High Maintenance returns
April 1, 2014 7:14 PM Subscribe
After a hiatus, the smart, sweet, sharp, and often surprising webseries High Maintenance returned in past months with three new episodes.
Qasim
Matilda
Rachel
previously
Qasim
Matilda
Rachel
previously
I know that some people have done quite well for themselves with web series, but I still can't help but smile and think "Aww, that's cute" whenever I hear about an actor or writer friend participating in one. Too often they look and sound super amateurish and while they are probably a great experience for the people involved, they aren't always that much fun to watch.
High Maintenance is different. It isn't so much a web series as it is a series that happens to be on the web. I am always excited to see the next thing Ben and Katja come up with because it keeps on getting better and better.
posted by Spiced Out Calvin Coolidge at 7:34 PM on April 1, 2014
High Maintenance is different. It isn't so much a web series as it is a series that happens to be on the web. I am always excited to see the next thing Ben and Katja come up with because it keeps on getting better and better.
posted by Spiced Out Calvin Coolidge at 7:34 PM on April 1, 2014
Thank you for reminding me about this series. Each episode has been wonderful and human and wonderfully human.
posted by sendai sleep master at 7:43 PM on April 1, 2014
posted by sendai sleep master at 7:43 PM on April 1, 2014
This show is great. Don't watch it. All of the actors are great. Don't see it. Great characterization. Don't mind it.
please enjoy a very, very good show
posted by coolxcool=rad at 8:47 PM on April 1, 2014
please enjoy a very, very good show
posted by coolxcool=rad at 8:47 PM on April 1, 2014
This has been one of my favorite things for ages. I still don't understand how it hasn't gotten picked up by some network yet. I don't really know how it would work in a longer format, but it's just that good. I haven't shown it to a single person who didn't love it.
Along with broad city and rick and morty, this is one of the coolest shows to come out in a couple years.
posted by emptythought at 8:58 PM on April 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
Along with broad city and rick and morty, this is one of the coolest shows to come out in a couple years.
posted by emptythought at 8:58 PM on April 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
I still don't understand how it hasn't gotten picked up by some network yet.
A network would demand a regular cast of characters beyond the one guy.
The charm of this series is that it's a series of one-off character studies bound together by the fact that they all buy drugs from this one guy.
The idea of a network series which has only one recurring actor and demands fresh casting every single week and has no continuity or plot arch of character development for the main character, and that requires close watching to grasp the subtle character traits on display which will only be discarded at the end of that particular episode....
That pretty much guarantees this show will never make the leap to a network.
I think this show is brilliant. It works with subtlety and subtext in such great ways. It's nearly perfect. I hope it finds solid funding and continues with artistic inspiration. But I think network involvement would be the death knell for this particular kind of amazing.
posted by hippybear at 9:05 PM on April 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
A network would demand a regular cast of characters beyond the one guy.
The charm of this series is that it's a series of one-off character studies bound together by the fact that they all buy drugs from this one guy.
The idea of a network series which has only one recurring actor and demands fresh casting every single week and has no continuity or plot arch of character development for the main character, and that requires close watching to grasp the subtle character traits on display which will only be discarded at the end of that particular episode....
That pretty much guarantees this show will never make the leap to a network.
I think this show is brilliant. It works with subtlety and subtext in such great ways. It's nearly perfect. I hope it finds solid funding and continues with artistic inspiration. But I think network involvement would be the death knell for this particular kind of amazing.
posted by hippybear at 9:05 PM on April 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
Wow - this is great. I shouldn't be surprised at how many well-done shows there are on the web. My family's favorite is Wish It, Inc. Really high production values, and hardly any views (and also not on the blue, yet). I looked for, but also couldn't find mention of Standard Action, which recently Kickstarted its third season. Good stuff.
posted by dylanjames at 9:52 PM on April 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by dylanjames at 9:52 PM on April 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
(and also not on the blue, yet)
See that "New Post" link at the top of every MetaFilter page? It ain't gonna click itself!
posted by hippybear at 9:56 PM on April 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
See that "New Post" link at the top of every MetaFilter page? It ain't gonna click itself!
posted by hippybear at 9:56 PM on April 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
A network would demand a regular cast of characters beyond the one guy
Oh man, but I really think I could watch an entire series based on the Matilda episode with him and his niece. All of that was gold.
posted by windbox at 10:05 PM on April 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
Oh man, but I really think I could watch an entire series based on the Matilda episode with him and his niece. All of that was gold.
posted by windbox at 10:05 PM on April 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
There actually are a few recurring characters, and it's not totally encapsulated from episode to episode. Heidi shows up as a friend of the girl the comedian was with(and maybe even again after that?), and in the matilda episode they revisit the "Appalachian white trash" lady and her boyfriend/husband who were renting to people on airBNB.
It's not like there's a big recurring cast, but they do revisit things and bring people back. There's at least a little bit of continuity. Not to discredit any of your points as to why a network wouldn't want it the way it is, but just pointing that out.
posted by emptythought at 1:21 AM on April 2, 2014
It's not like there's a big recurring cast, but they do revisit things and bring people back. There's at least a little bit of continuity. Not to discredit any of your points as to why a network wouldn't want it the way it is, but just pointing that out.
posted by emptythought at 1:21 AM on April 2, 2014
I love this show.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 4:15 AM on April 2, 2014
posted by Potomac Avenue at 4:15 AM on April 2, 2014
I too love this series. It manages so much characterization with such subtlety. And the main character plays such a great everyman. Some of the best moments happen when he does something distinctive, like stay over after making a delivery.
posted by So You're Saying These Are Pants? at 6:20 AM on April 2, 2014
posted by So You're Saying These Are Pants? at 6:20 AM on April 2, 2014
Ben and Katja are friends of mine, excellent people, and I'm glad to see them on the blue again.
posted by lazaruslong at 7:42 PM on April 2, 2014
posted by lazaruslong at 7:42 PM on April 2, 2014
Holy shit, the main character in "Rachel" was played by the same actor that played Matthew Crawley on Downton Abbey!
posted by joethefob at 11:15 PM on April 5, 2014
posted by joethefob at 11:15 PM on April 5, 2014
I just watched the entire series for the first time last night (in the wrong order, because Vimeo upload dates are LIES.) The entire set is so sweet and so brilliant. I want this to continue and to continue being perfect.
posted by maudlin at 4:53 PM on April 20, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by maudlin at 4:53 PM on April 20, 2014 [1 favorite]
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posted by Chutzler at 7:33 PM on April 1, 2014