My inner millenial is always on the lookout for new comedy shows to easily binge through. The comedy genre is one of my favourites due to the silliness and vastness of stories that can be told with simple, idiotic characters. The world of animation is often riddled with these, but perhaps a bit too obnoxious for my taste. My problem is, I feel I have often seen almost everything there is. Or at least, everything that is made available to me through the region locking disappointment of streaming services. There's so many unique comedy shows out there made for different regions, and they can be quite difficult to find sometimes. Yet, I still try to look for them. Something new that stands out, shows a very different world to my own, and bonus points if it's featuring elements of culture that I have zero understanding of and can learn from. I wish such shows were not hidden behind the region locking of streaming services, and we all had one huge library to choose from.
One instance of how annoying this can be is with Disney, who happens to own the other streaming service Hulu. Hulu isn't available in the United Kingdom, and Disney loves the idea of having two streaming services they can split up and make money from with all the tax benefits and additional price increases and bundles. Rather than combining the two into one platform. Though, sometimes, shows made for Hulu are trickled down into Disney+ for us peasants that don't have access to Hulu. Recently I watched through the three seasons of Only Murders in the Building, which was made for Hulu. And with that show out of the way, I had a void to fill. Browsing through the comedy series section on Disney+, I came across yet another Hulu show: This Fool.
I had no idea what to expect from it. I had never seen the actors before. I looked it up and found positive reviews on it, but I still really didn't know what I'd be diving into. And at first I didn't quite get This Fool with the first episode, but they're short, and very easy to watch after each other. And just like that, I found myself loving This Fool. A show hilariously stupid, and very unique with its hispanic culture that's portrayed in the not-so-luxurious parts of Los Angeles. For one, seeing Los Angeles as the more grounded, every-day location is a huge plus to me, beyond the fancy hills and mansions of the rich and the famous. Instead, This Fool is about the beaten-down. The regular folk just getting by. The real Los Angeles that is often kept hidden from the marketing of glamour and A-List celebrities.
This Fool
This Fool is a comedy series created by a stand-up comedian known as Chris Estrada. I think he's part of that generally small but with a massive Internet outreach group of Los Angeles comedians you may have seen around, the types that may be seen hanging around Joe Rogan. Your Theo Von type. I personally haven't seen anything by Chris Estrada, and I'm far from a stand-up comedy fan. So This Fool was my introduction to Estrada, and I have to say I'm very impressed given I believe this is his breakthrough when it comes to television. These types of shows are often very hit-or-miss, and more often misses than hits. Yet I don't think there's a single dull episode in This Fools' first season. I found myself loving every single one despite being uncertain from the start. Though this was a result of me just not knowing what to expect, not necessarily the quality of that pilot.
While each episode focuses on a different day of the lives of its characters, without a particularly linear story, the main idea is that Julio is a thirty-something linving in Los Angeles with his family, his job being to help convicts stay out of prison by giving them classes and sessions to guide them into gaining better skills in society, but he ultimately doesn't really care for this job. Lost and confused, taking each day as it comes and putting in the absolute minimum effort he can. His character is essentially just tired of everyone and everything, pessimistic and void of direction. His best friend is his older cousin, a former convict that he's supposed to be guiding, who happens to live with him too. With the large Hispanic community of Los Angeles, the show takes a mockery of the gang culture and, well, normal culture that is often found in the area.
Though not all of the episodes are focused around the rehabilitation of former gang members at Hugs Not Thugs, much of the episodes look at the quiet and sometimes chaotic life of suburban Los Angeles life, and the drama that unfolds for these rather immature characters that just can't seem to get a grip on reality. I really like this dynamic between Julio and Luis, they're both from the same family but with very different directions in life. One toughened-up by the streets, and the other just recluse and going with the waves. Despite the assumed seriousness of the Hugs Not Thugs program and the gang references, the show is entirely comedic and lighthearted. There's even an episode on how the group gets the old gang back together to meet up for a fight at the park, to which one of them has a well-adjusted life now but goes off the rails with guns when offered to join. None of the group want things to go that far and are barely equipped even for a fist fight. The whole thing is just typical drama and show.
And this is how much of the comedy is in This Fool. It's a very dialogue, character-driven show where these characters are just trying to navigate through life while something new pops up and makes things more difficult. And every character seems to be this dysfunctional, none of them seem to take things seriously. Everyone is on the brink of going completely crazy with the harsh reality of difficult life in Los Angeles, a place of incredibly high cost of living, but also massive crime rates and little job security. I think the show displays all of this quite well. These characters aren't homeless or completely poor, just your average citizens (albeit some with criminal records) trying to get by. But none of them can really adjust regardless of their history. I think this is the sort of show where it's mostly made for people living in California, that know of Los Angeles and the culture, especially the more Hispanic side, which is evident from the way the show constantly switches from English to Spanish.
The elements of culture come in more from references to Hispanic culture as well as events in that traditional Hispanic lifestyle, I can't say I know a whole lot about it, but it's pretty interesting to see. Also interesting to see how tightly kept the families are, that close tradition of staying nearby to family and looking out for each other; something that also ended up falling into the gang culture with the idea of community and family. A very different world to the UK in which families don't have so many holidays and events.
Anyway, This Fool is absolutely a hidden gem. I highly recommend it. It should be available on Disney+ or Hulu. It's certainly nothing low budget, but looks like it was filmed by more grounded people that have a true idea of life in Los Angeles, with the quieter locations and the smaller, more dense neighbourhoods. It's clear Chris Estrada uses a lot of his own life as an influence in the show. I'm already going to dive into the second season ready to see what idiotic things these characters find themselves getting up to.
