Adult Swim added another 11-minute comedy to its roster last night â or yesterday morning. The networkâs new series, Newsreaders, is a spin-off from Rob Corddryâs Childrens Hospital, but whereas Childrens Hospital riffs on over-dramatic medical dramas, Newsreaders skewers news magazine shows like 60 Minutes and 20/20. Like Childrens Hospital and Adult Swim sister show NTSF:SD:SUV, Newsreaders is jam-packed with great jokes, and the showâs first two episodes find it full of potential.
Newsreaders is hosted by actor Mather Zickel, a veteran of producer David Wainâs comedies, as serious newsman Louis La Fonda. As he proved during the three Childrens Hospital episodes that inspired Newsreaders to spin off into its own show, Zickel can nail the newsman look and cadence, while adding an absurdist edge to the proceedings. The episodes of Childrens Hospital that he appeared in involved La Fonda and his news program profiling the cast of the medical drama, but in the spin-off, the wildly-talented Childrens Hospital cast isnât there to back La Fonda up and heâs instead at the center of the show. The writers flesh out and silly-up Louis La Fondaâs character well for the spin-off, but the show is missing the rich ensemble casts of its siblings Childrens Hospital and NTSF. Aside from Mather Zickel, the only person whoâs in both of the two episodes that were screened for critics is Twin Peaksâ Ray Wise, closing out the shows beautifully with a short-but-sweet segment as a demented Andy Rooney-esque news curmudgeon. Funny folks like Kumail Nanjiani, Beth Dover, and Dannah Phirman play recurring Newsreaders correspondents in future episodes but arenât on the show full-time, meaning Newsreaders lacks the repertory cast that works so well for Childrens and NTSF.
Newsreaders plugs that hole with a cavalcade of talented guest stars. In the two episodes Iâve seen alone, the show ropes in both big names (Conan OâBrien, Dan Rather), beloved comedic actors (Brian Posehn, Missi Pyle, Thomas Middleditch), and dramatic actors youâd never expect to turn up in an 11-minute Adult Swim show (Mad Menâs Aaron Staton). Staton and Middleditch are paired up in the premiere episode, âAuto Erotic,â which finds Louis La Fonda investigating an internet porn series called âFuck Van,â and the two are pitch-perfect as the pair of crusty college guys who created the line of dirty videos. Posehn and Pyle turn in solid performances in this one too as a Brian Posehn-y creepy guy and a morally dubious corporate spokesperson, respectively. Leaning heavily on different guest stars each week adds to the showâs news magazine feel by only keeping Mather Zickel onscreen week-to-week, and if they continue to pull in impressive performances from impressive folks like this, itâll keep working. Future episodes are set to include ringers like Tom Lennon, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Ed Begley Jr., Rachael Harris, Dave Foley, Kerri Kenney, and Dennis Haysbert, making it feel almost like thereâs not room for an ensemble cast because there are too many funny guest stars packed into every episode.
In reviews, outlets like The AV Club have compared Newsreaders to a long Daily Show correspondent segment, but off of the two episodes Iâve seen, that doesnât seem that accurate. Because the show is populated with fictional characters and tightly-scripted with quality jokes you canât get out of the ordinary citizens The Daily Show tends to interview, it has its own unique feel, even though both shows are satirizing investigative journalism. Newreaders is also dealing with completely made-up news stories, instead of real ones - even though the real stories The Daily Show investigates often feel just a hair away from something a comedy writer would concoct. There is a lot of Daily Show blood in Newsreaders, however. The series was co-created by Daily Show alumnus Rob Corddry (along with his Childrens Hospital cronies David Wain and Jonathan Stern), Wyatt Cenac and Rachel Axler each wrote an episode, and the showrunner is Jim Margolis, who served as a producer on the Comedy Central fake news juggernaut for six years, where he first met Corddry. Margolis is also a veteran of the kinds of news magazine shows that Newsreaders is parodying, having worked as a producer for Frontline, the BBC, and 60 Minutes before transitioning from real news to fake news.
Childrens Hospital and NTSF:SD:SUV each grew exponentially between their first and second seasons (not that they werenât great from the start), and with Newsreaders already starting as a funny and well-oiled show, it could developed into as respected a comedy show as its 11-minute Adult Swim brethren if it continues to build on the solid work thatâs been established in its initial episodes.