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Hercules Says HBO’s Blue-Jeans Sitcom HOW TO MAKE IT IN AMERICA Is A Cut Above!!

Published at: Feb. 14, 2010, 4:14 a.m. CST

I am – Hercules!!
A not-bad highly serialized new sitcom from “Entourage” writer-producer Rob Weiss and somebody named Ian Edelman, “How To Make It In America” is about late-20s clothes-folder trying to start a designer jeans business because successful guys are getting all of New York’s hottest women. It has an urban contemporary soundtrack and stars thirtysomething Bryan Greenberg (“October Road”), Victor Rasuk (“ER”), Lake Bell (“Surface”), Shannyn Sossamon (“Moonlight"), Luis Guzman (“John From Cincinnati”), Martha Plimpton (“Surface,” “Grey’s Anatomy”) and Eddie Kaye Thomas (“Til Death”). The pilot’s too-arty early minutes nearly convinced me I would hate this show, but the project’s virtues came to turn me around. It works better than the last couple seasons of “Entourage,” which has gotten lazy with increasingly sitcommy plotlines and largely let its characters collapse into caricatures. “How” feels less like a sitcom like “Bored To Death” and more like an above-average big-screen indie chopped up into half-hours. Guzman’s loan shark is funny, and you’ll find other interesting supporting characters if you stick with the series beyond its pilot. Also, the female characters are richer than “Entourage’s,” which I like. The show could be hurt by its title, which is too long and too generic, and makes this scripted comedy sound like an HBO documentary on the crack trade. Entertainment Weekly says:
… A sort of Entourage before the guys got an entourage, How to Make It in America is an ingratiating shaggy-dog half hour. … doesn't have a lotta laughs, but it's got charm and a feel for the atmosphere of downtown artgalleries, parties, and business hustling. … A lot of movies and TV shows have tried to depict the post-slacker generation with energy; How to Make It in America may be one that succeeds.
USA Today says:
… this show is pretty much what you'd get if you sent a twentysomething out with a flip camera to a few openings and parties, and then let him get drunk and roam the streets. Rather than art re-creating and explicating reality, How to is art mimicking reality shows, with all their annoyances and posing. …
The New York Times says:
… When Ben shakes his hangdog complacency and gives the jeans project his full attention, “How to Make It in America” finds its stride — not the “Entourage” strut but a garment-district shuffle. …
The Los Angeles Times says:
… Certainly, this is something of a fairy tale of New York, but it largely hums with an easy and attractive naturalism. Creator Ian Edelman keeps his characters on the right side of caricature and avoids the kind of melodramatic confrontations their relations might typically suggest. (When characters do act melodramatically here, they are sort of embarrassed about it afterward.) Most of the people we meet act decently to one another, the way that people mostly do. …
The Washington Post says:
… takes a few episodes to get properly underway. I've seen the first four and, although each was more compelling than the last, the series contains a repellent amount of hipitude, which distracts from its tale. … Ben and Cam's vacuous characters are deepened and made sympathetic only by their reliance on one another. We wind up feeling sad that their dreams are so empty.
The San Francisco Chronicle says:
… "How to Make It in America" is, like "Entourage," more entertaining than actually funny. You're not going to burst out laughing at anything, but there are plenty of comic moments. … The series has a lot of interesting angles, but the main drawback is that the linear story line doesn't really fuse with the character development until about the third episode, which is not atypical for HBO but demands a certain dedication from the viewer. At the end of each half hour - which, as with "Entourage," comes quickly - you're left with a small sample of a big story. …
The Denver Post says:
… instantly captivating and more relevant than "Entourage." …
The Newark Star Ledger says:
… I had few expectations for the series, in part because of the lack of buzz from HBO, and I found myself pleasantly surprised by the early episodes, even as I kept recognizing how insubstantial the show was and how atmosphere alone (or my love of Luis Guzman) might get me through half a season.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says:
… grows more interesting in episodes after the pilot as Ben's world expands and connections among the characters form. But to get that far viewers may need to be: a) Living Ben's lifestyle, b) Remembering their immature years fondly or, c) Have a high tolerance for slackers whose ambition outpaces their drive and/or intellect.
The Boston Herald says:
… One of “How’s” biggest flaws falls right on the shoulders of star Greenberg, who is rapidly winning a reputation as a show-killer. (Among his flops: “October Road” and “Unscripted.”) In every series, he’s the same mopey, whiny guy. He doesn’t have the chops to carry a 20-second Doritos ad, much less anchor a show. …
The Boston Globe says:
… “How to Make It in America’’ does not offer the same pornographic allure of “Entourage.’’ But it has other charms, as it draws viewers into a little slice of crowded Manhattan life. … I think “How to Make It in America’’ has a lot going for it, if show creator Ian Edelman can keep from indulging in New York hipster cliches. …
The Hollywood Reporter says:
… A more accurate title might be "How to Make It in New York City When You Can't Get Your Ass in Gear." … Unfortunately, "America" isn't as textured and riveting as it thinks it is. There are flashes of light -- Rene (Luis Guzman), the ex-con Our Heroes go into debt with is a menacing delight with his own delusions of grandeur, and Cam's frenetic, audacious ambition blasts the plodding story line along in most unexpected ways. But Ben, sans direction or real ambition, is a black hole in every scene and fails in convincing the audience that he knows what he wants for dinner, much less out of life. …
Variety says:
… one can most charitably approach this breezy half-hour as what E. and the guys might be doing if Vince hadn't made it as a movie star. Of course, that still doesn't make "America" a place you'd yearn to be.…
10 p.m. Sunday. HBO.

“Fringe: Season One” on Blu-ray, $47.99 in December and $42.99 in January, is momentarily $24.99!!

“Farscape: The Complete Series,” $129.49 last year, is momentarily $59.99. That works out to less than $15 per season!!

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