Always Be Streaming... mystery potential arcade machines
Chris O'Dowd stars in The Big Door Prize - a new quiet comedy that is so relatable it has me experiencing my own existential crisis.
Lets dive right into some thoughts on this week's TV:
I adored The Big Door Prize, which launched midweek on Apple TV+. It's a quiet relationship dramedy about the impact on a small town when one night a video game arcade-shaped machine mysteriously appears in the local grocery store.
It purports to tell people what their life potential is - a user types in their social security number and lets the machine capture their fingerprints, then it spits out a business card with their potential displayed. For some people it simply confirms that they are on a life path they are happy to be on, but for others it cuts deep and prompts them to make some major changes in their life.
Great premise for a story and Chris O'Dowd is pleasing, as always, in the lead as a man who starts to question his life as he turns 40 years-old. Is he (and his family) as satisfied with their lives as he thought they were?
The show is so relatable, The Big Door Prize has me in my own existential crisis.I haven't seen Aussie comedy Wellmania (based on Brigid Delaney's book by the same name) or the Rob Lowe starrer Unstable. The trailer and premise for Unstable has me apprehensive, but I'm interested in any show produced by sitcom journeyman producer Victor Fresco. He has had some great shows like Better Off Ted and his lesser shows still prove pretty compelling to watch - Santa Clarita Diet being a good example.
Interesting that Netflix released both comedies on the same day. It is the sort of move one would expect from a broadcast network, releasing a new block of complimentary comedies. Except, that's not how it works on Netflix.Worth noting: During the week Netflix greenlit a second season of its action thriller The Night Agent, which debuted on Friday last week. Meanwhile there were crickets surrounding the launch of the Keifer Sutherland action thriller Rabbit Hole, which debuted a few days later on Monday by way of Paramount+. Rabbit Hole isn't a bad show, but it feels a bit tired and same-y. It is Keifer chasing the highs of 24 without the propulsive story.