HBO Home Entertainment brings comedian Pete Holmes' sitcom Crashing: The Complete First Season to Blu-ray and DVD. The first season runs eight episodes (approximately 240 minutes) and includes a healthy selection of bonus materials spread over two discs. Holmes plays a fictionalized version of himself—a struggling, new-on-the-scene (relatively speaking) comedian who begins establishing contacts with some heavy hitters of comedy. Artie Lange, Sarah Silverman, and T.J. Miller pop up (also as versions of the themselves), with numerous surprise guest appearances along the way. Pete's live-in girlfriend Jessica (Lauren Lapkus) has become bored and frustrated by his constant stream of little-to-no-pay open mic engagements.
Holmes is endearing enough as the painfully gawky but good-natured comedian Pete, who's a fairly straight-laced, conservative guy. He knows all too well just how bawdy the world inhabited by stand-up comics can be. Still, he remains a nebbish, almost defiantly so. Sort of a Midwestern variant on the Woody Allen persona. After meeting comedian Artie Lange after a particularly bad onstage appearance, Pete becomes Aritie's de facto sobriety coach. He's flustered as he tries to keep Artie from indulging in any intoxicants after a gig. Inadvertently he winds up alone in the apartment of one of Artie's groupies—who's offering him a line of cocaine. Such is typical of the fish-out-of-water scenarios Pete finds himself throughout the series.
Though lacking the existential depths of Louis C.K.'s Louie, Crashing is nonetheless an entertaining light comedy about the art of performing comedy. HBO has renewed the series for a second season.
HBO's Blu-ray offers solid A/V specs, with a strong 1080p transfer of what is admittedly rather unremarkable cinematography. Each episode is offered in DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround.
Special features: the biggest draw here is an hour-long Pete Holmes stand-up special Pete Holmes: Faces and Sounds, which is the confident flip side to Holmes Crashing character's awkwardness. Great inclusion, considering it's the kind of piece that is often released all on its own. The remaining features are comparatively light: "Guest Star Fan Club" mini-featurettes for Artie Lange, T.J. Miller, Hannibal Buress, and Sarah Silverman, plus additional short pieces (a couple minutes each) called "About Crashing" and "The Art of Crashing."
Priced to sell and containing a funny, hour-long stand-up special, Crashing: The Complete First Season is a great pick-up for those who missed the show on HBO.
Holmes is endearing enough as the painfully gawky but good-natured comedian Pete, who's a fairly straight-laced, conservative guy. He knows all too well just how bawdy the world inhabited by stand-up comics can be. Still, he remains a nebbish, almost defiantly so. Sort of a Midwestern variant on the Woody Allen persona. After meeting comedian Artie Lange after a particularly bad onstage appearance, Pete becomes Aritie's de facto sobriety coach. He's flustered as he tries to keep Artie from indulging in any intoxicants after a gig. Inadvertently he winds up alone in the apartment of one of Artie's groupies—who's offering him a line of cocaine. Such is typical of the fish-out-of-water scenarios Pete finds himself throughout the series.
Though lacking the existential depths of Louis C.K.'s Louie, Crashing is nonetheless an entertaining light comedy about the art of performing comedy. HBO has renewed the series for a second season.
HBO's Blu-ray offers solid A/V specs, with a strong 1080p transfer of what is admittedly rather unremarkable cinematography. Each episode is offered in DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround.Special features: the biggest draw here is an hour-long Pete Holmes stand-up special Pete Holmes: Faces and Sounds, which is the confident flip side to Holmes Crashing character's awkwardness. Great inclusion, considering it's the kind of piece that is often released all on its own. The remaining features are comparatively light: "Guest Star Fan Club" mini-featurettes for Artie Lange, T.J. Miller, Hannibal Buress, and Sarah Silverman, plus additional short pieces (a couple minutes each) called "About Crashing" and "The Art of Crashing."
Priced to sell and containing a funny, hour-long stand-up special, Crashing: The Complete First Season is a great pick-up for those who missed the show on HBO.
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