Billy Crystal hasn’t done a television comedy series since ABC’s “Soap,” which ran from 1977-1981, followed by his memorable turns on “Saturday Night Live” in that same era– unless you count some recent guest star spots on Lisa Kudrow’s “Web Therapy.”
And we’ve nearly lost count of how many occasions he hosted the Oscars, with the last being in 2012. Okay, it was nine times, beginning in 1990.
But now he’s back in the saddle, an apropos term considering “City Slickers,” teamed with Josh Gad in FX’s new mismatched buddy comedy, “The Comedians.” It’s a show within a show, “The Billy and Josh Show” in production for FX– and paired with “Louis,” one of the network’s top comedies and a perennial awards-magnet.
Gad is fresh off the success of his role as Olaf in “Frozen” and on Broadway in “The Book of Mormon.”
Teamed with Crystal, the two comedians act as hyper-stylized versions of themselves coming at their craft from two different approaches—and two generations. Conflict and comedy ensue in this reluctant marriage, in the sketches for their fictional show and in their real life interactions as documented in a style reminiscent of “The Office” and “The Larry Sanders Show.”
Everything is on the table for digs, from Gad’s weight and eating habits to his failed role in the short-lived NBC comedy “1600 Penn.” For Crystal, it’s his hit movies, his Broadway show– which Gad has never heard about – and Oscar hosting gigs as well as his old school style of joke-telling and delivery.
“The Comedians” is based on a Swedish comedy, “Ulveson & Hergren,” but is firmly grounded in Hollywood and the travails of making a hit show under the watchful eye of network bosses. The top guy, a fictionalized, bearded version of FX Networks president John Landgraf, is played by Denis O’Hare.
“If you think he’s a real douchebag, I don’t want to hear about it,” Landgraf told a packed house at Santa Monica’s Broad Stage for the premiere of the new series, after he was introduced by the network’s PR chief, John Solberg. Landgraf went on to quote some of the positive reviews that have already been published about the show, whose brain trust includes Larry Charles, Matt Nix and Ben Wexler.
When it was Crystal’s turn to take the podium, he said Landgraf left out a quote from the Jewish Daily Forward and launched into a spiel that only people who speak Yiddish could understand.
The laughter continued as the pilot episode and another, featuring Elvis Mitchell, about the lack of diversity in the cast and crew were unspooled. It was sometimes so loud that we missed some of the dialogue.
It’s a funny ensemble with cast members that include Dana Delaney as Crystal’s wife Julie, and Steven Webber, Megan Ferguson, and Stephnie Weir as members of the production team, navigating the backstabbing, envy and awkward situations that are stock in trade.
Also part of the mix are cameos from famous faces including Mel Brooks, Sugar Ray Leonard and Joe Torre, who play some of Crystal’s buddies.
Whatever the chosen school of comedy, this class is now in session.
(“The Comedians” premieres on FX April 9 at 10 p.m. ET/PT.)
–Hillary Atkin
