As a John Mulaney fan, I am already primed to like anything that he does. And I mean that. Of course I love nothing more than his standup comedy specials, but I also love his talk show and podcast appearances (any time he goes on Seth Meyers is a treat and old clips of him and Nick Kroll on Conan are actual performance art), his award show hosting gigs (his turn at the Governors Awards this year had many talking about him as a future Oscars host), and even his small acting roles (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, The Bear season 2). I just think everything he does is entertaining and funny. This new show, John Mulaney Presents: Everybody’s in LA, definitely brings the entertainment and comedy, but it also comes with a very large helping of the supremely weird. 

When the show was first announced, it wasn’t clear what it would be. All I knew was that other comedians and friends of his would be involved so I assumed there would be a mix of standup and conversation among comedians. In reality, John Mulaney Presents: Everybody’s in LA was a weeklong special event airing live every night on Netflix that combined studio segments, pre-taped sketches, and man-on-the-street interviews into a sort of pop-up talk show with Mulaney as the host. The central thread of the show was an attempt to investigate the city of LA, how and why it is the way it is. Each episode had a theme of an LA-based concept, like earthquakes or palm trees, and a real-life expert in those fields would be a guest on the couch, sitting next to celebrities like Jerry Seinfeld and Pete Davidson. Real LA residents also had the chance to call in to the show to tell stories about their experiences with that episode’s subject or ask questions to the panel and experts. All of the episodes also ended with a musical guest. Oh, and Richard Kind played the role of the talk show sidekick doing his own bits every night. That’s not even everything that was stuffed into this series but I think it covers the basics. Sound like a lot going on? It was! The show was extremely niche and quirky and chaotic. The tone was all over the place from purely goofy bits in the studio, informational (or an attempt to be) interviews with experts, surprisingly heartwarming humanist segments on real-life eccentrics in the area, and confusing and anarchic back and forth between the guests, the host, and various callers. 

The show reads as both an ode to and a parody of traditional, oldschool late night talk shows. The set, the intro, the graphics, everything about the show had kind of a 70s/80s throwback feel. I think it speaks to a certain generation who grew up with late night television being such an iconic part of pop culture. Especially for comedians who idolized the hosts and their style of comedy, it was formative to their craft and persona. We don’t really have that in our culture in the same way anymore. I think one guest, Nikki Glaser, said it best when she described the show as like “an inside joke that only [John is] in on”. It’s so true. It really did feel like John created the show and all the segments by thinking of things that specifically appealed to him and his sense of humor instead of trying to figure out what would be funny to a mass audience. It’s kind of incredible that Netflix would give him the money to create something so singular when they are such a huge company that these days seems to specialize in basic, broad, middle of the road entertainment. 

Was this show for me exactly? Maybe not. But I’m happy that it exists. I’m happy that creative people are getting the opportunities to execute their unique visions. I’m happy that entertainment companies are giving niche properties the chance to be seen by a wide audience. I’m all for people taking risks and making things they are passionate about and not trying to please everybody. There’s a lot you could say about this show, both positive and negative, but it was never uninteresting. I genuinely could not say if I liked it or not. It made me laugh and it also made me cringe. But I will always love and support John Mulaney and his love of chaos and any talented people with artistic visions who are willing to create something totally new and different. If you missed it live but feel like checking it out, it is still available to stream on Netflix. 

2024 Count: 12 seasons/specials, 26 movies