I sat to watch this show with very little faith, just because it´s one of the new ones and I needed to review it and see what to expect from it. Boy was I wrong! Baskets with Zach Galifianakis, the new clown show on FX is impressive.
From the first scene, where he is at the French University of Clowns on, the show proved to be different.

Baskets with zach galifianakis on fx review

BASKETS — “Renoir” Episode 101 (Airs Thursday, January 21, 10:00 pm/ep) Pictured: Zach Galifianakis as Baskets. CR: Ben Cohen/FX

From the moment Chip Baskets went to Clown University in France not knowing any french, things got rocky; then he gets engaged with Penelope, the stone cold hearted french femme fatale who tells him: “I don´t find you very attractive, but I want a green card. So okay, I´ll marry you”, the show borders the funny and the bizarre, but does in an excellent manner.

The moment Chip gets back home and meets Eddie, who offers him a job as a rodeo clown is instant magic. How the job is lousy and pays next to nothing, but is the first break into Clowning that Chip needs, and how Renoir as a clown name is not going to work, being given the name “Baskets” as his clown name, or as Eddie says, a “perfect clown name”, before sending him to “Go on out there and headbutt me some bulls”.

The only thing that is really important to a broke Chip is being taken seriously for his clown chops. He is a clown… a “Cloone” if you take Penelope´s way of saying it.

The dynamics between Chip Baskets and Martha Brooks, the insurance agent looked great and I am hoping to see much more of that in future episodes.. maybe even chemistry between them.

Comedian Louie Anderson plays the role of Chip´s mom, with the exact making you feel awkward vibe all moms give when you first bring a girl home. I think his addition for the role is a homerun.

Baskets with Zach Galifianakis is indeed a great mixture of a slow paced drama, with tons of jokes and comedy moments that are very far from a sitcom, but rather a dark comedy.

Chip has a twin brother, fittingly called Dale who is the head on Baskets Career College, a college that teaches Cell Phone Repair, Flip Phone Repair, Classic Phone Repair, Smart Phone Repair among other bigtime careers like Ice Cream Truck Repair, Ice Cream Truck Painting, Ice Cream Truck Driving, Ice Cream Truck Washing, Ketchup Kreation and many many more. Dale Baskets may make us miss Dean from Community a little less.

Chip Baskets´swan song was hilarious too.

Louis C.K., Zach Galifianakis and Jonathan Krisel are the creators and EPs of the show. It sure seems like it found a good home at FX. It is definitely not for broadcast, but a very good show for cable. And when I say very, I mean VERY.

What do you think about Baskets with Zach Galifianakis? Let me know your thoughts, and don´t forget to follow me on Twitter for more scoop on new shows.

 

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