When up and coming standup comics get their own TV show, they’re almost always uncomfortable during the show’s first season. Standup comedy might be the hardest form of entertaining there is, but it doesn’t naturally transfer to acting. Even Jerry Seinfeld looked lost in the first season of his hit show, so we shouldn’t bash Jim Jefferies too much for looking out of place in ‘Legit’; it’s to be expected. Like many comics before him, Jefferies called upon his standup material to populate the plots of most of the first season’s shows, with some of them working okay and some of them not working at all.
One of the reasons I like Jim Jefferies as a standup comic is that he’s very conversational and casual when he’s on stage. It’s like you’re having a beer with your friend, listening to him tell stories and crack jokes throughout his routine. As a TV star, Jefferies loses some of what made him a good standup comic as the casual, comfortable standup comic is replaced by someone trying to do a bit in a regular situation. The pilot episode is a good example of how the show falters in that it acts out one of Jefferies’ more famous stories about taking his paralyzed friend to a whorehouse. The story is funny when Jefferies tells it, but it feels more awkward and uncomfortable when we actually watch it being carried out.
The main issue with the show is that it has no direction. I won’t call it a “show about nothing”, but that seems to be what they’re going for. The show desperately needs a focal point or something for the characters to revolve around. Instead, each episode jumps from day to day and the writers have to get creative with how they work in Jefferies’ standup material into the show. Putting him in a plane allowed him to use his airline bit, putting him on a date allowed him to use some of his dating observations and having him deal with various groups allows him to use some of his standup one-liners.
Maybe the highlight of the season was the fourth episode, when Jim and his friend Steve go to Omaha for a gig. The reason this worked is because it was basically Jim doing his standup routine on a plane. Steve barely contributed to the episode and when they cut to Billy at home, it was brief. That goes back to some of the more central problems with the show, mainly that they haven’t given Jim Jefferies the best foundation for a successful show. His friends aren’t funny and don’t do a good job of setting him up and the show lacks focus.
Despite the show’s problems, I’m not giving up on it. Jim Jefferies is a funny guy and I’m guessing that as the show goes along, it will hit a rhythm and Jefferies will become more comfortable. Comedy Central is littered with the corpses of failed TV shows from standup comics, most of which never showed any promise. ‘Legit’ deserves some patience, as long as the showrunners start addressing some of the bigger concerns.
Video: ‘Legit’ has a handheld camera feel to it at times so the video quality suffers as expected. Otherwise, the video is fine.
Audio: The audio is also fine.
Commentaries on all 13 episodes: Jim Jefferies, Peter O’Fallon and Dan Bakkeedahl show up and do all the commentaries for the first season, which is an awesome surprise. If you like Jim’s standup, you’ll like these commentaries. Some roll along better than others, but all of them offer a few laughs.
Deleted/Extended Scenes (9:55): I didn’t see anything in here that needed to be included in the show.
Jim Jefferies Journey (26:36): This is an odd featurette that supposedly gives some background on Jim Jefferies. I wasn’t sure if this was supposed to be funny or not.
Gag Reel (15:11): Jim and the cast laugh uncontrollably at their flubs.
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