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John Mulaney is undoubtedly one of the most talented comedians working today. We’re massive fans of his brilliant stand up specials and are still obsessing over the Stefon sketches that he wrote for Bill Hader when he worked on Saturday Night Live. However, the question remains: Can John Mulaney be a modern day sitcom star?

Right now, you can stream a 22 minute long preview of the comic’s new Fox sitcom, Mulaney, on Hulu for free. (Before you get too excited, though, you cannot yet stream the pilot. Rather, this is merely a pilot-length look behind-the-scenes of the freshman comedy series.)

The preview features scenes from the sitcom, interviews with the cast and a lot of John Mulaney stand-up. It actually seemed like we saw more stand-up than show. Of course, given that Mulaney is such a brilliant stand-up, we didn’t mind watching so much stand-up. In fact, it actually occurred to us how delightful it would be if the show, Mulaney, was just 30 minutes each week of new John Mulaney stand-up material.

Because we have yet to see the finished product, the jury’s still out on how well Mulaney will connect with a mainstream American audience. The show has a set, style and rhythm that feels very old school, and one can’t help but wonder if it crosses the line into old-fashioned territory. Still, it’s scheduled to premiere after Family Guy which should give it a big lead-in audience.

Other things in the Mulaney preview that excited us:

It looks like John Mulaney’s trademark mix of old school charm and perfectly timed comic delivery are going to translate into his acting.
Elliott Gould’s catch phrase is in the show is going to be, “Oh, hello!” Comedy nerds know that Mulaney got his start in New York comedy with the “Oh, Hello” Show. Basically, he and Nick Kroll (The League) created these insane characters named George St. Geegland and Gil Faizon. They hosted a comedy show and appeared in various sketches together in these personas. The characters have even been resurrected for The Kroll Show. Now, if Gould’s character, an older gay man named Oscar, keeps saying, “Oh, hello,” is it too much to dream that Kroll might appear on Mulaney in character as Gil Faizon opposite Mulaney playing himself? Oh, it is too much to hope? Okay. Well, we live in hope.
There are going to be cute animals on the show.
There are so many great sweaters in this preview. We love sweaters. We might tune in just for the sweaters!
This is a John Mulaney sitcom on network television. That means it has the potential to be very, very, very funny.

Time will tell if Mulaney lives up to its hype. For now, you can get your Mulaney fix by streaming his hour long special, New In Town, on Netflix or his Comedy Central Presents special on Hulu Plus.

Mulaney premieres on October 5 at 9:30/8:30 C on Fox.