From Netflix and creators Bill Burr and Michael Price, comes the original animated comedy series ‘F is For Family‘. Starring Bill Burr, Laura Dern, Justin Long, Debi Derryberry, Haley Reinhart, Sam Rockwell, David Koechner, Mo Collins, Trevor Devall and Phil Hendrie. the second season is now streaming exclusively on Netflix.
Set in the 1970s, this animated raunchy comedy is inspired by the life of stand-up comic Bill Burr, who is a co-creator and executive producer of the series. Burr also voices the character of Frank Murphy, a short-tempered veteran who lives in the suburbs with his wife, Sue (Laura Dern) and their three children. Frank, who works at an airport, has a penchant for shouting and profanity-filled rants. The series celebrates all things 1970s, including the lifestyle, the music, and all sorts of other nostalgic details.
Bill Burr and Michael Price’s ‘F is For Family’ is tied with Rick and Morty for my absolutely favourite TV comedy series today. For being an animated show, ‘F is For Family’ feels more real than most dramas these days with the only exception maybe being ‘Shame’ on Showtime. There’s just this gritty, awkward, shitshow that never ceases to stop for Frank and his family as they are constantly put through the ringer day in and day out. After getting fired from his airport job ON CHRISTMAS in the first season finale, Frank’s wife Sue is left to pick up more time selling Tupperware in order to make ends barely meet. Frank is a drunk mess, but he eventually finds a new job because he’s unable to return to his old one now that some deranged psychopath, who sorts luggage BY RACE, has taken his place. John DiMaggio’s guest spot as Scoop this season was hilarious…
The era of the show really, really shines through in the most vile of ways too – as we see the rampant sexism of Sue’s bosses at the Tupperware head office while they constantly make the most disgusting and profane comments towards her. It’s almost baffling and I know it’s exaggerated a little because this is a damn cartoon, but man.. This was also the 1970’s and women were still treated very much like shit during this time. I also love how Frank’s young daughter is so smart that the teacher pulls her parents into school and claims that she cheated off the Asian boy’s exam (even though it was in fact the boy who cheated off her). These little moments that reflect the social setting of the 70’s were so wonderful and chillingly accurate that you start to forget that ‘F is For Family’ is an animated sitcom.
Sam Rockwell’s performance as next-door neighbour Vic, the coke snorting radio DJ, was also ramped up this season, giving the guy way more screentime and a subplot with his girlfriend that I absolutely did not see coming… Wow. This show is so clever, so perverse, so gut-wrenching hilarious that in spite of the horrible things that are always happening to Frank’s family — you can’t help but laugh. For a show loaded with so much sadness, it’s still hilarious somehow.. In spite of it all – the constant setbacks, the emotional distress as Frank argues with a waitress about drink refills not being free — the series still manages to make me smile and laugh my ass off. That’s brilliant writing right there.
It’s the most relatable comedy show on TV today and easily one of Netflix’s greatest original works. Burr is a great stand-up comedian and his style of comedy shines through these characters to the point where you can almost see every episode reflecting a bit he would be talking about on-stage. Justin Long’s vocal work as Kevin was also a riot – I can only imagine what his face looks like as he makes this angst-ridden teenager lash out at the world because he just wants to get laid… So badly… I’m ecstatic that we got 10 episodes this season as opposed to the short six in season one, but it still flew by at rapid speed because I binged this series hard and I loved every second of it. The finale was a masterwork with an ending so brutal… So NOT funny and NOT COOL that I couldn’t help but chuckle knowing that this poor family isn’t in the clear yet… ‘F is For Family’ deals with real struggles, real problems and it makes you laugh like an idiot while doing it. I love this show.
Rating: [star rating=”5″]