A new sitcom from actor-writer-comedian Aziz Ansari, “Master of None” follows an New York actor named Dev who’s trying to segue from commercials to movies. Its entire 10-episode first season hit Netflix Friday.
Ansari created “None” in collaboration with two “Parks and Recreation”) writer-producers, Alan Yang and Michael Schur. It co-stars SNL vet Noel Wells, H. Jon Benjamin (whose voice also currently stars on “Bob’s Burgers” and “Archer”) and “Louie” vet Todd Barry. Ansari’s parents play his character’s parents.
… not only one of Netflix's best series, but one of the best shows on TV … the Dev/Rachel story is so smartly developed, with such strong chemistry between Ansari and Wells (who, true to the series' ethos, gets to be her own person, rather than just an object of desire for the guy), that the episodes focusing on it could be spliced together into an incredibly satisfying film …
... the year’s best comedy straight out of the gate …
... doing some delicate work between the one-liners, especially in his scenes with Noël Wells, whose Rachel, introduced in the series' opening scenes — involving a broken condom, side-by-side Googling, and a late-night Uber trip to the pharmacy — will provide the season's main romantic interest. The two have a great, believable chemistry that makes their dissonances all the more alarming. …
... I realized that I was binging — and straight-up enjoying — a show that could just as easily be called “Millennial Louie.” …
The San Francisco Chronicle says:
... It doesn’t really make sense to list the stand-outs because there that would imply the existence of lesser episodes, and there are none. Still several installments epitomize the care with which Ansari and Yang have crafted multidimensional characters and situation. …
... a vibrant, original pleasure. …
... proof that when approached with genuine curiosity, witty self-awareness and clear-eyed intelligence, topics like race, immigration, sexism and entitlement can be terrific fodder for comedy. Dev may be drifting a bit, but “Master of None” sets exceptionally ambitious goals for itself — and for the most part, it nails them. …
12:01 a.m. Friday. Netflix.
