond just being funny and makes genuinely good music with exceptional lyrics. The show is pretty good too. The jail song in the last episode was fucking great.
https://orangeescort.com
Damn that’s a high bar you suck I mean set
You lost me at “The League was actually good”.
I still can’t figure out how I thought it was a good idea to binge watch The League several years ago. I chalk it up to an early mid-life crisis and sheer boredom. The only take-away from that is when Jeff Goldblum would guest, because “vinegar face” is still priceless comedy.
I tried binging it the other day but only made it maybe 4 episodes. I generally like Paul Scheer and Nick Kroll, but even their characters are awful on that show. The “wildcard” character (Taco?) Is painful and the main guy is just a potato.
the main guy lied about being at the wtc on 9/11, so he obviously sucksraffi was funny
The character of Taco is the worst part of the show. He is just so annoying because he does dumb stuff and never faces any consequences for it. Despite being so repulsive, women find him attractive on the show.
“Despite being so repulsive, women find him attractive on the show.”I actually find that part to be the most realistic aspect of his character.
I don’t like his music and I’m not watching a show with this guy. It wasn’t just collaborating with Chris Brown, though that’s definitely troubling. It’s that he raps like another aggrieved white guy mad that the world doesn’t just give him what he wants, trying to play off being racist and misogynist with seemingly self-deprecating but not really jokes.Saying that the show initially sounds like an example of executives trying to make him happen as more than a viral star, then listing off the top shelf TV collaborators working with him isn’t a counter-argument, it’s proof of concept. Of all the viral stars to make into a semi-autobiographical FX show, it had to be the rich white rapper with frat boy humor. Looking forward to him winning an Oscar. Fucking great.
No one cares what you think.
We get it, you want to suck Chris Brown off. Calm down.
Wow, homophobia. Good look. I hate Chris Brown. I think people like you are worse
You think internet commenters are worse than unrepentant domestic abusers?Like I get from your name and your whole vibe that you’re a troll but at least put in some effort to hide it, slugger.
You seem fun.
We get it, you want to suck Chris Brown off. Calm down.
People are sleeping on Mr Inbetween. One of the best shows on FX or any network.
This show got a lot better when it pivoted from “Curb-Your-Enthusiasum-but-Larry-is-a-novelty-rapper” to “Atlanta-but-Paper-Boi-is-a-novelty-rapper-feeling-fenced-in-by-his-rep.”
Sounds fucking stupid!
That write did more to discourage me from watching it. I owe you one, Randall.**not legally binding or factually accurate.
I’ll have to give this a shot. When I heard Lil’ Dicky had a show on FX I figured it would be in character as his musical persona, kind of like a more self-aware version of Da Ali G Show, but this sounds a lot better. Realistic but still funny enough to keep me interested when purely dramatic storylines might just bring me down. I’ve got to have comedy mixed with tragedy and all the mundane segues between because, to me at least, that’s how life goes. Laughter, tears and stretches of boredom breaking it all up.
I watched the first season. I liked it and thought it was very funny. But Dave is massively unlikable and hard to root for. He always looks like he’s apologizing for something and he has little to no respect for other people.On the other hand maybe I just need a nap.
Lil Dicky has one of the most punchable faces around. A really, truly annoying mug. And his music sucks too.
Finished the first season and it’s worth a watch. Dave himself needs a good supporting cast to keep his character likeable. Thankfully Ally, Mike, GaTa, and Emma shine early on to keep Dave human. Dave’s parents (David Paymer and Gina Hecht) are the funniest part of the show.
Front half of the season does a great job of setting the stage. Dave is pretty passive at the start but you can see his friendships at work. But, minor spoilers, Dave gets successful and becomes an asshole. Those couple episodes are a bit tough to watch because Dave is almost too awful and childish. But I also had that feeling during some Curb Your Enthusiasm episodes, so we’ll see.
I don’t know a whole lot about hip-hop or pop culture figures, so the cameos are a nice refresher about this cultural space. I can’t speak to the issue of the white rapper and I’m having trouble finding the deep, biting social criticisms Dave keeps asserting are at the core of his music. You get flashes now and then, but a lot of it seems directed within a narrower path of experiences that is often difficult to relate to (but that’s also partially my fault).
Still, the show was consistently laugh out loud funny and that’s good enough. The article focused on a lot on Dave Hurd and the story behind the show and it didn’t leave much room to highlight what I think is the core strength of the show, and that is the supporting cast. Even if you don’t watch the show, any clip of Dave’s parents that come across youtube or wherever are worth it.
Serious question: how does this compare to Jim Jefferies’ series Legit? I loved that show for the things you mention (the pathos, the converging of the persona and the character) and if this show is in the same vein as that, I’d be interested.
“White guy gets show he doesn’t deserve, but it’s really good, guys, we swear!”Groan
An insightful review and interesting to put in context of “Curb” and other comedies with the same vibe. For me, Dave also fits into the tradition of Jewish humor–his on-screen persona is another variation of Woody Allen and there’s something about the annoying, fairly pushy while being vulnerable shtick that feels like it depends on him being Jewish (which he announces a few times in the first episode and which his on-screen very Jewish parents remind of as well.)