Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
The first season of The Other Two premiered in January of 2019 on Comedy Central, which for multiple reasons feels like a legitimate lifetime ago. Do you honestly remember what life was like back in 2019? I don’t! At this point, trying to describe day-to-day life pre-March of 2020 would be like attempting to explain how or why Dean Cain graced the cover of TV Guide back in July of 1995 to anyone under the age of 15. They’d be like: What’s TV Guide? Who’s Dean Cain? And why are you talking about this in the comments section of Camila Cabello’s TikTok?
The Other Two hasn’t aired a new episode in almost two-and-a-half years (and moved from Comedy Central to HBO Max), so it’s completely understandable if you forgot that this incisive comedy from the minds of former Saturday Night Live co-head writers Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider was one of the funniest shows of 2019. Thankfully, the series makes its triumphant return on Thursday, August 26, 2021, and all you really need to know about the second season is that it was absolutely worth the wait.
If you have yet to be smitten by the stealthy comedic charms of this relentlessly sophisticated series (the first season is now available on HBO Max), The Other Two follows two struggling siblings, Cary and Brooke Dubek (Drew Tarver and Heléne Yorke), whose lives are upended when their younger brother, ChaseDreams (Case Walker), suddenly achieves internet fame. The first season earned near-universal acclaim (earning a 94% Certified Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes), but wasn’t easily streamable before it eventually debuted on HBO Max in 2021.
The dialogue on the series will leave aspiring comedy writers seething with jealously. The crisp, agile joke writing is similar to comedies like Hacks and Search Party, and while The Other Two isn’t exactly tonally similar to those shows, every episode generates wonderfully weird jokes and genuine laugh-out-loud moments. The exceptional writing is heightened by the pitch-perfect comedic performances from Tarver and Yorke, who continue to be one of the most under-appreciated comedic duos on television. Both Tarver and Yorke are maestros of nuanced humor as they imbue their characters with a fun combination of heart and subtle wit. Ken Marino and Molly Shannon round out the ensemble and in a sentence that’d feel right at home on the cover of “Duh Weekly,” they deliver superb comedic performances.
Also, not to dampen the mood, but I hear “Duh Weekly” may soon be forced to change to “Duh Monthly.”
If you enjoyed Season 1 you’re going to love the latest batch of episodes. The second season begins with 14-year-old ChaseDreams enjoying retirement as he heads to college, but Brooke and Cary still have a famous family member to contend with: their mom. Pat Dubek (Shannon) is now the host of an immensely successful daytime talk show, Pat! The Pat Dubek Show, as Cary and Brooke once again try to navigate the choppy waters of fame-adjacent life. Cary juggles a slew of random hosting gigs — working for such outlets as Age/Net Worth/Feet and The Gay Minute— and a new boyfriend (Gideon Glick), while Brooke searches for the next preteen pop sensation.
The Other Two continues to be an absolute blast. Do I want to wait another two-and-a-half years for a potential third season? No. But if that’s how long it takes to produce another round of enjoyable, distinctive comedy, I’ll be back to review the show in March of 2024.
The first two episodes of The Other Two Season 2 premiere Thursday, August 26, 2021 on HBO Max. Two new episodes will drop weekly, with the final two installments of Season 2 airing on September 23.
