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After shows — or “talkback” shows, as they are also known — create a bubble around the shows they discuss. It’s as if nothing exists but the show itself, and everything that happens on that show is discussed with the same zeal as current events are talked about on the Sunday morning political shows. But what if there was a show like that, but the show it’s talking about actually doesn’t exist? And its host was Fred Savage? Read on to find out more…
WHAT JUST HAPPENED??! WITH FRED SAVAGE: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
Opening Shot: A scene from a show called The Flare (which doesn’t exist) where the hero gets stabbed, then suddenly the wound gets transferred to the guy that stabbed him.
The Gist: We cut to a talk show set and Fred Savage is just blown away. “Wow!” he screams to the audience. He’s the host of What Just Happened??! With Fred Savage, an after-show for the highly-anticipated series The Flare.
Never heard of The Flare? Well, it’s because the show doesn’t exist. Savage and his co-host, comedian Taylor Tomlinson, host a Talking Dead-style show, with all of the analysis of an episode’s craziest moments, interviews with the show’s stars, and celebrity guests. But the only thing that’s real is the talk show; the rest is all vaporware.
In the first episode, we hear Savage talk about how the novels that The Flare is based on, The Moon Is The Sun At Night series (which doesn’t exist) by TJ Whitford (who doesn’t exist) meant so much to him as a kid who didn’t know anyone when he moved to Hollywood when he was 11. He demonstrates by pulling out his well-loved and bookmarked copy of the first novel. But neither Tomlinson, or Kevin Zegers, who plays the main character in The Flare, have the same connection to the source material, which frustrates Savage to no end. He gets so annoyed at Zegers’ screen test: Zegers whips off his shirt within seconds and walks off the set, not wanting to be part of the “Flarenomenon” (the word of the day! Everyone gets a Frosty!).
We then see a pre-taped segment where Savage invades the home of who he thinks is Flare co-star Dame Helen Mirren, but just finds a bunch of teenagers drinking by a pool and a very angry homeowner.
The celebrity guest is Savage’s The Grinder co-star Rob Lowe, who is a fan of The Flare, but is more there to promote his book, his one-man show, and show the first headshot composite he used when he was a kid actor in the ’70s. At one point, though, the two of them do an “Extreme Interview,” mimicking the most intense scene from that week’s Flare episode, which happens to be a monsoon scene.
Our Take: Savage created What Just Happened??! with Matt Silverstein and Dave Jesser, the co-creators of Drawn Together. These are three experienced hands, all of whom aren’t strangers to parody. And we can see how strong their parody skills are on this meta talk show.
Let’s face it: We’re all annoyed by Chris Hardwick’s smiling face on our TVs, getting his nerd on about The Walking Dead and various other genre shows. And What Just Happened??! nails the weird, hyper, insider-y tone of these kind of shows, talking about scenes in this show The Flare like they’re a congressional hearing. The funny part about it is that Savage is doing all this crazy stuff and getting so worked up over a show that doesn’t exist.
How long the show can sustain this, we’re not sure. We think the longer the show goes, the more we’re going to see Savage get unhinged by the fact that the people he’s talking to, even people working on The Flare, are way less into the show and its source material than he is. Also, Savage has been great at playing neurotics that are teetering on the edge of a serious midlife crisis, so the role of a host that’s way more into a show than even the people acting on it seems to fit him well. Tomlinson is also funny as the co-host who is just happy to have a regular gig, and Best Coast is a kick-ass house band.
What will save the show is that the actual talk show part of it, where Savage talks to celebrity guests, is largely unscripted. They may geek out a bit about The Flare here and there, but it’s mostly a straightforward interview. That alone may make the show worth watching as a fun Sunday diversion from the more serious stuff out there.
Sex and Skin: Nothing, thank goodness.
Parting Shot: Zegers comes back to the set and apologizes, saying he wants to be a part of the “Flarenomenon” (More Frostys!).
Sleeper Star: The “clips” from The Flare that were shot to use on What Just Happened??! are pretty well-done. That speaks to Savage, Sliverstein and Jesser’s dedication to making this as authentic as possible.
Most Pilot-y Line: Zegers’ walkout seemed a little over the top as far as parody is concerned, but all was forgiven when he walked back and embraced the raincoat-clad Savage.
Our Call: STREAM IT. It’s not like you have to follow What Just Happened??! religiously. But if you’re not in the mood to watch Meryl Streep out-act her co-stars on Big Little Lies in real time, this isn’t a bad alternative.
Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, VanityFair.com, Playboy.com, Fast Company’s Co.Create and elsewhere.
