Blunt Talk

It's quite a combination of ideas, and what holds them together is the author's distinct, compelling voice, alongside Stewart's utter magnetism.

There is a tenderness that runs through the series and makes the trip worth taking, however improbable the road.

Created by Jonathan Ames (Bored to Death), Blunt Talk’s media satire is by turns sly and stale. Blunt isn’t a convincing anchorman avatar, though he works as a metaphor for pampered celebrity. The show begins to find itself as an inspired comedy about redemption in a post-self-help, post-hot-mess culture in the third episode.

[Blunt Talk] is dull, depressing, charm-free, puerile and pointless. You’ll have more fun slapping yourself in the head with a spoon for a half-hour.

Scarborough and some of the guest stars (Gelman, Sharon Lawrence, Moby) make Blunt Talk better than its scripts. The problem is that as good as Stewart is, Walter Blunt wears out his welcome, and you can effectively counterbalance that with guest stars only so often.

The premiere starts with a rambunctious energy that temporarily promotes a sense of good will.... But from there, the series--which Ames produced with the seemingly ubiquitous Seth MacFarlane--pretty rapidly disintegrates, relying too heavily on Stewart’s madcap antics and an assortment of not particularly distinctive supporting players.

Perversely unpleasant workplace comedy. [10-23 Aug 2015, p.12]